Syracuse, N.Y. -- The number of newly confirmed Covid-19 cases in Onondaga County has soared over the past few days, a week after families and friends gathered for Thanksgiving dinner.
County Executive Ryan McMahon said the county reported 404 new cases today, the highest total since a single day in mid-October. McMahon said the county had confirmed 337 cases on Wednesday and 348 cases Thursday.
“We are in the middle of a Thanksgiving surge,” McMahon said today at a news conference. “We’re certainly going to have another high case day tomorrow and probably even another high case day the day after, but what that looks like going into next week, we don’t know yet. "
The number of cases for each day this month so far are higher than the same days in 2020. The number of Covid-19 patients in local hospitals today, however, is less than a year ago. Today, there are 133 people hospitalized for Covid-19. A year ago, it was 177.
Fewer people are dying of Covid-19 this month than last December. In the past three days, five people have died; in the first three days of December 2020, 13 people died.
Older people are at higher risk of being hospitalized and dying, and McMahon said recent cases are primarily in people under 60.
“If you had a positive news out of a 404-case day, it would be that 90% of the cases are zero to 59 years old, meaning our most vulnerable demographics are not bearing the brunt of this,” McMahon said.
Experts are split on whether the pandemic will hit as hard this winter as last, when 366 Onondaga County residents died of Covid in December and January. On the plus side, more than 84% of adults are now vaccinated, and the more recent approval of vaccines for children could help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Booster shots for adults could also keep more people out of the hospital.
But cases were also much higher heading into fall this year than last, thanks largely to the dominance of the more-infectious delta variant. And the newest wild card is the emerging omicron variant, which might be even more transmissible than delta.
McMahon said if cases continue at this level for another week, he will look at imposing restrictions such as requiring masks and tests for large indoor gatherings. He said the county won’t go back to the severe restrictions of 2020.
“There will not be lockdowns,” he said. “There will not be business limitations that will cripple our economic recovery.”
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