Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon confirmed the county’s fifth death from the novel coronavirus and issued a voluntary shelter-in-place order on Sunday.

A man in his 60s with significant underlying medical issues has died of the virus, McMahon said during a media briefing. The novel coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected 123,160 people in New York state and killed 4,159. County officials have confirmed three deaths since Thursday.

The county will implement a voluntary shelter-in-place order for two weeks beginning Tuesday. The next two weeks are critical to reversing the spread of COVID-19 in the county, McMahon said. The county has confirmed 15 cases of the virus since yesterday, bringing the total number of reported cases to 364.

Under the shelter-in-place order, county residents born in an even-numbered year will be encouraged to leave their homes for essential supplies and recreation only on Tuesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays. Those born in odd-numbered years will be asked to leave their homes only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Residents born in odd-numbered years will be allowed to leave their homes the first Sunday the order is in place, while those born in even-numbered years will be able to the second Sunday.

“We need your buy-in and we need your sacrifice now,” McMahon said. “This is a voluntary process, but it’s a necessary one. If we want to get back to normal—we want to get back to work, we want to get back to school—we need to flatten the curve and we need to flatten it now.”

The county’s active cases, which include patients who have tested positive for the virus but have not recovered or died, increased by only 3 since yesterday, McMahon said. Twenty-eight patients have been hospitalized in total, and 17 are in critical condition, he said.

The city of Syracuse has reported 127 cases of COVID-19, McMahon said. Of all the county’s municipalities, only the Onondaga Nation and the Town of Elbridge have no reported cases, he said.

“Our goal is, if we do everything well, that each day even if we have positives, we’ll have more people being released so our active case curve flattens and goes down,” McMahon said. “We can only win if we’re doing this together.”

All county golf courses—with the exception of state-run courses—will also close for two weeks starting tomorrow at 8pm, McMahon said.

McMahon decided to order the closure of public and private golf courses in Onondaga County after receiving complaints from residents, he said. State-run courses in the county will remain open because the state Health Department has not approved their closure, he said.

The county is also advising customers of four local businesses to self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms after employees tested positive for the virus. Three Syracuse businesses—Hallinan’s Wine and Liquors and the Walgreens branches at 4001 S. Salina St and 4751 Onondaga Blvd—have confirmed cases of the virus.

An employee of Kinney Drugs in Liverpool has also tested positive. All four businesses are considered essential and have remained open, McMahon said.

“Just because you went shopping there does not mean you had direct exposure to someone who tested positive,” McMahon said. “If you are symptomatic, you then contact your doctor.”

McMahon said he was concerned the upcoming Easter holiday will present an opportunity for the virus to spread. He urged county residents to celebrate the holiday only with family members who they are already in contact with on a regular basis.

The entire community needs to buy into the social distancing measures for the county to recover, McMahon said.

“We can’t be comfortable with COVID-19,” McMahon said. “This disease is a killer, and it has killed five of our neighbors.”

Published on April 5, 2020 at 9:43 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu