Early detection of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants is critical to assessing risk, providing clear and timely communication messages, and coordinating public health action. CDC used a multicomponent surveillance approach to track the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.2.86.
A microscopic image of an isolate from the first U.S. case of COVID-19. (Credit: CDC/Hannah Bullock; Azaibi Tamin)
It’s almost hard to believe it’s been just one year since COVID-19 arrived on the North Fork. When you think back to those early days, when there were only a few dozen confirmed local cases and the world around us began to shut down, it feels like a lifetime ago.
The reality is that as of the printing of this newspaper on Thursday, March 11, 2021, it’s been just 368 days since the first confirmed coronavirus case was announced via a statement from Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.