'It's coming': NY Gov Kathy Hochul declares state of emergency amid threat of new COVID variant

The governor of New York on Friday declared a state of emergency as COVID transmission reached rates not seen since April 2020, and warned that the troubling new variant of COVID which first emerged in Botswana is ‘coming’.

Earlier on Friday, the US banned flights from eight Southern African countries to try and prevent the mutant strain, Omicron, from arriving.

Kathy Hochul, the governor, said that all non-urgent procedures could be postponed, beginning December 3, if the hospital’s capacity falls dangerously low.

If a hospital finds that it has fewer than 10 per cent of ‘staffed bed capacity’ free, then it will be permitted to cancel the non-urgent procedures, she ruled.

She also issued a ‘declaration of disaster emergency’, noting that COVID transmission is at a level not seen since April 2020. The declaration unlocks sweeping powers for her to take emergency measures, without the usual congressional approval.

‘We continue to see warning signs of spikes in COVID this winter, and while the new Omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it’s coming,’ Hochul tweeted. 

Hours earlier, Joe Biden confirmed that travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region had been halted. 

The new variant was first found in Botswana and has since moved to South Africa, where it is spreading rapidly through six provinces.

It has also been found in Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium. 

Hochul’s declaration of a ‘disaster emergency’ acknowledges that the state is struggling – even before Omicron hits.

‘A disaster has occurred in New York State, for which the affected local governments are unable to respond adequately,’ the declaration states.

‘New York is now experiencing COVID-19 transmission at rates the State has not seen since April 2020.

‘The rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions has been increasing over the past month to over 300 new admissions a day.’

It means that she can acquire pandemic supplies and enact the emergency hospital plan. 

Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, declared a disaster emergency on March 7, 2020.

It ran until June 24, and was ended amid controversy, with Cuomo’s critics saying that he had used the emergency powers to consolidate his own personal power and rule in an authoritarian way, bypassing the legislature.

Cuomo said the decree could be lifted because of progress made in combatting the pandemic. 

‘Given New York’s dramatic progress against COVID-19, with the success in vaccination rates, and declining hospitalization and positivity statewide the state of emergency will expire,’ he said at the time. 

Hochul said that the current data is worrying, and again urged New Yorkers to get vaccinated, noting that just under 10 per cent of adults in the state had still not received their first shot.

‘The vaccine remains one of our greatest weapons in fighting the pandemic, and I encourage every New Yorker to get vaccinated, and get the booster if you’re fully vaccinated,’ she said. 

Biden on Friday announced that travel will be banned from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi. 

US citizens and green card holders will still be able to travel into the US from the banned countries, but no one else will be allowed. 

Biden announced the ban on Friday hours after his top COVID expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said in an interview that it was too soon to enact such measures. 

The World Health Organization named the new variant on Friday and also officially categorized it as a strain of concern. 

Speaking outside the Nantucket Tap Room where he had lunch on Friday afternoon, he told reporters that he’d spoken with his team for half an hour on Friday, and that the ban was the result of that meeting.

‘We don’t know a lot about the variant except that it is a great concern and seems to spread rapidly. I spent about a half hour this morning with my covert team led by Dr. Fauci and so that was the decision we made,’ he said.

The UK had already halted flights as had some European countries but Biden said he waited until the medical experts told him he should impose restrictions. 

He also reiterated the need for everyone to get vaccinated and then get booster shots as soon as they can. 

‘Every American that has not been vaccinated, should be responsible and be vaccinated from age five years and up, number one,’ he said. 

‘Number two, everyone eligible for the booster shot, should get the booster shot immediately upon being eligible. That is a minimum that everyone should be doing. 

‘And you know, we always talk about whether this is about freedom and I think it’s a patriotic responsibility.’

Forty percent of the US population remains unvaccinated. 

Both Pfizer and Moderna have already assured that they will be able to update their vaccine technology to tackle Omicron, should it be necessary. 

The panic surrounding the new variant has been sudden and has sent shivers through the stock market; the Dow plummeted by 1,000 points on Friday. 

President Biden said the drop was ‘expected’ but that he is not worried about the markets.   

Further details on what new restrictions will be imposed on non-US citizens and green card holders are expected to be announced imminently.   

The administration is in contact with African officials to keep an eye on the situation. 

‘We are in close contact with the Southern African public health officials and working closely with them to understand more,’ the senior administration official added.

It comes amid fears of the newly-emerged COVID variant, which scientists fear could be the most infectious strain of the virus to date. 

Earlier this morning, White House COVID tsar Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN that the US will had no immediate plans to restrict travel from South Africa until officials can study the variant more – despite the UK, Israel and European countries. 

It remains unclear exactly how deadly it is among unvaccinated people, and American health agencies are yet to make any form of warning about it but there are fears it is more transmissible than any other variant yet and that it may also render some vaccines ineffective.

