The state of New York discovered its first case of a new and more contagious variant of COVID-19.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced during a Monday press conference that the new strain, known as B.1.1.7, was found in a 60-year-old man in Saratoga County in upstate New York.
The man did not have a travel history, Cuomo said, but he did work at a jewelry store where three others have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The state is investigating whether the new variant is to blame for those cases.
Cuomo also said the state conducted 5,000 tests to find cases of the new strain.
“If other states could test as much as we were testing and tested for the U.K. strain as much as we’ve tested, they would be finding them,” the governor said.
While B.1.1.7. was first reported in the United Kingdom, cases have since been discovered in Colorado, California, and Florida.
Cuomo has been urging the federal government to do more to protect the United States against the new threat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now requires all airline passengers traveling from the U.K. to the U.S. to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before their departure.
Pfizer and Moderna both claim their vaccines will be effective in fighting against the new strain.
