Onondaga County has another death from COVID-19, bringing its total to 12. The victim was a man in his 90s who had underlying medical conditions. On Wednesday, County Executive Ryan McMahon announced 26 more positive cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 563. Fifty-three people are in the hospital, 20 are in critical condition.
McMahon said it will be hard to enforce an executive order Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Wednesday, which will go into effect Friday, that requires all New Yorkers wear a mask in public, when it’s not possible to social distance.
“For us to realistically, be able to enforce every person in the public doing that, it’s just not realistic," McMahon said. "This is Good Samaritan. We’re all in this together. Let’s act like it.”
Onondaga County has been recommending people wear a mask out in public.
The Town of Elbridge is still the only municipality in the county, besides the Onondaga Nation, that has not had a positive case of coronavirus. Vern Richardson is the supervisor of the Town of Elbridge, which has a population just under 6,000.
“People are trying to adhere to what the governor says and our county executive says by social distancing themselves," Richardson said. "I know I’ve seen that in the stores and people that are walking on the sidewalks, they are distancing themselves, as well. So, I think that part has been working good for us out here.”
Richardson said Elbridge residents are pretty amazed their town has been able to escape the pandemic, so far, as it is all around them in neighboring towns.
