Governor Hochul: "We knew this was coming. Mayor, we talked about this, you and I have been in communication already. No cause for alarm, we just want to make sure that the public is aware of information when we receive it. We don't have more information at this time, but we suspect there'll be more cases emerging. And the best thing that everyone can do is realize we're not defenseless against this variant at all. That the vaccine we know is going to ensure that there's less severe symptoms. The booster is something I would highly recommend. If you're not vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you have vaccinations, both, get the third dose, which is your booster."
Earlier this evening, Governor Kathy Hochul held a press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio to update New Yorkers on the first cases of the Omicron variant found in New York State.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on Flickr.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Thank you, Mayor de Blasio for first of all, hosting us here, as we make sure that we share information real time with the constituents of our city and our state. Also, I want to make sure everyone understands, this is about unity. There's a reason we're here together to signal that this is a challenge that we're going to tackle together and ensure that everyone knows that we have focused on transparency, which means we will provide information as we get it, as well as a coordinated response from the city and the state to deal with whatever lies ahead.
As I mentioned this morning, in my briefing, we still don't have specific information on how the vaccines are holding up, where the boosters are holding up, to this variant. But it is real. We said it would be coming here shortly. We announced this morning that a case from Minnesota was directly tied to the City of New York for individuals who participated in a convention at the Javits Center between November 18th and the 22nd.
That individual has already recovered from their symptoms. They tested positive but are already feeling well. And it was a very minor case and that's something I want to put an exclamation point on. While this may be highly transmissible, at least from the early evidence, and again, more information is still forthcoming, we want people to know that the early cases that have arisen are not life-threatening. They seem to be minor cases. And that is a source of good news for us right now.
But in terms of the information we received, literally, there are five cases identified today in the State of New York. The first one was in Suffolk County. I've been in communication with the County Executive, Steve Bellone, to alert him. This came out of a lab that is in Suffolk and was a 67-year-old female who had symptoms, mild symptoms, of a headache and a cough. There is some vaccination history. We don't know if it's one vaccination, two, or a booster shot, and that information will be shared with the public as soon as we receive it. But there's at least one vaccination involved.
This is an individual who traveled from South Africa, who tested negative [before]returning to the U.S. on November 25th. And on November 30th, [she] took a point of care test at a Northwell [testing site]. [She] did test positive and Northwell sent the[sample] to a lab and that person did test positive [for the Omicron variant].
Again, a traveler from South Africa who arrived here and is a Suffolk County resident, a 67-year-old woman.
Our second case is Queens based. The vaccination status is unknown to know whether or not this person had been vaccinated or not. Third case similar situation, no other for further personal details, but the vaccination status is unknown, Queens based.
And another case is from Brooklyn, unknown vaccination status. And we just received word of another suspected traveler case here in the city that was identified in the city. And that's in one of the five boroughs.
We knew this was coming. Mayor, we talked about this, you and I have been in communication already. No cause for alarm, we just want to make sure that the public is aware of information when we receive it. We don't have more information at this time, but we suspect there'll be more cases emerging. And the best thing that everyone can do is realize we're not defenseless against this variant at all. That the vaccine we know is going to ensure that there's less severe symptoms. The booster is something I would highly recommend. If you're not vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you have vaccinations, both, get the third dose, which is your booster. Ensure that our children are masked up as well as making sure that they get their vaccinations, anyone above five years old. I also recommend that people continue to wear their masks indoors and when you can, avoid large gatherings at this time.
This is not cause for major alarm. I need to say that because we do not have enough information. We're not having shutdowns, we're not changing our protocols. We are continuing where we are, but making sure that we work in concert together and encourage people to get tested, get tested often, get the vaccination and that, again, is our best defense.
Again, Mayor, I thank you for the continued relationship that we've had since the beginning of my term, short time, but a lot's been happening and I appreciate your leadership as we work through these issues.
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