The South African coronavirus variant has now been identified in New York City, health officials said on Tuesday – when they gave an update on the various mutations now spreading through the Big Apple.
‘With the increase in the number of New Yorkers being vaccinated every day, there is real reason for hope for better months ahead. But at the edge of this growing light, there is also a shadow of this new variant of the COVID-19 in the city, ‘said dr. Dave Chokshi, commissioner of the city department of health, said at a press conference.
According to the health commissioner, two cases of the South African variant, called B.1.351, were found in residents of Big Apple.
Since last week, the number of confirmed city cases has been of the highly contagious British variant. known as B.1.1.7, increased from 59 to 116, Chokshi said.
“The city will continue to test thousands of samples to find out more, and health department detectives are investigating the health implications for these variants,” Chokshi said.
Meanwhile, the homemade strain that originated in New York City, known as B.1.526, is currently classified as a variant of interest, ‘said Dr. Jay Varma, Mayor Bill de Blasio, senior public health adviser, said during the briefing. .
‘We expect to have preliminary answers [about the New York City variant] by next week, ”said Varma.
Varma added: ‘And if we notice anything disturbing, we’ll tell you. If we think that the variant is probably not going to be a big problem, we will tell you that too. And if we’m not sure yet, we’ll tell you. ”
“We are going to keep doing what we did, still getting the best possible data and using it to fight this epidemic together,” he said.
The New York City variant was first found in the Washington Heights in Manhattan, but according to officials, it is unclear where it originated.
Varma regards the British tribe, the South African variant and the Brazilian variant, known as P.1, as ‘variants of concern’.
‘What makes this a variant of concern? It can change so much that it avoids our usual tests. Our usual tests cannot diagnose it, or it has changed so much that our antibodies escape. Or it has changed so much that it leads to worse illness and death, ”Varma said.
Chokshi noted that health officials “are still learning about the efficacy of vaccines on these variants, but research so far is consistent with the FDA – approved COVID-19 vaccines. [Food and Drug Administration] will help reduce the risk of serious infections and death. ”