Two more Onondaga County residents die of Covid-19, including a woman in her 20s – syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Two more Onondaga County residents, including a woman in her 20s, died of Covid-19 over the past day, County Executive Ryan McMahon said.

The other death was a woman in her 70s, he said. Both had underlying conditions.

Since Oct. 1, McMahon said, 66 county residents have died of Covid-19. Of those, he said, 69% -- or 46 patients -- were not vaccinated. The other 20 people who died had been fully vaccinated.

McMahon noted that 84% of county residents 18 and older have been fully vaccinated while 16% have not. That means people in the smaller, unvaccinated group account for a large number of deaths here.

So that 16% is making up 69% of the deaths, he said at a news conference today.

Of the 24 Covid-19 patients in intensive care units today, he said, 79% are unvaccinated.

The vaccine continues to help those who get very sick, McMahon said. They do better than those who are unvaccinated.

The number of people in the hospital with Covid-19 today is 115, about the same as Wednesdays 116.

The county confirmed 271 new cases of Covid-19, the highest level since Oct. 30. The number of new cases over the past week is 50% higher than the previous week.

Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all running higher this month than they were at the same time in November 2020. Experts attribute that to the higher contagiousness of the delta variant and to people getting together more and not wearing masks as much as last November.

In other Covid-19 news, McMahon said:

* So far, 2,900 children ages 5 to 11 have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Thats a little under 10% of children of that age group.

* The county plans to ramp up testing for people with no symptoms next week in anticipation of Thanksgiving, when many residents will want to be tested just before seeing family members.

* Despite rising case numbers here, Onondaga County is faring better than others along the Thruway corridor. Onondaga Countys rate of cases over the past week is 42.6 per 100,000 population. Monroes is 46.6 cases per 100,000. Eries is 57.5 and Oneidas is 59.5.

READ MORE

McMahon to Onondaga County: Adults who feel at risk should get a Covid-19 booster

Covid-19 cases in New York state hit 7-month high

Hochul warns of more Covid-19 protocols if NYs infection numbers dont dip

Read more here:

Two more Onondaga County residents die of Covid-19, including a woman in her 20s - syracuse.com