The state of New York, in the United States, has declared a state of emergency as an exceptional measure before the appearance of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The governor of the state, the democrat Kathy Hochul, has been one of the first officials in the country to make a decision regarding the new variant of the virus, as pointed out by the newspaper ‘The Hill’.
For his part, the main person in charge of the fight against the coronavirus in the country, Anthony Faucci, has acknowledged this Saturday that he or would be “surprised” if the omicron variant was already on US soil.
“I would not be surprised if it was. We have not detected it yet, but when there is a virus with this level of transmissibility and there are already travel cases in Israel, Belgium and other countries … when there is a virus like this, it is almost impossible not to spreads everywhere, “Fauci said in statements to the NBC network.
Many countries – including the United States – have banned international tourists from South Africa, where the new variant was first detected, and its southern neighbors on the African continent.
US President Joe Biden himself called this decision a “precautionary measure” given the rapid advance of this variant, and invited the citizens of the country to get vaccinated. “We need more Americans of all age groups to receive this life-saving protection,” he said.
In addition, Hochul is appealing to the population to wear a mask, get vaccinated and receive booster doses.
