Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon is confident the region will be able to enter phase one of reopening by the end of the week. He and his colleagues in neighboring counties have been working on a regional approach for weeks now in preparation for when the area meets specific criteria set by the state.
"They come out with their guidelines, what they want to see...what triggers the 'when.' We have met those. We have the tracers. Our hospitalization capacity is there. Our hospitalization rates are very good. When you look at testing, Onondaga County has done almost enough testing for the whole region."
Governor Cuomo will be talking to county executives today, and has said certain regions will be ready to start reopening on May 15th. Cuomo hasn’t been specific, but McMahon says Central New York is one of few that’s met all seven criteria.
"There is no doubt we have met what we need to do. The governor has the final stamp on when that goes. We've met the guidelines set by the state. When you go into phase two...remember, in phase one, you're testing the virus, you're bringing back to many more people to work, and you need to make sure you don't see spikes in hospitalization rates."
Which means low rates of community spread. McMahon expects the state will issue guidelines to minimize the risk.
"That will give businesses an understanding of what is expected of them, how they can operate and operate safely. Certainly, we're going to encourage businesses to have lots of hand sanitizer, masks, physical distancing."
He says strong protocols to protect employees are critical. McMahon says for a small business, nothing can be more disruptive than a customer who has the virus coming in, infecting workers, and forcing the business to close all over again. Phase one is likely to include the re-opening of more manufacturing and construction firms. The governor is expected to outline more specifics in the days ahead.
BY THE NUMBERS
Over the weekend, four more Onondaga County residents died from COVID-19, bringing the total to 69. All had underlying medical conditions. Fifty-five people were hospitalized as of Sunday afternoon, up 3 from Saturday. That's after hospitalizations dropped by 12 from Friday to Saturday, a 20% decrease. Twelve patients are in critical condition.
From Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, there was a total of 21 cases of community spread...15 reported on Saturday and six on Sunday. The daily average last week was 19, and McMahon expects that will go down this week. Most new cases are affiliated with senior living facilities or contacts from previously reported cases.