South African health officials are trying to calm other countries and have called the sudden panic a ‘storm in a teacup’.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have said they can quickly update their vaccines if they need to to take the new variant on. 

‘It seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate. We’re finding more about it,’ Fauci said.

He added that there is ‘no indication’ the mutation is in the US, but that it is possible. 

‘When you look at a mutation it can give you a hint or prediction that it might evade the immune response you need to get that sequence of the virus, put it in the lab and test the antibodies.

‘Right now, we’re getting the material together to get a situation where you can directly test it. 

‘Right now it’s a red flag that it might be an issue but you don’t know. 

‘Once you test it you know for sure whether it does or does not evade the antibodies for example that we make for a vaccine.

‘The answer is we don’t know right now but we’re going to find out for sure.’ 

The variant, though still largely a mystery to scientists, has already sent shivers through the US markets. 

Dow futures fell 2.25 per cent, and both the NASDAQ and S&P Futures Indices were down by more than 1 per cent. 

The price of Brent Crude, the market of the global price of oil, fell by six per cent. 

The variant, B.1.1.529, is believed to have emerged in Botswana – from where there are no direct flights to the U.S. – and is also being found in neighboring South Africa.

Hong Kong reported a case after a passenger who had recently traveled from South Africa was found to be infected with the variant, and then infected another person while in the same hotel, quarantining. 

Israel has also identified a case ‘in a person who returned from Malawi,’ with ‘two more cases of people returning from abroad’ placed in quarantine, the country’s health ministry said Friday.  

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said initial data from the variant was worrying and border restrictions should be imposed. 

‘Looks like vaccine evasion could be real with this variant,’ he tweeted, pointing out that the two patients in Hong Kong who had the variant were both doubled-jabbed with the Pfizer vaccine. 

One of the two had recently been in Southern Africa. That person then passed it on to a second person, quarantining in the same hotel. 

‘It’s very airborne,’ Feigl-Ding said. ‘The hotel guests were in different room across the hallway from each other. Environmental samples found the virus in 25 of 87 swabs across both rooms.’

He added: ‘I think border and travel restrictions make sense. Especially since Hong Kong only caught the case because of a mandatory hotel quarantine. Which countries in the west still have that??? Almost none.’ 

Botswana has four confirmed cases, South Africa 77 – with the real figure likely in the hundreds – and Hong Kong has two, meaning 83 cases of the variant are confirmed so far. 

But South African scientists tried to backpedal on Friday, saying it was ‘likely’ that vaccines still offered ‘high levels of protection’ against hospitalizations and deaths from the variant.   

The CDC page asks anyone traveling to and from South Africa to be fully vaccinated, or for those who are not to be tested for COVID. 

It also recommends travelers follow measures in-place in South Africa, including wearing a mask and social distancing. 

South Africa’s infection rate spiked 93 per cent in a day on Thursday amid fears the strain is driving the surge. 

Local scientists say it has likely spread to all the country’s nine provinces, but there is yet to be a surge in hospitalizations in the epicenter, Johannesburg.

From discovery to global panic in 48 hours: How South African scientists’ warnings about soaring cases of Covid super-mutant variant sparked frantic cabinet meeting and worldwide travel ban

The world shut itself off from Southern Africa today in response to a super mutant variant that was unheard of just days ago.

B.1.1.529 — which has now been named Omicron— was first picked up in Hong Kong on Monday in a patient who had travelled from South Africa.

It did not catch international attention until Wednesday after a British scientists mentioned its 32 ‘horrific’ mutations on social media after cases were picked up in Botswana and South Africa as well.

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said the variant was not an ‘issue’ on Wednesday afternoon despite UK experts warning it had a horrific set of mutations that could allow it to dodge vaccines.

By Thursday the South African Government was forced to warn the world about the strain at a sombre press conference, admitting it had triggered an ‘exponential’ rise in Gauteng province and was likely in every corner of the country, outpacing Delta at ferocious speed.

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was monitoring the situation closely but that it did not pose a threat to the UK at the time. Chris Whitty and other prominent experts warned of a potential global outbreak that could undermine the UK’s vaccine program.

Journalists were briefed on Thursday night by senior scientists at a hastily organized briefing where they were told the variant was at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive than Delta.

The media was told the strain was the worst seen ‘ever’ and that the variant could be at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive.

At the same time, an emergency Covid committee cabinet meeting convened to discuss Britain’s next steps to deal with the variant.

It prompted a rapid announcement from Health Secretary Sajid Javid last night that there would be a travel ban on six African countries in the south of the continent.

And scientists hit the airwaves this morning to warn of the potential return of draconian Covid restrictions this winter because of the strain.

