NY Governor Declares State Of Emergency To Prepare For New Variant
New York is not playing any games. Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency ahead of potential COVID-19 spikes this winter due to the already-circulating Delta and a new variant.
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Hochul’s declaration on Friday is one of the first emergency steps taken by a state in the U.S. against the new variant, known as Omicron, following its discovery on Thursday. As NBC News reports, the declaration, which goes into effect on Dec. 3, will allow the state to not only acquire pandemic-fighting supplies, but also increase hospital capacity and fight potential staffing shortages.
In addition to this, it would also allow the state Health Department to limit non-essential and non-urgent procedures at hospitals. “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 said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, said in an interview Friday with CNN that there have been no omicron cases detected in the U.S so far. However, he acknowledged that doesn’t rule out the possibility the variant could be in the country.
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