Cuomo asks airlines to add New York to list of 120 countries with testing mandate for UK flights

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that he asked three major airlines to add New York state to the list of 120 countries requiring passengers traveling from the United Kingdom to get a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding flights.

So far, British Airways has agreed and will require a negative test pre-boarding starting Tuesday. If Delta and Virgin Atlantic do not agree voluntarily, Cuomo said New York state "will pursue other options."

CUOMO: UK'S COVID-19 MUTATION 'IS ON A PLANE TO JFK' WITHOUT TESTING 

"This is another disaster waiting to happen," the governor said. Even though New York State is not a country, Cuomo said it’s under a public health emergency and that "incompetence from the federal government is not an option for us in New York."

"This would be Take-Two. You know how they talk about the second wave – how we haven’t had a second wave," he said. "This would be the second wave. This would be a mutated virus coming back."

Cuomo cited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who publicly stated that the new variant of the coronavirus sweeping across southern England is 70% more transmissible than the old strain.

"The strain is so serious that the U.K. has closed down again," Cuomo said. "We are on notice about it. Why don’t we act intelligently for a change? Why don’t we mandate testing before people get on the flight, or hold the flights from the UK now? Many other countries have done this."

EUROPEAN NATIONS BAN FLIGHTS FROM UK TO PREVENT CORONAVIRUS MUTATION FROM SPREADING TO CONTINENT 

After several European countries on Sunday made the decision to temporarily ban flights from the U.K. and Canada left a flight from the U.K. sitting on the tarmac, Cuomo said that should be enough of a sign for the United States to take action. France banned British trucks for 48 hours while the new variant is assessed, raising concerns over food shortages in the winter months. 

Cuomo urged the federal government to require pre-boarding testing on all flights from the U.K. – or go a step further to halt all travel from the U.K. completely. Though no evidence has come to light yet, Cuomo said he believes the new variant has already arrived in the U.S. 

New York State health officials have recorded 9,007 news cases Monday. There are 109 additional fatalities related to COVID-19. At least 6,331 people remained hospitalized statewide with the illness.

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Cuomo said he is in no special group to receive priority for the vaccination, though public officials in Congress, Vice President Mike Pence and President-elect Joe Biden will receive the vaccine to build public confidence. He said he would take the vaccine today if he could, but the flip side of doing that would be that people would ask why he received the injection before an essential worker.  

Priority populations to receive the vaccination will be expanded this week to include EMS workers, federally-qualified health center employees, funeral home workers, coroners, medical examiners and "other congregate care workers and residents," he said.