UK Strain May Be More Lethal: 'That Would Be Frightening': Cuomo

LONG ISLAND, NY — As Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported Friday that three new cases of the UK variant have been discovered in New York State — with two cases found in Westchester County and another in Brooklyn — he was asked about reports that the new strain may be more lethal.

There are now 25 known cases of the UK variant in New York State, Cuomo said.

When asked about reports Friday that the variant may be linked to a higher death rate, Cuomo said the emerging information was "the exact opposite" of previous reports. It had previously been believed that the new strain was more highly transmissible but not more deadly.

"That would be frightening news," Cuomo said.

According to USA Today, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke Friday and said that the variant could be about 30 percent more deadly.

The BBC reported that, for example, in the case of 1,000 60-year-olds who had the initial coronavirus variant, 10 of them might die; that number rises to around 13 with the new strain.

In the BBC post, Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser, cautioned: "I want to stress that there's a lot of uncertainty around these numbers and we need more work to get a precise handle on it, but it obviously is a concern that this has an increase in mortality as well as an increase in transmissibility."