Contagious cases
Contagious coronavirus linked to Saratoga store
Three more coronavirus variant cases are reported in the state./
Three more cases of the more contagious variant of the coronavirus have been detected in New York state, two of them connected to a Saratoga Springs case, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Saturday.
The two Saratoga Springs cases are connected to the N. Fox Jewelers store on Broadway, the site of the first case in New York, Cuomo said during his Saturday coronavirus briefing. The third case was found in a 64-year-old man from Massapequa, in Nassau County on Long Island, and was detected by a private lab, Cuomo said.
The new B117 variant of the virus, which originates from the United Kingdom, was first found in the state on Monday in an employee who works at the jewelry store on Broadway.
Cuomo’s office said that after the variant was identified in Saratoga, the state’s Wadsworth Laboratory sequenced the virus from five more store employees who had tested positive for COVID-19. Wadsworth confirmed that the UK strain was present in two of those people.
The health department provided free COVID-19 tests during the week for those who may have had an exposure related to
the Saratoga case, his office said. More than 400 people were tested and the Wadsworth Center is screening all positive cases for the new variant.
The Long Island case is separate from those in Saratoga, Cuomo said. The department is working with contact tracers in Nassau County to identify additional potential exposures. Scientists estimate this variant is anywhere from 40 to 70 percent more infectious than the last one, but they say it doesn’t appear to be more lethal and will unlikely change the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines currently being rolled out and administered.
The further spread of the new variant comes as deaths from the virus occur at their fastest rate yet in the Capital Region, which is already dealing with record-breaking hospitalizations and cases. Over 600 people have now died from COVID-19 since the initial days of the pandemic across the eight counties comprising the Capital Region.
Saratoga County officials said Saturday the developments underscore the need to follow guidelines to keep the illness from spreading — continue to wear masks, wash hands, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings with anyone outside your household.
“The health and safety of county residents remains our top priority, and Public Health Services will continue to work with NYSDOH and the Wadsworth Center to conduct surveillance and contact tracing,” said Dr. Daniel Kuhles, county Public Health Services commissioner.
Elsewhere
In Albany County, three more residents died from COVID-19, officials said Saturday, bringing the total number of pandemic deaths in the county to
249.
There were also 268 new positive cases of coronavirus recorded overnight, said County Executive Dan Mccoy. Of those new cases, 216 didn’t have a clear source of infection, 17
were health care workers and 34 had close contact with an infected person. There are 149 residents hospitalized from the virus, with 12 in intensive
care, Mccoy said.
On Friday, County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said the county opened its first point of dispensing for the
vaccine at the Times Union Center on Thursday. The county has vaccinated 375 health care workers and others eligible under state guidelines, Whalen said.