New York is on guard against the omicron variant

  • Governor Kathy Hochul is the first US authority to declare a state of emergency

When the coronavirus broke into USA last year New York it was the first epicenter of the pandemic in the country. Now when the virus resurfaces In times of low temperatures, travel and more indoor gatherings and when the world looks with concern at the omicron variant, the state has become the first in the nation to officially issue an emergency order to try to anticipate a situation of potential danger.

“Although the new omicron variant has not yet been detected in New York state is going to arrive& rdquor ;, asserted with certainty Saturday the governor New Yorker Kathy Hochul. He did it in a tweet in which he announced that declaration of state of emergency taken the day before.

This step will allow from Friday, December 3 and at least until January 15, to adopt measures such as reject patients that do not require essential medical care or emergency care in hospitals with limited capacity or some designated by the state. It also opens the doors to other steps like speed up the acquisition of material and supplies or hiring of medical and health personnel to fight the disease.

In the text of the order, the threat of the omicron variant does not appear or cite, and there are references to “Alarming signs of increases in covid-19 cases this winter & rdquor;, among which Hochul highlights transmission levels that haven’t seen each other in New York since April 2020 and the fact that they are exceeding 300 hospitalizations a day. But the governor has made it clear in her message that she prefers to prevent and anticipate.

Biden’s “Precautionary Measures”

His emergency order arrived according to Friday also the Joe Biden administration announced that as of this Monday restricts non-Americans entry into flights from South Africa and seven other countries of that region, a decision not without controversy that the president identified as “a precautionary measure until we have more information & rdquor; and that he took following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (which for now have not detected cases of omicron in the US), and his Covid-19 team, led by the doctor Anthony Fauci. This one, in a round of interviews this weekend, has indicated that “when you have a virus that has already gone to multiple countries will inevitably be here “.

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Hochul has also urged New Yorkers to continue taking preventive measures such as wearing a mask, wash hands frequently, get tests and stay home if you feel sick, in addition to calling intensify vaccination, which although in New York has already reached 77% of the population and 89% of those over 12 years of age, above the respective national averages of 59 and 69%, has stagnated in some regions, especially in the north of the state. “The vaccine remains one of our best weapons in the fight against the pandemic, and I encourage all New Yorkers to get vaccinated and get boosted if they are fully vaccinated,” he said.

The governor has won the applause of doctors such as David Battinelli, head of the Northwell Health network, who in a statement to local television NY1 recalled that the greatest threat in the region for now remains the Delta variant but welcomed “use this variant (omicron) as a suitable excuse to raise vaccination rates. People relax, you see fewer people with masks and the increase in vaccination that should have & rdquor; is not taking place, the doctor recalled.



Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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