New York State has confirmed its first case of the coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa, which is known as B.1.351, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.

The case was a resident of Long Island's Nassau County, Cuomo said in a news release. The sequencing was conducted at Opentrons Labworks Inc's Pandemic Response Lab, a New York City-based commercial lab, and verified at the Wadsworth Center in Albany.

The mutated version of the virus was first found in the United States last month. Scientists believe it spreads more easily than other virus strains.

Cuomo said the variant's arrival in New York means that COVID-19 safety measures like wearing masks and maintaining distance from other people are more important than ever. "We are in a race right now – between our ability to vaccinate and these variants which are actively trying to proliferate – and we will only win that race if we stay smart and disciplined," he said.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said in a statement that the virus strain is not more deadly, but it may be more contagious. "The best response is to continue the tried and true precautions: wearing masks, avoiding social gatherings, distancing, staying home and getting tested when sick," she said.

New York's latest COVID-19 numbers, meanwhile show a continued downward trend in hospitalizations and deaths following the holiday season spike.

There were fewer than 5,800 patients hospitalized with the virus on Saturday, a decline of more than 800 from a week earlier.

The state recorded 75 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, the first time since December 16 that the daily death toll was under 100.