Coronavirus

Timeline: Tracking the Spread of COVID-19 in Tri-State as Historic 2020 Comes to an End

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People worldwide see the light at the end of the tunnel as vaccinations against COVID-19 rolled out in time to close out a historic, yet deadly, 2020.

Here's what we know so far about its spread, in reverse-chronological order of when the cases were reported. For additional information, see our previous timeline, and continue visiting nbcnewyork.com for coronavirus-related updates.

December 31, 2020

New York eclipsed 30,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths Thursday, a tragic end to a year no one who lives in the state -- or anywhere, for that matter -- will remember fondly.

And on the last day of the year, the state also set a new record with nearly 17,000 positive tests -- 25 percent higher than the old daily high-water mark.

The five boroughs are particularly anxious to usher out 2020 -- a year wrecked by staggering human and financial loss that continues to mount daily.

Even as New York City looks forward to a more hopeful 2021, its COVID positivity rate has climbed since late September, and steadily soared over the last month. By Thursday, the seven-day positivity rate was 8.87 percent, yet another recent high, as the rolling hospitalization rate climbed to 3.93 per 100,000 residents.

Hospitalizations the last seven days are up 15 percent over the previous month's weekly average, city data shows, while deaths are up 15 percent in the same time. New cases are up less than 4 percent by the same standards, which suggests the lagging effect on hospitalizations and fatalities may be starting to hit its peak.

To date, the city has seen at least 25,000 deaths, by New York Times data, and may have thousands more attributable to it; Brooklyn and Queens remain the third- and fourth-deadliest COVID counties in the entire country. The city's first COVID death was reported on March 14. In his final COVID briefing of 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced March 14, 2021 will be a day of remembrance.

"We need to recognize 25,000 of our fellow New Yorkers gone -- that's something we have to always mark going forward," de Blasio said. "We got to remember them by 1) being there for their families, by 2) honoring those who did so much to try to save them, and 3) by working to make this city better all the time in their memory."

He also pleaded with New Yorkers Thursday to do what they can to curb what Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a day earlier to be an "apparent post-holiday increase" in just a few days. The true impact will take weeks to fully materialize -- but in just the last 10 days, more than 117,000 New Yorkers have tested positive.

That's 12 percent of all the positive tests since the pandemic started.

December 30, 2020

Coronavirus hospitalizations have climbed to nearly 8,000 in New York for the first time since May 7 and Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported a new single-day high in cases Wednesday, both threats to the healthcare system with the full effect of the feared holiday "surge upon surge" still yet to play out.

At the same time, two new, more contagious viral strains have emerged, the CDC said in a telebriefing Wednesday. While evidence to date does not indicate either appears to result in more severe infections or higher death rates, the CDC's COVID-19 incident manager, Dr. Henry Walke, did warn that the heightened ease of transmission could translate to many more cases.

Early post-Christmas weekend data was jarring across the board, Cuomo acknowledged. He described the holiday weekend increases as "dramatic," but said Monday they didn't necessarily signify an initial surge upon surge in cases.

By Wednesday, the governor was willing to call the latest increases an "apparent" post-holiday effect. Testing numbers have yet to climb to the volume they've seen in recent months, though, so he wants more time to study the data.

"We're still not seeing the testing volume we did have," Cuomo said Wednesday, referring to the days of 200,000-plus tests more common recently. He said additional analyses need to be done to determine any potential trends.

In New Jersey, the increases have been less stark than New York's as of late. Weekly hospitalization and death averages are up 2 percent and 1 percent respectively over the last 14 days, New York Times data shows.

New daily case averages are down 16 percent over the same period. Testing may account for that, too, to some degree.

At his last 2020 COVID-19 briefing Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the ban on indoor organized sports in New Jersey that he implemented late last month at the youth, high school and adult recreational levels would be permitted to expire on Saturday. Interstate sports at those levels remain prohibited for another month.

Safety protocols, including masks and capacity limitations, remain in effect when indoor youth sports resume, Murphy said. Should allowing that become problematic in terms of increased viral spread or ongoing lack of cooperation with contact tracers, the governor says he reserves the right to reevaluate the call.

Later in the briefing, Murphy took time to reflect on a few of the nearly 19,000 lives New Jersey has lost to the virus this year, as he has done at each update.

December 29, 2020

Mayor Bill de Blasio urged New Yorkers not to make too much of initial post-holiday COVID numbers in his first post-Christmas COVID briefing on Tuesday, which comes as the city faces the highest rolling positivity rate it has seen in months and hospitalizations and confirmed virus deaths continue to rise.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate hit 7.45 percent on Tuesday, topping the charts on city data that only goes back through Sept. 27. Hospitalizations over the last seven days are up more than 11 percent over the last month's weekly average. Deaths are up by 6 percent within the same timeframe, though increases in fatalities tend to lag increases in hospitalizations and cases.

With more than 17,400 confirmed lost to the virus in the five boroughs since March, by state data -- and likely thousands upon thousands more that may never fully be counted -- de Blasio took a moment Tuesday to reflect on the toll.

"Every one of these people we've lost are part of our lives, part of our families, part of our communities - and all lost to a disease that about a year ago we had never even heard of," the mayor said. "It's shocking, still. We can never get numb to it, just how horrible this has been."

These latest numbers do not even reflect any potential holiday effect, which may take weeks to fully materialize. Despite the increases, de Blasio cautioned Tuesday that the early post-holiday numbers be "taken with a grain of salt" given the unusual testing patterns. It'll take a few days at least to best assess the spike.

To date, more than 335,000 have died and confirmed infections have topped 19 million. All in all, a virus that was just beginning to make global headlines this time last year has now killed more than 1 in every 1,000 Americans.

Despite warnings from the CDC to stay home for the holidays, more than 10 million people traveled by air in the U.S. over the past 10 days, according to TSA data. Sunday was the highest air traffic day (1.28 million travelers) of all of them and marked an increase of nearly 100,000 from the previous post-pandemic high.

Cuomo updated state quarantine guidelines Tuesday to align with CDC recommendations issued earlier this month. Going forward, individuals potentially exposed to the virus can end their quarantines in New York after 10 days without any test as long as they've had no symptoms. They should still monitor themselves for potential symptoms in the days immediately following and contact their health providers if they notice a change, the governor says

December 28, 2020

New York is poised to eclipse 30,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths this week (though the actual toll is likely much higher already) as hospitalizations continue to climb amid an anxious wait for the dreaded holiday surge upon surge in cases.

Securing hospital capacity has been the top priority for Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the last month as the numbers slowly -- and then more steadily -- climbed. Nearly 7,600 (7,559) people were hospitalized with the virus statewide as of Monday, an increase of almost 400 over the previous day and the highest total since May 8, a harbinger of more potential tragedy to come.

The state has reported at least 100 new COVID deaths a day for nearly two weeks now. The total number of confirmed fatalities is now 29,629, though the CDC and experts say the virus is likely blamed for thousands upon thousands more deaths.

In his first post-Christmas COVID briefing Monday, Cuomo said he hoped New Yorkers had adhered to his mantra: "Celebrate smart, stop the shutdowns."

"There is nothing pre-ordained here," Cuomo said Monday. "What will happen will be a consequence of our actions -- a year where we felt out of control we're actually in ultimate control because we control the spread of the virus."

Already, there are some alarming signs. New York state's positivity rate with the micro-clusters is 8.33 percent as of Monday, the highest number in some time. The rolling seven-day average is 5.9 percent, again a marked increase as of late.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio reported yet another day of new hospital admissions topping his 200-threshold Monday.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate topped 7 percent over the weekend for the first time in recent memory and climbed to 7.24 percent as of Monday, according to the mayor's data, which trends higher than state reporting.

Staten Island continues to drive a disproportionate share of the increase, a fact that Cuomo says is due to an ongoing lack of public adherence to precautions. The only borough with a COVID positivity rate below five percent was Manhattan.

Meanwhile, New Jersey took another step on the vaccine front Monday in launching the process in its long-term care centers, which have accounted for 40 percent of all its confirmed virus deaths. Murphy was on hand to witness the first shots in that phase at Old Bridge's Roosevelt Care Center Monday morning.

December 27, 2020

Hospitalizations in New York rose above 7,000 for the first time in months as the winter wave of the coronavirus continues its grip on the tri-state and the rest of the country

The number of New Yorkers admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 hit 7,138 after creeping closer to 7,000 all week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday. He says the state finds itself in a “footrace” to distribute the vaccine amid a rising spike, with daily death counts in the triple digits for nearly two weeks now.

Sunday's report added another 115 names to the state's death toll, which could reach 30,000 this week based on current projections.

"It has been a tough year and we still have several tough months ahead, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we will make it there if we all do our part to slow the spread," Cuomo said in a Sunday statement.

New York City cleared a benchmark over the weekend as well. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's seven-day rolling positivity finally crossed 7 percent after inching higher all last week. The state's positivity, meanwhile, holds steady around 5.5 percent.

