First Case of U.K. COVID Strain Confirmed in Westchester County

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday that an individual in Westchester County has tested positive for the United Kingdom variant of COVID-19.

This is the county’s first confirmed case of the virus strain, but it is unknown the individuals age, gender, or residence. To date, there are 18 confirmed cases of the variant in New York State.

Due to the aggressive spread of the virus, the United Kingdom has been under lockdown since mid-December. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now requires all passengers flying from the United Kingdom to the United States to test negative for COVID-19 prior to boarding.

Health officials warn that the new variant is up to 70 percent more transmissible than earlier versions of the virus, but there is currently no evidence showing the new variant causes more severe illness or increased risk of death.

However, like the coronavirus, the CDC asserts that an increase in cases will put more strain on health care resources, lead to more hospitalizations and potentially more deaths.

On Jan. 4, Cuomo announced the state’s first case of the U.K. variant had been confirmed in a 60-year-old man from Saratoga County. The individual had no known history of travel when he tested positive.

In recent weeks, the virus has since been detected in Nassau County, Tompkins County, Suffolk County, Queens, Manhattan, and Warren County.

Overall, cases have been confirmed in 14 states, including New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and California.

Here are the latest updates on Jan. 18

Coronavirus cases increased by 775 in Westchester County on Sunday, bringing the total number of positive cases to 83,708 since the start of the pandemic.

There are now 11,490 active cases, according to state data. The county’s daily positivity rate is 6.30 percent, with 12,309 COVID-19 tests administered on Friday.

Overall, there have been over 1.61 million COVID-19 tests administered in Westchester since March, state data shows.

The county reported nine more deaths, resulting in a total of 1,789 COVID-19-related fatalities since March, according to the state tracker. In the last week, 68 people have died from the virus, state data shows, with 125 overall fatalities since the start of the new year.

As of Jan. 12, there are 554 virus patients in Westchester hospitals.

Putnam County’s total caseload has reached 6,386, with 92 additional positive cases recorded on Sunday, according to state data. The county’s daily positivity rate is 8.40 percent, with 1,095 tests administered Friday.

Putnam currently has 1,302 active cases.

Two more coronavirus-related deaths were reported on Sunday, bringing the death toll in Putnam to 74 since the start of the pandemic. Six people have died from the virus in Putnam County this week, state data shows.

Statewide there were 13,842 new positive cases on Sunday, state data shows. The daily positivity rate is 5.61 percent.

The state recorded 172 additional COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 32,897 since March.

Total hospitalizations are at 8,771, a decrease of 117 over the previous day. Across New York there have been 1,233,390 positive coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the state tracker.

As of Saturday, there have been a total number of 772,399 vaccine doses administered.

Westchester Active Coronavirus Cases by Municipality 

Here are the active cases by municipality in Westchester as of Friday. With a lag between the total number of cases confirmed by the state and the tally of cases by town, the total number of municipal cases might be slightly different than what the county’s active cases reflects.

• Ardsley – 37
• Bedford – 160
• Briarcliff Manor – 68
• Bronxville – 76
• Buchanan – 50
• Cortlandt – 428
• Croton-on-Hudson – 88
• Dobbs Ferry – 99
• Eastchester – 196
• Elmsford – 57
• Greenburgh – 462
• Harrison – 277
• Hastings-on-Hudson – 57
• Irvington – 34
• Larchmont – 42
• Lewisboro – 59
• Mamaroneck Town – 112
• Mamaroneck Village – 254
• Mount Kisco – 115
• Mount Pleasant – 218
• Mount Vernon – 712
• New Castle – 124
• New Rochelle – 920
• North Castle – 101
• North Salem – 56
• Ossining Town – 43
• Ossining Village – 429
• Peekskill – 450
• Pelham – 60
• Pelham Manor – 63
• Pleasantville – 66
• Port Chester – 412
• Pound Ridge – 22
• Rye Brook – 105
• Rye City – 166
• Scarsdale – 91
• Sleepy Hollow – 164
• Somers – 229
• Tarrytown – 198
• Tuckahoe – 84
• White Plains – 681
• Yonkers – 2,808
• Yorktown – 522