Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that the New York State health department testing labs have discovered a case of the more contagious form of the coronavirus first discovered in the United Kingdom.
A Saratoga County man has tested positive for that strain, Cuomo said.
The governor said the man, in his 60s, works in a jewelry store, N. Fox Jewelers, in Saratoga Springs and that three other employees have also tested positive for the virus.
“He did not travel recently,” Cuomo said. “This suggests that it’s in the community, it was community spread.”
The man was symptomatic, but is recovering and is doing well.
Anyone who visited the store Dec. 18-24 is asked to immediately seek a coronavirus test. While the strain of the virus is more easily spread, it does not make people any sicker than the form of the virus that has been circulating throughout the pandemic.
Cuomo said he doesn’t expect this to be the last case of the new strain to be found in the state.