On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced new measures to protect New York City from the new COVID strain, which has not yet been detected in the U.S. Effective immediately, U.K. travelers to New York City will be personally served a Department of Health commissioner quarantine order by the sheriff's office.

"This will be a personal and direct order to every single one of them telling them they must quarantine," the mayor said. "People are going to be held responsible."

The travel unit will knock on hotel or home doors to ensure compliance. Beyond U.K. travelers, all people coming into the city will receive a commissioner quarantine order via certified mail. Each day a person is found in violation of the quarantine order incurs a $1,000 fine.

Officials in Canada's most populous province have confirmed the first two known Canadian cases of the variant that has since been detected in several other countries, including Denmark, France, Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands.

Cuomo believes the new strain is already in New York -- if something spreads globally, it ends up here. But he wants to know when it's confirmed, and where it's been detected. The governor has ordered hospitals across the state to test for the mutation. 

Over the Christmas holiday, the U.S. recorded more than 19 million coronavirus cases and over 332,000 deaths, according to a tally by NBC News. The virus has now taken the lives of one in every 1,000 Americans.

Despite these growing figures and repeated warnings from government officials, travel surged as Americans criss-crossed the county for the holidays. On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that the rising tide of infections could get another boost due to the spike in travel.

"We very well might see a post-seasonal — in the sense of Christmas, New Year's — surge, and as I've described it, as a surge upon a surge," Fauci said on CNN's "State of the Union."

But he said he agreed with the assessment made by President-elect Joe Biden, who warned on Tuesday that "our darkest days in this battle against Covid are ahead of us, not behind us."

As of Sunday, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had confirmed more than 50,000 virus deaths and more than 1.5 million cases, though tri-state officials acknowledge both tolls are likely significantly higher than reported.

December 26, 2020

Doses of the coronavirus vaccine may have been wrongfully obtained and distributed throughout parts of New York, the state's top doctor said Saturday.

Dr. Howard Zucker, commissioner for the state's department of health, says his office received reports of ParCare Community Health Network "fraudulently" obtaining the vaccine and transferring it to "facilities in other parts of the state."

The vaccine doses allegedly diverted for "members of the public" circumvent the state's plan to prioritize the inoculation of frontline healthcare professionals and residents of long-term care facilities, Zucker said. New York's initial rollout of the vaccine it still limited to hospitals and nursing homes.

ParCare Community Health Network - identified by the state as a provider in Orange County - services branches throughout a number of Brooklyn neighborhoods and the Upper East Side.

On Dec. 16, the company offered doses of the vaccine on a "first come first serve basis" through a social media post on Facebook. The post included a sign-up form for the elderly, people at high-risk, and those with underlying conditions.

One week later, ParCare shared photos of the Moderna vaccine on Twitter, saying the company had received thousands of doses.

The DOH said it wouldn't comment beyond Zucker's Saturday statement.

"We take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in a criminal investigation into this matter. Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Zucker said in the Saturday press release.

A statement from ParCare acknowledged the department of health's inquiry and assured cooperation while the state investigates.

"During these unprecedented times, we have striven to provide critical healthcare services and administer COVID-19 vaccinations to those qualified to receive them under the New York State Department of Health's guidelines, which includes frontline healthcare workers and first responders," the statement read, in part.

At the end of October, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a partnership with ParCare to increase the availability of rapid testing in several locations throughout Borough Park and Williamsburg.

December 25, 2020

Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged New Yorkers to remain vigilant in the fight against the coronavirus, saying in a Christmas Day statement that the state finds itself in a “footrace” to distribute the vaccine amid rising cases.

The latest statistics showed the state’s positivity rate falling slightly even as hospitalizations continued to rise.

The state on Friday announced 122 new deaths caused by COVID-19, bringing the state’s official count to 29,270. But the governor sounded a note of cautious optimism on the 300th day of the pandemic.

“New York made it through Thanksgiving better than most places, so as we celebrate Christmas today it’s critical we retain that momentum and remember that celebrating smart stops shutdowns,” the Democrat said. “While the vaccine is now here, we are still months away from widespread vaccination and finally reaching that light at the end of the tunnel.”

Cuomo also applauded the announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday that the United States will require airline passengers from Britain to get a negative COVID-19 test before their flight.

Several other countries have implemented similar travel restrictions because of a new variant of the coronavirus spreading in Britain and elsewhere.