New cases were picked up in Israel and then Belgium and European countries began shutting off their borders to people coming in from South Africa, with passengers unable to leave a plane in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Here DailyMail.com reviews how the Botswana variant inspired global pandemic within the space of 48 hours…

Monday and Tuesday

Researchers in Hong Kong were the first to raise the alarm about the new strain on Monday after discovering the strain in two passengers who had recently returned from South Africa.

It was also picked up in Botswana, where it was sequenced three times, and South Africa — who had only seen one case at the time.

Scientists from all three countries uploaded it to an international database of variants used by experts from across the world, including the UK.

Dr Tom Peacock, a British virologist at Imperial College London who works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), voiced concern about the strain’s 32 ‘horrific’ mutations — twice as many as Delta — on Tuesday.

Writing on social media, Dr Peacock said: ‘Just spotted: Very small cluster of variant associated with Southern Africa with very long branch length and really awful Spike mutation profile.

Wednesday

MailOnline broke the news about the variant on Wednesday, before No10’s official spokesperson shrugged it off as ‘not seen as something that is an issue’ despite experts’ fears that it would be more vaccine evasive than Delta.

Some scientists dismissed fears, saying the strain’s large amount of mutations meant it could become unstable — meaning it would be unlikely to become widespread.

But others warned if it started taking over the dominant Delta variant in South Africa it could have knock-on effects for the rest of the world.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, said it likely emerged in a lingering infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

He said it was likely the variant would be much more able to dodge antibodies than Delta.

Professor Balloux told MailOnline: ‘For the time being, it should be closely monitored. But there’s no need to be overly concerned, unless it starts going up in frequency.’

Behind the scenes, MailOnline understands there were ‘extensive talks’ between British Government scientists and those in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday.

Thursday

Cases began to grow exponentially in the Gauteng Province – which surrounds the capital, Pretoria, and the biggest city, Johannesburg – in South Africa on Thursday, with a particular spike in Johannesburg, where they shot up 93 per cent in a single day.

The South African Government held a press conference on the same day, saying that they are ‘concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant’.

British ministers were called to an emergency meeting of the Covid Operations Cabinet Committee on Thursday, chaired by Cabinet Office minister Steven Barclay, to discuss shutting Britain’s borders to travellers from Africa.

They were told vaccines would be at least 40 per cent less effective against the variant — because of a mutation it shares with the original South African Beta variant — at the meeting.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid attended the meeting but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the housing minister, were not part of discussions.

It was set up due to concerns raised by England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and UKHSA boss Dr Jenny Harries.

A Government source said: ‘Whitty and the experts said we needed to act. They wanted to get it out as soon as possible.’

Insiders stressed they were acting out of an ‘abundance of caution’. The issue only came on the radar at No10 on Wednesday. ‘We have moved more quickly than with previous decisions,’ one source said.

Later, senior UK Government scientists briefed the media at a hastily organised press conference last night at 7.45pm.

One senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: ‘This is the worst variant we have seen so far.’

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: ‘One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.’

Sajid Javid released a video on Twitter on Thursday night at around 8.50pm announcing the Government was banning all flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe.

Friday

Scientists hit the airwaves this morning to warn Britain may have to accept the reintroduction of draconian lockdown restrictions this Christmas as a result of the warning.

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), earlier raised the prospect of lockdown curbs being reintroduced, warning that people must be braced for a ‘change in restrictions’ if the variant spreads to the UK.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK’s Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it was ‘possible’ the strain has already entered Britain.

She said ‘people are arriving every day’ to the UK from Belgium, South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel where the variant has been officially detected.

Belgium’s health ministry said a case was spotted in an unvaccinated young woman who got tested after suffering symptoms. She had returned from Egypt 11 days ago.

Israel has also detected a case in a vaccinated individual, meaning it has now been confirmed in three continents. The Israeli had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases are being investigated.

Passengers flying to Holland from South Africa were banned from getting off the plane as the continent tightened its borders in an attempt to shut out the strain.

Flights in and out of Britain from the six African countries were supposed to be scrapped at midday today, despite No10 scrapping the no-fly travel ‘red list’ just weeks ago.

Yet, British arrivals from the variant’s epicentre Johannesburg were left to mingle with hundreds of others as they flew into Heathrow on the last flights out of Africa before the red list was re-imposed at midday. Passengers revealed they were not tested or questioned about their travel history.

Those coming from variant epicentre Johannesburg said they faced ‘no additional precautions’. Others told how they were getting around the ban by flying to other countries and then to the UK.

Ursula von der Leyen called for the EU to pull the ’emergency brake’ on travel from southern Africa on the back of the announcement, warning that the strain could be world-dominant in months.

The EU Commission president said: ‘All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clearer understanding about the danger posed by this new variant. It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively and united.’

Dr. Anthony Fauci said during an appearance on CNN that it was too soon to panic about the variant because not enough was known. He was overruled within hours.