Onondaga County officials are starting to learn more about those who’ve tested positive for COVID-19. So far, 45 people have the virus, 13 of them in Syracuse. The rest are scattered across just about every town in the county. County Executive Ryan McMahon says people of all ages are sick, but most are under age 50. Four are hospitalized.
He says of the 900 test results so far, four to five percent are positive. McMahon says they expect similar numbers to come back in the next few days.
"Our numbers will go up. That's what we need to do. We need to figure out as a community who is sick. We need to get these people help. We need to get these people into mandatory isolation. We need to get people who've had direct contact with them into quarantine. That is how we bend the curve. This is something we knew would happen. We've been very lucky to do the robust testing that we have."
He says tests are being conducted at hospitals, primary care doctors, and the triage testing site, and that the numbers are starting to level off. McMahon repeated the importance of keeping children apart, and told young adults returning from spring break…and snow birds returning from the south to self-quarantine. He warned we could be dealing with the coronavirus for months, not weeks if people don’t behave responsibly.
"If we want to see a quicker and stronger economic recovery, we social distance. We're smart. We realize we're going to have pain for the next two to six weeks. The longer people in our community don't take this seriously, the longer we're going to be in a situation where we have only essential businesses reporting to work, and that our health care infrastructure is going to be working around the clock trying to quarantine and identify sick patients."
McMahon says for those who don’t take it seriously, such as groups playing basketball or congregating outside of corner stores, other measures might have to be taken.
Meanwhile, McMahon says they’re looking into an emergency triage ICU site in case they’re hit with a flood of illnesses requiring intensive care. And, he says he’ll suggest to the state that the under-utilized Bristol-Myers Squibb plant in East Syracuse could serve as an ideal manufacturing site.
BY THE NUMBERS (AS OF SUNDAY AFTERNOON)
AGE RANGE
- 13 cases under age 29
- 6 are in their 30s
- 7 are in their 40s
- 6 are in their 50s
- 5 are in their 60s
- 7 are in their 70s
- 1 is in their 80s
LOCATION
- 13 cases in Syracuse
- 7 in Salina
- 6 in Clay
- 4 in Cicero
- 3 in Camillus
- 3 in Manlius
- 3 in Onondaga
- 2 in Lysander
- 2 in Pompey
- 2 in Skaneateles
FIRST CNY DEATH
Central New York has its first death from COID-19. Madison County officials report it was an elderly person with underlying health conditions who had tested positive for the disease. No other details are being released.