“I called for the federal government to reverse its policy and am glad to see that it has now done so,” Cuomo said. “Testing people for COVID-19 before they get on planes is common sense.”

Earlier this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo got three major airlines that fly passengers between the U.K. and New York daily -- Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Delta -- to agree to require negative COVID-19 tests before departure as well.

December 24, 2020

New Jersey became the latest state to impose COVID testing mandates for flights originating in the U.K., Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday, as holiday travel compounds concerns that a more virulent strain will make its way to the tri-state.

But just hours later, the CDC took what had been a regional requirement and made it national -- all air travelers from the United Kingdom to the United States will now have to have a negative COVID test less than 72 hours before boarding their flight, starting Monday.

"As we continue to experience a second wave of COVID-19 cases, it’s critical that we take any and all precautions to mitigate the potential for further transmission," Murphy said in a statement.

The concerns come amid the emergence of a more virulent COVID-19 strain identified in the U.K. that tri-state officials fear will make its way to the region -- and a holiday travel season that compounds the risk of a more imminent arrival.

Earlier this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo got three major airlines that fly passengers between the U.K. and New York daily -- Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Delta -- to agree to require negative COVID-19 tests before departure as well.

On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced new measures to protect New York City from the new COVID strain, which has not yet been detected in the U.S. Effective immediately, U.K. travelers to New York City will be personally served a Department of Health commissioner quarantine order by the sheriff's office.

"This will be a personal and direct order to every single one of them telling them they must quarantine," the mayor said. "People are going to be held responsible."

The travel unit will knock on hotel or home doors to ensure compliance. Beyond U.K. travelers, all people coming into the city will receive a commissioner quarantine order via certified mail. Each day a person is found in violation of the quarantine order incurs a $1,000 fine.

"We cannot take chances with anyone who travels, particularly folks traveling in from the U.K.,” de Blasio said. “We don’t want to penalize people. Everyone’s been through hell this year. We don’t want to, but if you don’t follow quarantine you’re endangering everyone else in the city, right as we’re fighting the second wave.”

The developments come as New York City tries to fight back its steepest viral increases in months. The numbers are up across the board statewide as well.

On Friday, statewide hospitalizations hit 6,950, the highest total since May 12 as Cuomo reported 12,446 new cases, the third-highest number in a single day (that record was set less than a week ago, the same day a record number of daily tests were reported). Also on Friday, the governor reported more than 100 daily deaths (122) for the tenth time in 11 days, yet another reason to fear the potential introduction of a viral mutation that could spread more easily than the last strain.

Little is known about the strain at this point, though early evidence suggests it is up to 50 percent more transmissible and may more easily infect children. There is no evidence yet that the new strain is more lethal or causes more severe infections, but if it spreads more easily, it will by default lead to more cases, which will lead to more hospitalizations and some level of increase in deaths as well.

According to the CDC, the new strain, dubbed SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01, became prevalent in southeast England in November and accounts for up to 60 percent of recent infections in London. Viruses mutate all the time, the agency notes, so this one could have emerged by chance. Or it "may be emerging because it is better fit to spread in humans," the CDC said.

The U.K. variant has not yet been detected in the U.S. Ireland, Germany and Israel became the latest to confirm it this week, adding to a list that includes Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia, the World Health Organization says. While it hasn't yet been found in the U.S., the CDC says it may already be circulating here undetected. The agency has sequenced genetic coding from less than 0.3 percent of U.S. cases, it says, so the mutation may have slipped by undetected.

Cuomo believes the new strain is already in New York -- if something spreads globally, it ends up here. But he wants to know when it's confirmed, and where it's been detected. The governor has ordered hospitals across the state to test for the mutation. The Wadsworth Center, a state lab, has sequenced genetic coding from 3,700 New York samples thus far and has not detected the mutation, Cuomo said.

The lab and the Department of Health forged agreements with six hospitals to obtain additional samples and are working with others to acquire more test data. Hospitals can send positive COVID samples to be tested for the new strain, the governor said Wednesday. Email COVIDstrain@health.ny.gov for more details.

"If it's here, we want to know it, we want to isolate it immediately," Cuomo said. "If it is more easily transmissible, we want to catch it in the crib. We want to find patient zero on that variant."

Cuomo is concerned that the new strain, should it continue to spread, could bring about the second wave of coronavirus that many have feared for so long. That's what happened with the Spanish flu, he says.

Until more information is learned about the new strain, he has called on the federal government to halt travel between the United Kingdom and the United States. More than three dozen countries have barred flights from Britain since the variant prompted a new lockdown there; a number of others imposed restrictions.

