Onondaga County will be distributing at-home rapid testing kits and KN95 masks to the community at large starting next week, according to Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon Tuesday.
There are 20,000 two-pack test kits available, said McMahon, and the county expects to receive thousands of KN95 masks to give out at various distribution points. Per McMahon, the county is working to partner with local municipalities, like fire departments, to serve as test and mask distribution sites.
He acknowledged that home testing does come with some caveats, with recipients being asked to report their own positive results to the county health department.
“We’re going to be on the honor system. The expectation will still be seven to 10 days in quarantine,” said McMahon.
The push for more tests and masks comes with what McMahon says will likely be another difficult winter in the pandemic, with the omicron variant now accounting for 10% of the county’s cases.
McMahon pointed particularly to the importance of keeping schools open with home testing, especially as the pressures of omicron mount.
“We know the new variant is very contagious, and we know there’s going to be lots of cases, but we still need to live and we still need to keep kids in schools,” said McMahon.
School districts are also working to expand their own testing in-house infrastructures for test-to-stay programs, with Holy Cross and Jordan Elbridge already receiving approval from the state to do so and the rest of the districts “sure to receive them soon,” according to the county executive.
“We recognize [testing] is going to be critical, especially after break for what could be a four- to eight-week bumpy ride with omicron,” said McMahon.
McMahon announced four new deaths to the virus Tuesday, all adults with underlying conditions. As of Tuesday, 129 people are hospitalized with 26 in the ICU. Eighty-six percent of ICU patients are unvaccinated, per McMahon.
Three-hundred and fifty-one new cases emerged overnight, bringing the county up to 2,081 active cases.
The county executive is advising community members to visit ongov.net for rapid testing opportunities before the Christmas holiday.
