New York Governor Kathy Hochul has issued a state of emergency over Omicron, the new version of Covid-19.

The move comes after President Joe Biden announced restrictions on travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region on Monday.

So far, no case of the new mutated variant of the virus has been found in the United States, but the governor's actions aim to increase the capacity of hospitals by January 15.

Then the state of New York must be re-evaluated. According to the order, the so-called a flexibility system that allows the Ministry of Health to limit non-emergency hospital procedures when hospitals have less than 10% bed capacity.

According to Kathy Hochul, there must be prior preparation. In this regard, urgent steps have been announced to expand hospital capacity and to ensure that hospitals can cope with any challenges posed by the pandemic in early winter.

"The vaccine remains one of our biggest weapons in the fight against the pandemic, and I encourage every New Yorker to get vaccinated and get a booster if he is fully vaccinated," the New York governor said.

The new orders will take effect on December 3.

/BNR