That it developed so rapidly from a rare strain in the U.K. to a common one is a concern, the CDC has said. In a CNN interview Wednesday, CDC Director-designate Rochelle Walensky said travel bans, quarantines and testing-upon-arrival are all viable strategies as far as containing the mutant strain.

"We’ve been saying to the American people we need to limit our mobility period, that’s the best way to control the mutant strain so it doesn’t explode in other places," Walensky noted. "We need to promote vaccine distribution and vaccination, we need to get more vaccines into people and promote more testing."

Experts and doctors believe existing vaccines should be able to fight infection from new variants because emerging strains are likely to be genetically similar to prior ones. The CEO of BioNTech, which is behind Pfizer's drug, said Tuesday it is "highly likely that the immune response by this vaccine also can deal with the new virus variant." Additional testing to confirm that is underway, though data from those experiments likely won't be available for a number of weeks.

In the meantime, officials across the tri-state area continue to urge people to avoid travel if at all possible this season and to celebrate smart.

"We are rapidly distributing the vaccine to the most vulnerable New Yorkers and frontline heroes, but COVID continues to spread at high rates throughout the nation and we cannot let our guard down even for a moment," Cuomo said in a statement Thursday. "The holiday season is normally a time for celebration, but this year is different -- we must celebrate smart, and not allow COVID to be the grinch that results in increased viral spread as a result of the holidays."

Despite the warnings, more Americans traveled by plane on Dec. 23 than on any single day since March. Officials fear that could exacerbate the country's already world-high COVID death and case totals. To date, the U.S. has reported more than 327,000 deaths and well more than 18 million cases, NBC News data shows.

As of Thursday, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had confirmed more than 50,000 virus deaths and more than 1.5 million cases, though tri-state officials acknowledge both tolls are likely significantly higher than reported.

December 23, 2020

Officials across the tri-state area are issuing their last-ditch pleas Wednesday to avoid travel, wear masks and limit gatherings -- as fears of a more virulent COVID-19 strain identified in the U.K. making its way to the region predominate the conversation.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced new measures Wednesday to protect New York City from the new COVID strain, which has not yet been detected in the U.S. Effective immediately, U.K. travelers to New York City will be personally served a Department of Health commissioner quarantine order by the sheriff's office.

The travel unit will knock on hotel or home doors to ensure compliance. Beyond U.K. travelers, all people coming into the city will receive a commissioner quarantine order via certified mail. Each day a person is found in violation of the quarantine order incurs a $1,000 fine. The efforts come as the five boroughs fight to beat back their steepest viral increases in months amid a new potential threat.

New hospital admissions for COVID topped 200 (224) for the first time in 10 days, de Blasio said Wednesday, while the city's rolling hospitalization rate climbed to 3.19, the highest number since the mayor debuted that daily metric this month.

Statewide, hospitalization and daily death numbers continue to rise. Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported more than 100 deaths (164) Wednesday for the eighth time in nine days as hospitalizations climbed to 6,864, the highest total since May 12.

The Finger Lakes region has become problematic as far as hospitalization rates, Cuomo says. On Wednesday, he said his administration was considering several options because "that is a serious and deadly situation and it's not getting better."

Mohawk Valley is also of concern, Cuomo said, noting he'll be talking to officials there as well and strategizing with his team to determine potential next steps.

That's also been the message in New Jersey, where Gov. Phil Murphy witnessed frontline workers get the Moderna vaccine in Toms River Wednesday morning before heading to Trenton for his afternoon COVID briefing.

Murphy reported a daily death toll above 100 Tuesday for the first time in months, and then did it again Wednesday. It was the first time since late May that the death toll topped 100 two days in a row. On Wednesday he said there were 765 COVID patients in the state's ICUs -- the largest number in seven months.

Total hospitalizations have climbed to 3,841, their highest level since May 13.

December 22, 2020

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he has ordered hospitals across New York state to begin testing for the new U.K. viral variant, while Mayor Bill de Blasio called once again for a temporary European travel ban to the U.S. as he strives to protect New Yorkers from a mutation that "simply makes the job harder."

Though the U.K. variant has not yet been detected locally or in the U.S. (it has been found in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia, WHO says), logic would argue that if it's not here yet, it will be. Cuomo wants to know when that happens.

According to the CDC, the new strain could already be circulating in the U.S. undetected. Scientists have sequenced genetic coding from about 51,000 of U.S. cases (now above 18 million, NBC News says), so it could easily slip notice.

