SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-12) — It has already been a terrible month for Central New York regarding COVID-19, and over the past 24 hours, 12 more people passed away due to the virus in Onondaga County. 

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon tweeted out the devastating news Saturday afternoon. 

A Devastating Holiday as we lost 12 neighbors. 9 in Hospital Males, 74,72, 64,35. Female 104, 99,91,74,74. We lost 3 neighbors in nursing homes. Please Pray for their families.

— County Executive Ryan McMahon (@CEJRyanMcMahon) December 26, 2020

Among the 12 people who passed away due to the virus over the past 24 hours is a 35-year-old man. This serves as a reminder that COVID-19 can take anyone’s life, and people have to abide by the guidelines in place in order to limit the spread of the virus. 

If there was any good news from McMahon’s tweets Saturday, it’s that the county’s positive rate has declined for the second consecutive week.

McMahon said the county’s average COVID-19 positive rate over the past seven days is 5.5%, which is down from 7.0% two weeks ago. McMahon also said hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are declining in Onondaga County, as well.

Statewide, the COVID-19 positive rate from Friday’s test results was 5.36%. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 across the state also slightly declined Friday, but 6,884 New Yorkers are still in a hospital battling the virus. 

Tragically, 122 more New Yorkers lost their lives to the virus Friday.

COVID-19 data released by the New York State Health Department Saturday:

• Test Results Reported – 201,442
• Tested Positive – 10,806
• Percent Positive – 5.36%
• Patient Hospitalization – 6,884 (-66)
• Patients Newly Admitted – 855
• Number ICU – 1,129 (-19)
• Number ICU with Intubation – 638 (+17)
• Total Discharges – 99,156 (+806)
• Deaths – 122
• Total Deaths – 29,396

In the Central New York region, the hospital bed capacity remains intact. On Saturday, the state reported that about a quarter of the hospital beds in the region are still available. Central New York is currently tied with the Capital Region for the lowest percentage of hospital beds available, but both regions have more than 15% of their beds available. If a region has fewer than 15% of their hospital beds available, they could be subject to an Orange Zone by the State Health Department.  

COVID-19 positivity rates for all ten regions in New York State over the last three days:

REGION	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
Capital Region	7.48%	7.63%	7.76%
Central New York	6.38%	6.26%	6.11%
Finger Lakes	8.35%	8.22%	8.12%
Long Island	6.41%	6.45%	6.54%
Mid-Hudson	6.22%	6.18%	6.10%
Mohawk Valley	8.71%	8.74%	8.69%
New York City	4.34%	4.46%	4.48%
North Country	5.86%	6.14%	6.34%
Southern Tier	2.66%	2.76%	2.94%
Western New York	6.33%	6.01%	6.16%
Statewide	5.45%	5.53%	5.55%

Since the pandemic began, there have been 914,522 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York State.

Breakdown of cases by county:

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	10,489	215
Allegany	1,719	26
Broome	7,616	76
Cattaraugus	2,274	46
Cayuga	2,436	53
Chautauqua	3,162	62
Chemung	4,284	31
Chenango	1,102	28
Clinton	921	31
Columbia	1,494	24
Cortland	1,925	41
Delaware	636	13
Dutchess	11,266	146
Erie	39,183	331
Essex	515	17
Franklin	694	31
Fulton	1,202	27
Genesee	2,437	47
Greene	1,134	19
Hamilton	98	1
Herkimer	1,810	46
Jefferson	1,548	28
Lewis	799	23
Livingston	1,691	41
Madison	2,083	24
Monroe	31,077	426
Montgomery	1,194	72
Nassau	82,233	1,134
Niagara	7,719	101
NYC	404,422	3,949
Oneida	10,755	155
Onondaga	19,452	297
Ontario	2,899	61
Orange	22,213	181
Orleans	1,219	39
Oswego	3,093	48
Otsego	1,116	23
Putnam	4,478	65
Rensselaer	3,751	106
Rockland	26,433	142
Saratoga	4,868	127
Schenectady	5,248	150
Schoharie	493	22
Schuyler	490	14
Seneca	701	24
St. Lawrence	1,851	36
Steuben	3,139	42
Suffolk	89,257	1,272
Sullivan	2,911	28
Tioga	1,596	21
Tompkins	1,953	32
Ulster	5,328	87
Warren	1,040	61
Washington	740	27
Wayne	2,262	43
Westchester	66,405	554
Wyoming	1,221	24
Yates	447	16

For more local COVID-19 data, click here.