New York confirms first case of UK coronavirus variant

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday confirmed New York state’s first case of the COVID-19 variant originally detected in the United Kingdom.

The patient, an individual from Saratoga County, New York, did not have any travel history, Cuomo said.

The U.K. variant is especially contagious but doesn’t appear to make people more sick or increase the risk of death from the virus, doctors have said. The variant is not expected to be resistant to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Three other people associated with the store where the Saratoga County patient works have also tested positive for COVID-19, but officials do not know if they contracted the U.K. variant. Cuomo said that residents who visited N. Fox Jewelers in Saratoga Springs between Dec. 18 and Dec. 24 should receive COVID-19 testing.

The United States’ identified its first case of the strain when a patient in Colorado tested positive for the variant late last week. Since then, the strain has also been found in Florida and California.

Saratoga County is about two hours away from Onondaga County.