ALBANY COUNTY — On Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany is doing research to see if a new, highly-contagious strain of COVID-19, recently discovered in the United Kingdom, has already found its way here.

“If it’s here, we want to know it, we want to isolate it immediately,” Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, thinks that testing for the new strain is appropriate but not a travel ban, Cuomo reported.

“Dr. Fauci also said something that is frightening. He said he thinks the variant is already here. Not that he has evidence of that, but I assume he’s referring to the phenomenon of global spread and how quickly it spreads.

“If the variant is here, I want to know, because that would be problematic ...,” Cuomo told reporters. “The state is now contacting hospitals all across our state to test for the variant specifically. And there are tests that can test for the variant.”

Already, Wadsworth has looked at more than 3,700 virus sequences identified in New York, but has yet to find the UK variant present in any of the samples.

Wadsworth and the state’s Department of Health have made agreements with six hospitals from across New York to get additional samples: Albany Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Montefiore, Northwell Long Island, Saratoga Hospital, and University of Rochester.

Cuomo told reporters similar arrangements are being made with other hospitals as well.

“But let’s learn from the spring,” said Cuomo, referencing the strain that came from Europe to New York.

“Dr. Fauci says he thinks it’s here,” Cuomo concluded. “If it’s here, where? Where is it?”