An eighth person in Onondaga County has died of the coronavirus, County Executive Ryan McMahon confirmed Friday.

The patient was a man in his late 60s with underlying medical conditions, McMahon said at a media briefing. It is the county’s second death related to the coronavirus reported since Thursday.

Coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected 170,512 people in New York state and killed 7,844. The number of cases in Onondaga county has increased by 14 since Thursday, bringing the total number to 456.

Onondaga County has released 22 patients from quarantine since Thursday, marking the first time the county has seen more recoveries than confirmed cases, McMahon said. There are also 300 COVID-19 tests pending, the lowest number the county has seen in weeks, he said.

“I want to thank the community for responding,” McMahon said. “Today is an excellent day to social distance, so are the next few days as well.”

There are now 49 individuals in the hospital, and 9% are in critical condition, McMahon said.

“This is just the reality of this virus that once you get it, you’re in for a fight,” he said.

The county is now in its fourth day of a two-week voluntary shelter-in-place order. The order requests that residents born in even-numbered years leave their homes only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and those born in odd-numbered years leave on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

While it appears that the majority of residents are following orders, McMahon said he fears what the upcoming Easter weekend will bring. At least half a dozen restaurants reported large catering orders that were likely for more than 10 people, he said.

“A lot of these employers are really alarmed by some of the behavior of the general public,” McMahon said. “We have people who are going to have a pretty good day business-wise but are alarmed by the quantities that they are asked to prepare.”

Several of the county’s confirmed cases are the result of recreational and social gatherings, he said.

McMahon urged residents to adhere to the shelter-in-place order to ensure the number of cases continues to decline. People need to start using common sense for both their personal sake and the sake of the community, he said.

“The actions today are going to drive the outcomes down the road,” McMahon said. “We fear that the progress in the data that we are talking about today could go the other way because of an afternoon around the dinner table when these things could be avoided.”

Published on April 11, 2020 at 10:34 am

Contact Maggie: mehicks@syr.edu | @maggie_hickss