Onondaga County sees small spike in recoveries after its “deadliest day”

Thursday afternoon’s COVID-19 update began with the somber news that the disease is responsible for five new deaths in Onondaga County, the most yet to be recorded in the county with a 24-hour period. County Executive Ryan McMahon called it the county’s “deadliest day” yet.

Also, two cases were discovered in Elbridge which makes it so that now every town in the county has been affected by the pandemic.

Executive McMahon announced priorities for administering tests to nursing home employees allowing them to be tested without showing symptoms.

At the state level on Thursday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the state closures for non-essential businesses and schools to May 15. As of Cuomo’s midday briefing, 606 deaths happened in the previous 24 hours from COVID-19 , which is the lowest count in 10 days. Since the outbreak 12,192 deaths in New York have been attributed to the virus.

In his daily briefing County executive Ryan McMahon reiterated social distancing  practices are working but residents must stay committed. Only six days remain before Onondaga’s mandatory shelter in place order is lifted.

“We need you to stay strong,” McMahon said. “If we do this we can continue to starve the virus.”

McMahon requested residents limit their time outside the home by another 50%. There remains a steady stream of active cases with 26 confirmed in the last 24 hours. With these confirmations, active cases once again outnumber recoveries.

McMahon also urged any individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 to contact Upstate University Hospital or the Red Cross. Researchers are utilizing plasma from recovered patients to study and combat the disease. McMahon stated recovered patients may play a crucial role in this “potentially life saving” research effort.

Although the trends are beginning to demonstrate hope that Onondaga has reached its peak, around 19% of active cases are hospitalized. 20 individuals remain in critical condition and the total number of hospitalized cases reached a high today with 53 patients. Unfortunately, another member of the community passed away bringing the total to 12. The man was in his 90s and had underlying medical issues.

McMahon also responded to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement requesting New York state residents to wear masks in public. He stated that Onondaga County has been suggesting this since the beginning of the pandemic. However, he clarified the county was never going to regulate this unless they were able to provide masks to residents.

McMahon believes it was a “wise” decision that will help mitigate risk. Cuomo also stated in his announcement that bandanas and scarfs are sufficient if people do not have access to traditional medical masks.

“As funny as we all may look, if we are all doing it, we will all look funny at the same time,” McMahon said

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh joined County Executive Ryan McMahon Tuesday afternoon for the daily county Coronavirus response briefing.

Up 20 from yesterday, there are currently 537 active coronavirus cases in Onondaga County, and 268 recovered cases.

The county death toll has held steady at 11 since Monday as local residents are in the second week of the voluntary shelter in place.

“We believe that social distancing is working,” Ryan McMahon said. “We are starting to see positive data.”

Walsh offered a recap of the steps taken by the city of Syracuse: closing playgrounds on March 19, removing basketball hoop rims and locking tennis courts on March 27. Onondaga Country

“Our parks are still open,” Walsh said. “But they are only open for passive exercise where you can practice social distancing.”

Also, Walsh elaborated on Syracuse Police’s response to COVID-19 with a practice dubbed “educate and inform.” This tactic is designed to limit the danger to emergency personnel and maintains that a majority of people comply with the social distancing guidelines after being educated and informed.

Syracuse Police has received 237 complaints to date of gatherings or noncompliant businesses. Four Syracuse businesses have been ordered to shut down due to noncompliance, and a letter citing them has been sent to the office of the New York State Attorney General.

“The vast majority of people have been doing the right thing,” Walsh said.

The Onondaga Nation and the city of Elbridge continue to be the only towns in Onondaga County with zero COVID-19 cases, prompting a reporter to ask McMahon, “What’s in the water in Elbridge?”

The highest total cases in the county include the city of Syracuse which has seen 210 positive cases, Clay with 61 cases and Manlius with 38.

Chancellor Kent Syverud announced that Syracuse University would host a virtual ceremony on May 10, the original date of 2020 Commencement.“Syracuse University will still use this special day as an opportunity to celebrate our graduating students with a virtual conferral of degrees,” Syverud said in an email to students on Monday.

After surveying students set to graduate in 2020, Syverud announced the university would be hosting both an in-person commencement in the Carrier Dome this fall, in addition to the abbreviated virtual ceremony.

The virtual degree conferral will be hosted through a landing page on the SU website. The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 10.  The ceremony will include speeches from the Syverud, Vice Chancellor and Provost John Liu and Chair of the Board of Trustees Kathy Walters.

“Recognizing a virtual degree conferral ceremony is no replacement for a full-fledged Commencement, we look forward to celebrating this important day with our graduates,” Syverud said.

The administration is coordinating with each college to plan the fall Commencement, however, there will not be a set date until the CDC lifts the ban on public gatherings. Syverud promised to continue to update the community as the university works to plan an “unforgettable” Commencement.

Nearly 50 percent of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 in Onondaga County have recovered. This is the first time recovered cases have outnumbered actively sick patients.

“This past weekend was about hope, and our data reflects a little bit of hope today,” County Executive Ryan McMahon said in his Monday daily briefing.

As of Monday afternoon there have been 520 confirmed cases and 257 of those individuals have recovered. In total there have been 6,943 test administered with only 64 awaiting results. This is the lowest number of outstanding results Onondaga County has seen.

“We are at a point with testing, where we are almost in real-time,” McMahon said.

Although testing is becoming more efficient and many are recovering, the number of individuals hospitalized is still climbing. Currently, 49 people are in the hospital as a result of the coronavirus. This represents about 19 percent of active cases.

“We have seen a trend now with the active cases,” McMahon said. “We are looking at 18 to 20 percent of active cases are going to be hospitalized.”

Among those hospitalized, 20 remain in the ICU in critical condition. Over the weekend two more individuals died, bringing the total to 11. Both individuals were over the age of 60.

“This is a grim reminder to all of us, how deadly this virus is,” McMahon said.