Syracuse, NY – Seven weeks ago, when almost 9% of all Covid-19 tests in Onondaga County were positive, county executive Ryan McMahon hoped to reduce the rate to 5%. It seemed like a reasonable goal for the winter months.
Instead, the positive test rate dropped steadily, reaching 1.1% today, as last week’s average. This is the lowest level since before Halloween, a significant victory in the fight against the coronavirus.
“I’m surprised ” by the extent of the fall, McMahon said today. “I would have taken 5% over the winter to be honest with you. ”
The county’s positivity rate is less than a third of the 3.5% state average rate.
The number of county residents with active cases in Covid-19 dropped to 667 today, nine times less than the record 6,027 active cases recorded on January 3.
The county has confirmed 60 new cases since Sunday, McMahon said. There were 79 Covid-19 patients in local hospitals today, including 11 in intensive care.
There were no new deaths to report today, said McMahon.
Altogether, the county has made a “very sharp turnaround” since the deadly spike that started after Halloween and continued through the end of January, McMahon said.
In part, the progress is due to vaccines, said McMahon. Approximately 79,000 county residents received at least one dose of the vaccine, or 17% of the population. In addition, more than 31,000 county residents have had Covid-19 since March and are likely to have some immunity, McMahon said.
But McMahon said changes in behavior also played a role. The increase in the holiday led to hundreds of serious illnesses and deaths, which probably influenced attitudes towards testing, wearing masks and other public health measures.
“It was a terrible time for our community, ” said McMahon. “Unfortunately, most people know someone who died from Covid at this point. So I think it changed human behavior as well. Since then, we have done what we need to do as a community. ”
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