A ninth patient in Onondaga County has died from the coronavirus, while active cases in the county have begun to stabilize.

The patient was a woman in her 70s with underlying medical conditions, County Executive Ryan McMahon said at a media briefing Saturday. The woman is the fifth person in Onondaga County to die from the virus this week.

“As a community we’re grieving for her and her family, as we are for all of the victims,” McMahon said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in this.”

The coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected 174,489 people in New York state as of Saturday and killed 8,627. Onondaga County has confirmed 25 cases of the virus since Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 481, McMahon said.

The county’s number of active cases — which account for individuals who have contracted COVID-19 but have not recovered or died — increased by three since Friday, rising to 275 in total, McMahon said. The increase is less than it was three days ago, indicating the number of active cases is beginning to plateau, he said.

“That curve is starting to flatten,” McMahon said. “I think it’s too early to say we’ve hit our peak.”

Saturday marks the fifth day of McMahon’s two-week voluntary shelter-in-place order. Under the order, McMahon has urged county residents to only leave their homes on specific days that correspond with their birth year.

McMahon encouraged residents to continue following social distancing guidelines during tomorrow’s Easter holiday. Those celebrating the holiday should do so only with their immediate family, he said.

“We can’t have public health victories and then rush in a restart, which leads us into another public health potential crisis,” McMahon said.

The county is encouraging nonessential businesses that can function under social distancing guidelines to contact the county about potentially resuming operations, McMahon said. He cited car dealerships as one type of nonessential business that could potentially reopen in the near future.

McMahon said earlier this week that the COVID-19 outbreak has drastically reduced the county’s revenue. The county has put in place $12 million in austerity measures to counter the virus’ economic fallout, including cuts across various departments.

Reopening car dealerships would provide a substantial revenue source for the financially strapped county government, McMahon said.

“Some people may say, ‘why is that essential?’ It’s essential because that’s our number one revenue generator of sales tax,” McMahon said. “We’re going to need to make a case to the state to bring on businesses that are nonessential.”

Published on April 12, 2020 at 12:20 am

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu