Syracuse, NY – Onondaga County Administrator Ryan McMahon said today he will help 175 additional county workers investigate new cases of the corona virus, whose flooding continues to overwhelm the health sector.
The enlisted staff will triple the number of district staff available to contact people who test positive for the virus and find others who may be infected. Reinforcements were needed to handle an average of more than 300 caselots a day in October, up from 40 a day in October.
“We felt the uprising (on occasion),” McMahon said. “We’re back now, so we can bring these caskets under control.”
McMahon said it is important to reach infected patients and their contacts quickly so they can be isolated to prevent the virus from spreading to others. The rise of new events since Halloween has turned the health sector into a swamp, which is impossible.
McMahon said the health department has 50 staff dedicated to investigating the case. Last week, he identified 100 additional district employees, but each worked only a day or two on the Govt cases. That proved inefficient, McMahon said. The new panel of 175 people will work full-time on the trial.
He will offer county positions to county employees who were fired in September and bring back some of the part-time employees who were fired in the spring, he said. If necessary, the county will hire new part-time employees, he said.
“It will be expensive,” McMahon said. “But we can’t let this get in the way.”
District Health Commissioner Dr Hindu Gupta said the system would be withdrawn until new case investigators are on board. He urged anyone testing positive for Covit-19 not to wait for a call from the health department, but to isolate themselves immediately and warn anyone closely associated with their isolation.
“You will save lives,” Gupta said. “You can prevent the virus from spreading to your family, friends and workplace. Help us. Please help us reduce the transaction. ” ‘
The county today confirmed 288 new cases of Govt-19 since Sunday. McMahon said it was 112 less than Cassell on Sunday, but it would be too early to see if the cases would continue to drop.
The average positive test rate over the past seven days was 6.9%, McMahon said.
Four county residents, including a woman under the age of 70, have died of the corona virus since Sunday. The other three victims were nursing home residents, with no other information about whom. There have been 67 deaths in the last two weeks, more than 20% of the 308 deaths since March.
Local hospitals today have 274 Govt-19 patients, 14 more than on Sunday and another record. Fifty patients are in intensive care.
McMahon said he expects state approval this week for the county’s plan to establish a nursing home facility with only one corona virus that will be sufficient to be discharged from hospitals, but can still maintain patients who have not been negatively tested. To date there are 31 such patients in local hospitals.
The facility will be operated by the current nursing home operator, McMahon declined to identify him, and said it could begin operations within a day of approval.
District health officials continue to administer thousands of corona virus tests a day. To find a location and pre-register, go to the district website.
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