Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon confirmed six new cases of the novel coronavirus Friday. Thirteen people in total have tested positive for the virus.

The novel coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected more than 270,000 people and killed more than 11,000 worldwide. New York state has confirmed over 7,000 cases of the virus.

The county has received about 425 test results, 13 of which were positive, McMahon said at a 3 p.m. press conference. Ninety-five tests came back negative Friday, he said. 

“If we can test as many people that may have symptoms, that’s how we identify those who are sick and those that need to be quarantined, that’s how we really starve out this virus,” McMahon said.

The county confirmed seven other cases this week, including an elderly couple who tested positive Monday. A woman in her 20s and her mother also tested positive after returning from New York City. Another individual contracted the virus after traveling from Spain, and a person in their 20s contracted it locally, according to Syracuse.com. 

Two of the 13 patients are currently hospitalized. Three of the six new patients were in quarantine when their test results were confirmed and are connected to a previously confirmed case, McMahon said.

“Anyone who is under a quarantine right now, there’s a high anticipation and expectation that they will test positive,” McMahon said. “Some are not testing positive, but that’s the process here.”

Half of the six new patients are women, and half are men, McMahon said. Two of the individuals are elderly, two are middle-aged and two are under 40 years old, he said. McMahon said he’d try to clarify the approximate ages of the elderly and middle-aged patients.

The disease is not just affecting older people, Onondaga County Health Commissioner Indu Gupta said Friday at a 12 p.m. media briefing. The county’s confirmed cases involve patients in their early 20s to late 70s, she said. 

“If you are young, you are still vulnerable,” Gupta said. “It’s everybody’s disease.”

The county is also investigating a confirmed case of COVID-19 involving an employee at the DeWitt branch of the national eyewear chain America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, Gupta said. 

Community members should contact their primary care provider and the county health department if they visited the store on March 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; on March 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; on March 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., or on March 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., McMahon said.

Anyone who has been tested must remain in quarantine until they receive their test results. McMahon at the media briefing stressed that people who test positive should not be stigmatized for contracting the virus. 

“These people did nothing wrong,” McMahon said. “They have a virus just like many of us have gotten viruses over our lifetime. We just were able to go to the doctor and get an antibiotic and get treatment. These folks, that’s not there yet for them. We’ll get there, we’re just not there yet.”

Published on March 20, 2020 at 8:55 pm

Contact Emma: esfolts@syr.edu