Cuomo said Wadsworth Laboratory has already assessed more than 3,700 virus sequences identified in New York and has not yet found the variant present in any samples. Wadsworth and the state Department of Health have forged agreements with six hospitals statewide to obtain additional samples and is working to establish similar partnerships with others, the governor said.

New York City's chief medical adviser, Dr. Jay Varma, says there's little anyone could do to keep the new strain out.

Asked about his level of concern over the mutation Tuesday, Varma said he has two key worries. First, the evidence from the U.K. is "reasonably strong" that it is more transmissible than other strains (up to 50 percent more, research says) so "our room for error is even less." But it's not just one single mutation to fear.

Varma said he's also concerned about similar strains emerging in other parts of the world like South Africa.

"The only way we can revert to some version of normal is reduce the level of infection," Varma said. "This virus mutates when it gets inside humans. So we need to keep it out of humans. We're looking carefully for this variant in the U.S. and the emergence of new strains, but we do have the tools to prevent this."

December 21, 2020

Three major airlines that fly people from the U.K. to New York daily have agreed to ensure travelers provide a negative COVID test before departing for the Empire State amid heightened concerns over a more infectious virus strain that recently emerged in the European country, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

Cuomo made the ask of British Airways, Delta and Virgin Atlantic, which transfer thousands of people between the U.K. and JFK Airport daily, he said. British Airways agreed first, pledging to launch the new testing requirement Tuesday, Cuomo said.

A short time later, the governor tweeted that Delta had also agreed to require pre-departure COVID tests before passengers leave the U.K. for New York. Virgin Atlantic signed on later in the evening, saying in a statement that the new testing procedure for New York-bound flights would begin on Christmas Eve. The airline said they would require all passengers to present a negative LAMP or PCR test taken up to 72 hours before departure. Tests taken on-site at the airport would also qualify.

It was not immediately clear what kind of flight requirements would be made at Newark Liberty Airport, which also has flight to and from the U.K.

Cuomo's announcement Monday came a day after he eviscerated the federal government for inaction -- either via a testing mandate or travel ban -- that he fears will expose New York to a new strain of the virus that Britain's Boris Johnson says is up to 70 percent more transmissible than the previous strain of the virus.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also said Monday the federal government should implement an all-out European travel ban given heightened concerns.

"We can't handle another spike, so we need to, for all of us, be careful," the mayor said as he issued his latest plea against Christmas travel. He said the new strain identified in the U.K. only makes him more concerned about upticks.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, whose state is also home to a major international travel hub, said he shares the concern. He flat out told people not to travel, "period," a dogma he has recited multiple times over the last month and a half.

"We can't put it more plainly. This is not the year for Christmas as usual or New Year's as usual," Murphy said Monday as he extended New Jersey's public health emergency another 30 days to prevent its expiration. "We cannot take the risk."

December 20, 2020

Concerns of a new variant of the coronavirus surging through England that "can spread more quickly" than prior strains has leaders scrambling to protect their citizens, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

On Sunday, the governor sounded the alarm on what he calls a lack of national response from U.S. federal officials to institute layers of protection from the possibility of the new variant landing if the country, if it hasn't already.

"There's a disturbing story coming out of the U.K. with this new variant of the virus, which according to Boris Johnson is 70 percent more transmissible," Cuomo warned. Currently, there are six daily flights into New York from the U.K.

Cuomo said the Port Authority lacks the jurisdiction to institute the necessary restrictions and the federal government must require testing or an altogether ban on travelers coming in from England.

December 19, 2020

New York and New Jersey, early hot spots during the COVID-19 pandemic, have so far declined to release detailed breakdowns of their spending on personal protective gear and medical equipment during the first frenzied months of the virus outbreak.

The administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said the state spent $830 million through nearly 400 contracts on protective gear and durable medical equipment from March through November.

An online database maintained by the state comptroller’s office lists basic information about those deals, including names of vendors and the dates and amounts of payments.

But state officials have for months refused public records requests for purchase orders that would reveal comprehensive details, like how many masks, gowns and ventilators it ordered from each vendor, how many orders were fulfilled, and how much it has recovered from failed deals.

Nationwide, reporting by The Associated Press revealed that from the time the virus began spreading in the U.S. until summer, states spent more than $7 billion on personal protective gear and high-end medical equipment such as ventilators and infrared thermometers. Much of that spending was done outside the normal competitive bidding process and had not previously been disclosed publicly.

Every state except New York and New Jersey responded to AP's public records request by providing a detailed breakdown of the spending and suppliers.

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