Kathy Hochul on Friday declared a 'disaster emergency' in New York, as the state braces for the arrival of Omicron, a new and worrying COVID-19 variant which was first detected in Botswana.
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'It's coming': Gov. Kathy Hochul declares state of emergency in New York to boost hospital capacity and address staffing shortages in response to new Covid variant Omicron after Biden announced US will ban travel from eight African countries
- Hochul on Friday declared a 'disaster state' due to COVID levels being at a rate not seen in the state since April 2020
- She stressed that Omicron has not yet been found in the U.S. but experts believe it is only a matter of time
- Hochul announced hospitals have the option of canceling of elective surgeries, if they become dangerously overwhelmed, to free up staff and facilities
- Her move was in response to the new COVID variant Omicron, which begun in Botswana and is spreading rapidly in South Africa
- It has now been found in Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium, with around 100 confirmed cases worldwide
- Experts do not yet know if Omicron is more transmissible or more dangerous, but they fear it could be more resistant to vaccines or immunity
The governor of New York on Friday declared a state of emergency as COVID transmission reached rates not seen since April 2020, and warned that the troubling new variant of COVID which first emerged in Botswana is 'coming'.
Earlier on Friday, the US banned flights from eight Southern African countries to try and prevent the mutant strain, Omicron, from arriving.
Kathy Hochul, the governor, said that all non-urgent procedures could be postponed, beginning December 3, if the hospital's capacity falls dangerously low.
If a hospital finds that it has fewer than 10 per cent of 'staffed bed capacity' free, then it will be permitted to cancel the non-urgent procedures, she ruled.
She also issued a '
declaration of disaster emergency', noting that COVID transmission is at a level not seen since April 2020. The declaration unlocks sweeping powers for her to take emergency measures, without the usual congressional approval.
'We continue to see warning signs of spikes in COVID this winter, and while the new Omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it's coming,' Hochul tweeted.
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Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, on Friday warned the state that the new COVID variant, Omicron, was on its way, tweeting: 'It's coming'. She issued an executive order allowing hospitals whose bed capacity falls dangerously low to cancel elective operations
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A nurse operates a ventilator for a patient with COVID-19 who went into cardiac arrest and was revived by staff, in Yonkers in April 2020. COVID transmission is now as high as it was then, the governor said on Friday
Hours earlier,
Joe Biden confirmed that travel from
South Africa and seven other countries in the region had been halted.
The new variant was first found in Botswana and has since moved to South Africa, where it is spreading rapidly through six provinces.
It has also been found in Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium.
Hochul's declaration of a 'disaster emergency' acknowledges that the state is struggling - even before Omicron hits.
'A disaster has occurred in New York State, for which the affected local governments are unable to respond adequately,' the declaration states.
'New York is now experiencing COVID-19 transmission at rates the State has not seen since April 2020.
'The rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions has been increasing over the past month to over 300 new admissions a day.'
It means that she can acquire pandemic supplies and enact the emergency hospital plan.
Hochul's predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, declared a disaster emergency on March 7, 2020.
It ran until June 24, and was ended amid controversy, with Cuomo's critics saying that he had used the emergency powers to consolidate his own personal power and rule in an authoritarian way, bypassing the legislature.
Cuomo said the decree could be lifted because of progress made in combatting the pandemic.
'Given New York's dramatic progress against COVID-19, with the success in vaccination rates, and declining hospitalization and positivity statewide the state of emergency will expire,' he said at the time.
Hochul said that the current data is worrying, and again urged New Yorkers to get vaccinated, noting that just under 10 per cent of adults in the state had still not received their first shot.
'The vaccine remains one of our greatest weapons in fighting the pandemic, and I encourage every New Yorker to get vaccinated, and get the booster if you're fully vaccinated,' she said.
Biden on Friday announced that travel will be banned from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.
US citizens and green card holders will still be able to travel into the US from the banned countries, but no one else will be allowed.
Biden announced the ban on Friday hours after his top COVID expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said in an interview that it was too soon to enact such measures.
The World Health Organization named the new variant on Friday and also officially categorized it as a strain of concern.
Speaking outside the Nantucket Tap Room where he had lunch on Friday afternoon, he told reporters that he'd spoken with his team for half an hour on Friday, and that the ban was the result of that meeting.
'We don't know a lot about the variant except that it is a great concern and seems to spread rapidly. I spent about a half hour this morning with my covert team led by Dr. Fauci and so that was the decision we made,' he said.
The UK had already halted flights as had some European countries but Biden said he waited until the medical experts told him he should impose restrictions.
He also reiterated the need for everyone to get vaccinated and then get booster shots as soon as they can.
'Every American that has not been vaccinated, should be responsible and be vaccinated from age five years and up, number one,' he said.
'Number two, everyone eligible for the booster shot, should get the booster shot immediately upon being eligible. That is a minimum that everyone should be doing.
'And you know, we always talk about whether this is about freedom and I think it's a patriotic responsibility.'
Forty percent of the US population remains unvaccinated.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have already assured that they will be able to update their vaccine technology to tackle Omicron, should it be necessary.
The panic surrounding the new variant has been sudden and has sent shivers through the stock market; the Dow plummeted by 1,000 points on Friday.
President Biden said the drop was 'expected' but that he is not worried about the markets.
Further details on what new restrictions will be imposed on non-US citizens and green card holders are expected to be announced imminently.
The administration is in contact with African officials to keep an eye on the situation.
‘We are in close contact with the Southern African public health officials and working closely with them to understand more,’ the senior administration official added.
