Most Central New Yorkers are probably getting pretty restless by now with the ongoing social distancing rules and the closure of most of the region’s economy due to COVID-19. But local health and government officials say that’s the very reason community spread of the virus continues to drop. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon says it’s not yet time to stop our safety practices…in fact, he’d like everyone to do more social distancing than the week before.
"We need that trend to go down week over week. That's how everyone gets to an agreement that we can get to a restart sooner than later."
There were more than 50 new cases over the weekend in Onondaga County, but the vast majority were from active testing of residents in senior assisted and independent living facilities. Only about 16 were due to community spread. Governor Andrew Cuomo over the weekend announced a phased plan to re-open the state starting with construction and manufacturing based on regional data. McMahon says he continues to meet with other leaders in the region to review the complex process of restarting the economy.
"The restart's not just a phase-in of economic activity, but it's really a phase-in of human behavior again. It's very complicated. These are ongoing discussions. Why are we in a position to have these discussions? It's because our data has merited it. For us to get to that next step, we need to continue to see progress related to our health data."
Based on CDC recommendations, once a region experiences a 14-day decline in the hospitalization rate they may begin a phased re-opening. Forty-two people were hospitalized in Onondaga County as of Sunday, a slight uptick from Friday and Saturday. The State is closely monitoring the data which will inform all decisions on the phased plan.
Phase two will open certain industries based on priority and risk level. For example, businesses considered "more essential" with inherent low risks of infection in the workplace and to customers will be prioritized, followed by other businesses considered "less essential" or those that present a higher risk of infection spread. As the infection rate declines, the pace of reopening businesses will be increased. There will be two weeks in between each phase to monitor the effects of the re-opening and ensure hospitalization and infection rates are not increasing.
