Onondaga County will think about extra COVID-19 mitigation measures if case numbers don’t flatten out quickly. However County govt Ryan McMahon wouldn’t say what they could do. Central New York has one of many increased 7-day optimistic charges within the state, and Governor Hochul has hinted she could take motion. McMahon explains that even total international locations with extreme restrictions haven’t been capable of hold numbers down.
“We’re taking a look at a pair issues we are able to do if this doesn’t flatten out. We’ll in all probability give it a bit bit extra time as a result of the climate is giving us a bit extra time. Definitely we’d like this factor flattened going into the indoor season.”
McMahon says one third of instances are from dwelling publicity, that are just about unpreventable. In any other case, he says masks mandates are already in place at congregant settings like faculties and day cares, however they’re troublesome to implement. McMahon says he’s very involved about clusters of instances at two nursing properties, which require masks and have among the many highest vaccination charges for residents and workers. The state can also be investigating. He worries in regards to the implications for staffing on the services and for dwelling care.
“Proper now the nursing properties, from my understanding, usually are not accepting loads of new residents due to the challenges they’ve. That places loads of strain on your own home care ecosystem and infrastructure. We’re very a lot watching this, and really a lot making an attempt to get in entrance of what that problem may seem like.”
McMahon says the well being care workforce is stretched skinny and fatigued, limiting choices for households. In the meantime, some college districts are scuffling with workers shortages of their very own on account of COVID quarantines and isolation. A Liverpool college needed to change to distant studying for that purpose. In any other case, McMahon says college students ought to stay within the classroom.
“If individuals have to go distant for a time frame as a result of they don’t have sufficient lecturers, that is sensible. To counsel now, when lively instances are 15 to twenty % of our peak, after we had children in class, that [they go remote] as a risk-based method, we strongly disagree. The info don’t benefit that.”
He says the anticipated emergency approval of the Pfizer vaccine for five to 11 12 months olds, hopefully round Halloween, ought to convey instances down. So ought to booster photographs. The county is as soon as once more partnering with Kinney Medicine for a booster clinic on Thursday, Oct. 14 from 9 to 4 on the Oncenter. Registration is required at ongov.net.
