1:19
County Executive Ryan McMahon said any improvement in COVID-19 data is at risk of decline if community members do not keep holiday gatherings small.
McMahon said it’s the community’s responsibility to keep virus rates down, and no arguments can be made against economic restrictions until health data improves.
“If you can’t treat your sick, there’s no argument. And people are getting sick from something. If you don’t believe in this process, don’t believe covid is real, who are all these people getting sick” said McMahon.
“So let’s just stop the nonsense with that. Let’s take this seriously going into the week, and we’ll continue to get this curve going in the right direction.”
1:48
Loretto and Upstate University Hospital will create a transitional facility for nursing home residents waiting to test negative for COVID-19.
All New York nursing home residents must test negative for COVID-19 before returning to their home. McMahon said that can sometimes take days or weeks, even after physical recovery.
“Instead of that resident sitting in a hospital when they’re recovered, they can now go into this transitional facility, a more comfortable facility for them,” said McMahon. “And then spend their time there waiting to get that negative test where they can go back to their own residence.”
Opening this facility will free up a total of 80 hospital beds. Currently 30% of hospitalizations are from congregate senior living facilities.
Credit Onondaga County Executive s Office / youtube
Wednesday was the deadliest day yet during the COVID-19 pandemic in Onondaga County. 18 people lost their fight to the virus in 24 hours. 5 of them died in local hospitals and 13 died in nursing homes, according to state records. County Executive Ryan McMahon said the community will suffer more loss if people do not modify their plans in the coming weeks.
“I think with all the sobering data that we’ve seen of the residents we’ve lost. Hopefully people are reevaluating some of their plans for the holidays,” said McMahon.
Community Testing program was a huge success as we found a cluster at an assisted living facility. We were at 4 different assisted facilities today and now will be able to get proper care days immediately to these residents.
Onondaga County tops 15,000 Covid cases; 6 more deaths overnight
Updated Dec 15, 2020;
Posted Dec 15, 2020
A worker is wiped down after handling a coronavirus sample at the Syracuse Community Health Center on March 19, 2020.
Facebook Share
Syracuse, N.Y. – Onondaga County today confirmed 293 new cases of coronavirus since Monday, the second day in a row below 300. New cases had spiked to 466 Friday and remained above 400 per day over the weekend.
But the number of Covid-19 patients in local hospitals continues to climb, setting records daily. There are 288 patients hospitalized today, 14 more than Monday. Fifty of the patients are in intensive care.
The county also reported six new deaths since Monday, bringing the total to 314 since March. Seventy-three deaths – more than one in five have occurred this month.
Syracuse will get its first injection of the Covid vaccine today
Updated Dec 15, 2020;
Facebook Share
Syracuse, N.Y. The first doses of the long-awaited Covid-19 vaccine have arrived in Central New York, and injections will begin today.
Upstate Medical University announced today it has received a shipment of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, which was approved last week by the Food and Drug Administration. The first shots will be administered this afternoon, the university said.
“To have this much-needed vaccine will protect all of our communities,” Chief Nursing Officer Nancy Page said in a news release. “This is a critical step in assuring we have the resources needed in nurses, doctors, pharmacists, respiratory therapists and so many others to continue to care for this large region Upstate serves.”