Three more people have died from COVID-19 in Onondaga County.

According to county officials, one victim was a man in his 90s, one was a woman in her 70s, and the third a nursing home resident whose demographic information was not released.

The three deaths mark the deadliest day the county has seen since late spring. The total number of deaths in the county now stands at 229.

Onondaga County also set a new daily record for cases in a 24-hour period, with 270.

Overall, 9,679 people have tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. There are 116 people in the hospital, 26 of them in critical condition. 

The seven-day average positivty rate has actually dropped to 3.4 percent.

Onondaga County has now fined dozens of small businesses for violating the social distancing guidelines, the most common violation has been not enforcing mask requirements.

Meanwhile, County Executive Ryan McMahon is asking people to support the local businesses that are now classified in the orange zone.

He's asking people to buy gift certificates or gift cards from the restaurants, bars, salons and gyms that were forced to shutter.

"Whether it's something you are doing for Thanksgiving, or the holiday season coming up in December, this is the way you can put money into our small businesses their checkbooks right now,” McMahon said.

There is good news about testing, capacity will increase next week with college students going away.

"That should dramatically increase for folks when they want to get an appointment quicker, that should happen," McMahon said.