First Omicron COVID Cases Confirmed In NYC

NEW YORK CITY — The first cases of the omicron COVID-19 variant have been found in New York City.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday evening that four city patients had been confirmed with the variant.

They said one case was in Brooklyn, two in Queens and another in an unidentified borough. Another case was found in Suffolk County, Long Island.

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“No cause for alarm," Hochul said. "We just want to make sure that the public is aware of information when we receive it."

De Blasio also struck a note of reassurance, but he made clear New Yorkers need to take steps to stop the variant's spread.

"We have to assume that means community spread, we have to assume that means a lot more cases,” he said. “But we also have tremendous tools. As the governor said, we have a massive vaccination apparatus and that is by far our best capacity to protect everyone against this variant or any other form of COVID."

De Blasio and Hochul made a point of presenting a united front — a marked contrast to the feud between the mayor and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that many, including Hizzoner, say harmed the city's early response to COVID-19.

Part of their show of collegiality underscored how little is known about the omicron variant, which was first found in South Africa last week.

Experts found the variant had mutations that could make it highly transmissible, but they still don't know whether it causes more or less severe infections. They also don't know how effective the COVID-19 vaccines are against it.

Hochul said based on the information known as of Thursday that the New York cases appeared to be mild. But she said it's still early and officials only knew the vaccination status of one patient.

The Long Island case involved a woman, 67, who was vaccinated, she said.

But Hochul also stressed that New Yorkers shouldn't panic. She said the situation and tools available are far better than the first wave of COVID-19.

"We're just trying to let people know: we've got this," she said. "Have confidence in what we're able to do because it's a different world right now."

The first omicron case in the country was confirmed Wednesday in California. Earlier Thursday, officials said the second case — in Minnesota — was found in a man who had recently been at an anime convention at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

Omicron's confirmed arrival in New York comes a day before a state of emergency goes into place in the state to help hospitals cope with rising numbers and the threat of the new variant. It gives overstretched medical centers the ability to cancel scheduled surgeries, among other things.