Though the number of active cases seems to be rising, local officials say community spread of COVID-19 has stabilized . Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said it’s important to understand the data behind these active cases.
“70% are now related to affiliated living centers for seniors. That includes contacts, too,” said McMahon. “Why is that different from community spread? It’s different because these are already situations that are already contained and quarantined.”
McMahon said these cases don’t strain the County Health Department like community spread does, making it easier to handle the caseload. Proactive testing in Onondaga County has resulted in finding 50 asymptomatic cases. While a person may not experience the symptoms, they are still able to spread the virus. McMahon said they have just about finished testing all senior living facilities with known COVID-19 cases.
“We’ve been making a lot of progress testing these facilities. The State of New York’s been doing a lot of testing,” said McMahon. “We’re finding cases that we wouldn’t have otherwise found, and confirming concerns that we had about other facilities that there may be active cases there. We needed to get our arms around the issue.”
McMahon estimates almost 4% of the county’s population has been tested, and said they will test senior living spaces that have not had confirmed cases of COVID-19. Seniors in Onondaga County are bearing the brunt of the most severe virus cases. McMahon reported 3 more deaths Thursday. Two were women in their 80s, and one was a woman in her 60s.
