New York's Wadsworth Lab in Albany has confirmed the state's first positive test of the new coronavirus that has sickened tens of thousands of people worldwide.
A statement Sunday from Governor Andrew Cuomo's office says a woman in her late 30s contracted the virus while traveling in Iran. A state official says she is currently self-quarantined in her Manhattan home, and is not in serious condition. She reportedly has respiratory symptoms, and has been in a controlled situation since arriving in New York.
The news comes hours after Cuomo announced the federal government had approved COVID-19 testing at Wadsworth Lab — a move he said was critical to providing quicker results.
“You want to be able to test people, you want to be able to get results quickly, and you want to be able to handle the volume of tests that we may be faced with," said Cuomo.
New York City officials say the FDA has approved their application to develop a test soon. Previously, city and state health officials had been using federal test kits to screen New York patients with coronavirus-like symptoms. Until now, each suspected case had proven to be a false alarm.
Last week, Cuomo asked the state Legislature for $40 million to help prevention, testing, and treatment efforts. Over the weekend, two people died of the virus at a hospital in Washington state.
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