McMahon hails “significant drop” in Onondaga County’s COVID cases in last week

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Onondaga County has had a “significant drop” in COVID-19 cases over the last week.

From Jan. 5-11, the county reported 12,059 confirmed cases, which fell to 8,430 cases for the Jan. 12-18 period, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said during a COVID-19 briefing at the Oncenter.

“So, we’ve seen a 30 percent decline in week-over-week cases,” McMahon noted.

He provided the latest data and also offered an update on at-home test kits, which are in high demand.

Latest COVID-19 data

On Saturday, Onondaga County reported 1,720 COVID-19 cases, then 1,208 on Sunday, 820 on Monday, and 677 cases on Tuesday, per the county’s data.

McMahon went on to say 88 percent of the cases over the last four days involved people under the age of 60, “which has been kind of a trend we’ve been seeing.”

He also touched on the state and countywide RT factor, or the “rate of transmission” where one person transmits to another. The “rule of thumb,” McMahon said, is if it’s over 1, you’re going to see cases increase. If it’s under 1, you should see cases decrease.

McMahon cited website covidestimates.org in indicating that Onondaga County currently has an RT at 0.47.

“That’s good,” McMahon said. “If you looked at our 30 percent decline, that correlates pretty well with that.”

When he shifted to the data on hospitalizations, McMahon said it’s an area where the county is still “lagging.”

McMahon reported 250 people are currently in an area hospital with COVID-19, the highest since January 2021. He anticipates the figure should start to retreat to “where we were last week, especially since case counts are lower.”

The county executive went to say that 83 residents in various senior facilities tested positive for the virus, and he figures those numbers could be a factor in the rising hospital-admissions data over the weekend.

“We’re going to track that very closely,” McMahon said. “That’s the highest number of … senior-facility cases we’ve seen week-over-week in a period of time.”

McMahon also reported 46 residents are currently in an intensive-care unit (ICU) with COVID, 52 percent of whom are unvaccinated. Of the 250 people currently hospitalized with the illness, only eight are under age 18.

McMahon also reported seven COVID deaths over the past four days, including five males who died in a hospital (two in their 50s; one in his 60s, one in his 80s; and one in his 90s).

“We know that two of them had underlying health conditions,” McMahon said.

In addition, the state reported two deaths in a nursing home and/or long-term care facility. The county executive asked the public to keep in mind the families of those who died after contracting the virus.

At-home test kits

As the briefing continued, McMahon noted that the state has procured more at-home test kits.

Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) will receive an allotment of at-home test kits “likely later this week.”

In addition, Onondaga County could [also] receive a similar allotment this week. If not this week, then early next week. When those kits arrive, Onondaga County will get them out and distributed in various ways, McMahon promised. At the same time, the county also plans to distribute 35,000 at-home test kits to congregate facilities in the county.