It comes amid fears of the newly-emerged COVID variant, which scientists fear could be the most infectious strain of the virus to date.
Earlier this morning, White House COVID tsar Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN that the US will had no immediate plans to restrict travel from South Africa, where a new 'super mutant' variant of COVID-19 is panicking scientists, until officials can study the variant more, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday despite the UK and some European countries banning travel.
The World Health Organization has named the new variant Omicron.
It remains unclear exactly how deadly it is among unvaccinated people, and American health agencies are yet to make any form of warning about it but there are fears it is more transmissible than any other variant yet and that it may also render some vaccines ineffective.
South African health officials are trying to calm other countries and have called the sudden panic a 'storm in a teacup'.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have said they can quickly update their vaccines if they need to to take the new variant on.
'It seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate. We're finding more about it,' he said.
He added that there is 'no indication' the mutation is in the US, but that it is possible.
'When you look at a mutation it can give you a hint or prediction that it might evade the immune response you need to get that sequence of the virus, put it in the lab and test the antibodies.
'Right now, we're getting the material together to get a situation where you can directly test it.
'Right now it's a red flag that it might be an issue but you don't know.
'Once you test it you know for sure whether it does or does not evade the antibodies for example that we make for a vaccine.
'The answer is we don't know right now but we're going to find out for sure.'
The variant, though still largely a mystery to scientists, has already sent shivers through the US markets.
Dow futures fell 2.25 percent, and both the NASDAQ and S&P Futures Indices were down by more than 1 percent.
The price of Brent Crude, the market of the global price of oil, fell by six percent.
The variant, B.1.1.529, is believed to have emerged in Botswana - from where there are no direct flights to the U.S. - and is also being found in neighboring South Africa.
Hong Kong reported a case after a passenger who had recently traveled from South Africa was found to be infected with the variant, and then infected another person while in the same hotel, quarantining.
Israel has also identified a case 'in a person who returned from Malawi,' with 'two more cases of people returning from abroad' placed in quarantine, the country's health ministry said Friday.
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said initial data from the variant was worrying and border restrictions should be imposed.
'Looks like vaccine evasion could be real with this variant,' he tweeted, pointing out that the two patients in Hong Kong who had the variant were both doubled-jabbed with the Pfizer vaccine.
One of the two had recently been in Southern Africa. That person then passed it on to a second person, quarantining in the same hotel.
'It's very airborne,' Feigl-Ding said. 'The hotel guests were in different room across the hallway from each other. Environmental samples found the virus in 25 of 87 swabs across both rooms.'
He added: 'I think border and travel restrictions make sense. Especially since Hong Kong only caught the case because of a mandatory hotel quarantine. Which countries in the west still have that??? Almost none.'
Botswana has four confirmed cases, South Africa 77 - with the real figure likely in the hundreds - and Hong Kong has two, meaning 83 cases of the variant are confirmed so far.
But South African scientists tried to backpedal today saying it was 'likely' that vaccines still offered 'high levels of protection' against hospitalisations and deaths from the variant.
As of 5:00 a.m. EST, the CDC website's
travel advice page for South Africa had the country listed as 'Level 1: Low Level of COVID-19', with flights to the US permitted from the African country since November 8.
The levels range from Level unknown, Level 1: Low, Level 2: Moderate, Level 3: High and Level 4: Very High.
The CDC page asks anyone travelling to and from South Africa to be fully vaccinated, or for those who are not to be tested for Covid. It also recommends travelers follow measures in-place in South Africa, including wearing a mask and social distancing.
South Africa's infection rate spiked 93 per cent in a day yesterday amid fears the strain is driving the surge. Local scientists say it has likely spread to all the country's nine provinces, but there is yet to be a surge in hospitalizations in epicenter Johannesburg.
From discovery to global panic in 48 hours: How South African scientists' warnings about soaring cases of Covid super-mutant variant sparked frantic cabinet meeting and worldwide travel ban
The world shut itself off from Southern Africa today in response to a super mutant variant that was unheard of just days ago.
B.1.1.529 — which has now been named Omicron— was first picked up in Hong Kong on Monday in a patient who had travelled from South Africa.
It did not catch international attention until Wednesday after a British scientists mentioned its 32 'horrific' mutations on social media after cases were picked up in Botswana and South Africa as well.
Boris Johnson's spokesperson said the variant was not an 'issue' on Wednesday afternoon despite UK experts warning it had a horrific set of mutations that could allow it to dodge vaccines.
By Thursday the South African Government was forced to warn the world about the strain at a sombre press conference, admitting it had triggered an 'exponential' rise in Gauteng province and was likely in every corner of the country, outpacing Delta at ferocious speed.
The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was monitoring the situation closely but that it did not pose a threat to the UK at the time. Chris Whitty and other prominent experts warned of a potential global outbreak that could undermine the UK's vaccine program.
Journalists were briefed on Thursday night by senior scientists at a hastily organized briefing where they were told the variant was at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive than Delta.
The media was told the strain was the worst seen 'ever' and that the variant could be at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive.
At the same time, an emergency Covid committee cabinet meeting convened to discuss Britain's next steps to deal with the variant.
It prompted a rapid announcement from Health Secretary Sajid Javid last night that there would be a travel ban on six African countries in the south of the continent.
And scientists hit the airwaves this morning to warn of the potential return of draconian Covid restrictions this winter because of the strain.
New cases were picked up in Israel and then Belgium and European countries began shutting off their borders to people coming in from South Africa, with passengers unable to leave a plane in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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