NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- During a phone briefing held by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday, he said he is aware that Dr. Anthony Fauci said the new mutation of COVID-19 that has spread across the UK is likely already in the US.
"This UK variant issue is a real issue," Cuomo said.
"There have been hundreds of mutations, yes. But one mutation can be deadly and that's what everyone is worried about," he added.
According to Cuomo, the state wants to test to see if the variant is here. "If it’s here, we want to know, test and isolate it," he said.
Cuomo also noted that it is a complex test that higher lab capacity hospitals in the state can perform.
"Any hospital with capacity to take the test, we will provide them with the ability and testing reagents," he said.
"If we find the variant, we want to know where it is immediately and we’ll take it from there. There’s no evidence that it’s in the state, but we know it’s moving globally and it’s likely here,"
On Monday, Dr. Fauci told Judy Woofruff on "PBS NewsHour" that given the travel throughout the world, he would not be surprised if it is already in the United States.
“When we start to look for it, we’re going to find it,” he said, adding that “you have to make that assumption” that the mutated bug is in the US.
“Certainly, it is not yet the prevalent one, the way it seems to have assumed that prevalent nature in the UK,” Fauci, added.
British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic will require negative COVID-19 test results from travelers flying into New York City from the United Kingdom, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
Over the weekend, a growing list of European Union nations and Canada barred travel from the U.K. as a way to stop the spreading infections blamed on the new coronavirus variant.