ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo called on the federal government to take action in the wake of a new highly contagious variant of COVID-19 circulating in the United Kingdom.
He said several European countries have either banned travel to the UK or required testing before people may board a plane. But Cuomo called it “reprehensible” that Washington has done nothing.
“Right now, this variant in the UK is getting on a plane and flying to JFK. Right now, today, 120 countries require a test, we don’t. Other European countries have done a ban, we haven’t and today that variant is getting on a plane and land in JFK,” he said. “How many times in life do you have to make the same mistake before you learn?”
The governor is concerned that without stricter measures in place, we could see a repeat of the spring when passengers from Europe brought the virus to New York.
