Albany, N.Y. — An Upstate New York lawmaker says he had the coronavirus as early as December, potentially making him one of the first Americans to get Covid-19.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy told reporters Monday that he got an antibody test in May which showed he previously contracted the virus.
“When I got tested (for coronavirus I had) been negative every time, but I did do the antibodies (test) and I had it,” McCoy said during a press briefing. “I had the Covid back in December-January, they put the timetable down before it even broke here, before we even knew about it.”
According to the Times-Union, McCoy was referring to a doctor who spoke about the results of his antibody test. Studies indicate coronavirus antibodies diminish over time, and the level of antibodies in his system in May suggested he had the virus in December, January or February.
The novel coronavirus was first reported in late December in Wuhan, China, after dozens of people contracted pneumonia-like symptoms. The U.S. reported its first case Jan. 21 in Washington state and New York state confirmed its first case March 1, though an antibodies study found Covid-19 was likely spreading in the Empire State as early as January.
McCoy had not previously disclosed the results of the antibody test, the Albany newspaper reported.
McCoy said he got sick at some point after traveling with county executives of America and traveling with the military in Texas, but doesn’t know exactly where he could’ve contracted the virus. He added that antibodies do not mean he’s immune from the coronavirus.
“It doesn’t mean I can’t get it again, doesn’t mean I have antibodies against it. Just means I had it once and got through it,” he said. “Scary because I didn’t know what I was dealing with at the time but I knew the fact was that I was really sick.”
McCoy added that he’s been very “cautious” and had to tell his daughter to postpone her May wedding to October, with less than 50 people planning to attend under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s coronavirus guidelines.
“I wear my mask all the time at a function and if I don’t want to, I leave,” McCoy said.
McCoy said Albany County has now confirmed 2,304 positive cases of Covid-19, an increase of nine from the day before. No new deaths have been reported in the county, which has reported 126 total deaths from coronavirus.
More than 18 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, including 4.7 million in the U.S. Covid-19 has been blamed for 690,000 deaths globally and at least 155,000 in the U.S.
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