Onondaga County meets state and local requirements to resume elective surgeries according to County Executive Ryan McMahon. Hospitalization rates due to the coronavirus have been declining, as they have been across the state. On Tuesday, hospitalizations made up 14% of active cases in the county.
McMahon said at his daily COVID-19 briefing Tuesday that local hospitals are nowhere near 70% capacity, and resuming will be good for the economy and public health.
“There’s a lot of people right now that need surgery, that are sick, to get better,” said McMahon. “It’s part of public health. So it’s also good for the economy, for some of these employees who have been furloughed, to get back to work. It’s good for the supply chain, so very happy about that.”
McMahon added that he hopes the state will loosen restrictions on other businesses to help the economy. He used showroom appointments by local auto dealers as an example of a business that could open with modified behavior.
McMahon said he is still hopeful that Central New York will host the State Fair this year. But he understands Governor Andrew Cuomo’s skepticism about why it may not happen.
“Certainly if New York City is still in a position where they are still shut down 4 months from now, that would mean this virus is very prevalent in New York State still,” said McMahon. “The fair would be pretty risky to have an outbreak in our community. Many of these people come from out of the area, but many of these people are our neighbors.”
The Governor has indicated that the earliest any part of the state would begin a phased-in restart would be May 15th. McMahon said he and his partners across Central New York are continuing to draft a plan on how they will reopen when the time comes.
THREE DEATHS IN ONONDAGA COUNTY
County Executive Ryan McMahon reported three more Onondaga County residents lost their lives to the coronavirus at this briefing Tuesday. Two were females, one in her 70s one the other in her 90s. The other victim was a man in his 50s. All of them had underlying health conditions. This brings the total number of deaths in Onondaga county to 29. McMahon said it is a tough time for families who lose loved ones as coronavirus restrictions derail traditional grieving processes.
