New Coronavirus Strain 'Very Concerning': Cuomo

LONG ISLAND, NY — As the state continues to expand its coronavirus vaccination program, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is asking airlines from Britain — where a new strain is reportedly much more transmittable — to test passengers before they fly into New York.

"This new strain is very concerning," Cuomo said, adding that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, before a new lockdown was announced, said the new strain was 70 percent more transmittable.

"It’s serious, my friends, and we are on notice about it. Why don’t we act intelligently for a change?" Cuomo asked.

Cuomo said there are 120 countries asking that UK travelers have a negative test before getting on planes bound for the United States, but "the U.S. has done nothing," Cuomo said. "Why don't we mandate testing before people get on flights — or halt flights from the UK now?"

As it stands, thousands of UK passengers are arriving in New York every day, Cuomo said. "If this is 70 times more transmittable, this is a major problem for us. To once again be incompetent as a federal government and take no action is just not a viable option for us in New York. We learned this lesson the hard way and we are not going to go through it again. We won't be victimized again."

Cuomo asked three airlines coming from the UK, including British Airways, Delta and Virgin Atlantic, to add to New York State to its list of 120 countries requiring tests before flights leave. British Airways has agreed and will begin tomorrow, he said. He asked for Delta and Virgin Atlantic to comply voluntarily or else New York would pursue other options.

A mutated virus would constitute a second wave, Cuomo said.

Vaccination distribution widening

Meanwhile, New York State is expected to have received 630,000 doses by this week, and distributed the most vaccinations in the nation so far, a total of 38,000, he said. On Long Island, 86,150 vaccinations have been allocated. The process is not political, Cuomo said, but proportionate to the number of people in the first group identified for vaccinations, including front line workers. Nursing home vaccinations have begun, Cuomo said.

This week the priority population will be expanded to included federally-qualified health care workers, EMTS, coroners, medical examiners, funeral home works, and other congregate care workers and residents.

He outlined the federal nursing home vaccination program, a six-week long program that kicked off Monday and included three clinical days at each facility.

Cuomo said he would take the vaccine himself today but didn't want the "flipside" of being told he was taking that vaccination away from an essential worker.

All 618 nursing homes in New York State have signed up for the program, including 77 on Long Island, Cuomo said.

He is also rolling out a community-based vaccination program that can be sent to churches, public housing authorities, and community groups, to ensure that the most "vulnerable and underserved are not left behind," including members of the Black and Brown communities who had the highest death rates and lowest death rates during the pandemic, Cuomo said. A public education program will also be created to help overcome the "very real resistance" to the vaccination in many of those communities.

The program would include fully-contained vaccination kits that would be sent out to those community groups; a task force has also been created to address the issues, he said.

Cuomo also reminded that 75 percent of cases are attributed to "living room" spread but said New York has fared better than other states over Thanksgiving, adhering to admonitions about staying home and not traveling for the holidays.

"If we stay smart a spike is not inevitable," Cuomo said.

On Monday, the state's positivity rate without the microcluster zones was 5.28 percent, with the microcluster zones, it was 5.75 percent, and in the microcluster zones, it was 7.1 percent.

Long Island's positivity rate was 6.39 percent.

There were 109 deaths over the past 24 hours, Cuomo said.

No state emergency relief; "dramatic tax increase coming"

Discussing the newly agreed-upon federal relief package, Cuomo said there was no state or local funding despite the fact that New York faces a staggering $15 billion deficit, meaning a "dramatic tax increase coming during a time when the economy is faltering." The lack of emergency relief could also mean layoffs of police, firemen, and teachers, and cuts to education, as well as rent and mortgage relief programs, Cuomo said.

Saving Long Island's drinking water

In other news, Cuomo announced a victory in battling a toxic plume at the former Grumman facility. Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy, Cuomo said, agreed to a $406 million cleanup that would ensure protection for Long Island's drinking water.