YOUNGSTOWN — Five people have died out of the 73 people who have contracted COVID-19 in Youngstown, and there have been 33 hospitalizations, Youngstown’s health commissioner reported during Mayor Jamael Tito Brown’s Facebook Live broadcast Wednesday.

During the 50-minute video on the mayor’s Facebook page, he talked about how his family will change the way it mourns the recent death of his 94-year-old aunt because relatives can’t travel here, and her services cannot be conducted in the traditional way because of the virus.

“We’re going to have to take a look at how we do the funeral,” he said. “We have family across the United States. We’re going to have to use technology. We are going to have to do social distancing.

“When we go to bury my aunt, it’s going to be really different. There is not going to be the socialization where we have a couple of days where we meet up and have good times with one another.

“There’s not going to be hand shaking at the funeral. There’s not going to be hugging. There is not going to be a (meal). During this time we are going to have to make some sacrifices.”

He said he got an update Wednesday on the possible use of the Covelli Centre as an overflow space for the hospitals.

Though the plan to use the center is on hold, “They’re ready if they have to” use the facility. He said the local hospitals are not “quite at capacity yet, and that’s a good thing.

“The hospitals believe they can still use their room and their capacity to continue to make sure everyone’s at the main hospital and we don’t have to use the surge hospital.”

The mayor said when businesses reopen, it will be a “soft opening.” There may not be tables of 10 or 12 available at restaurants. People may have to remain apart.

“It’s not going to be a switch on real fast,” he said. “It will be a slow, gradual opening” while officials see how many hospitalizations occur.

Youngstown Health Commissioner Erin Bishop talked about the state order providing police, fire and ambulance personnel with the addresses where people live who have COVID-19, though not the name of the person.

The reason for giving the address is to allow first responders to know before they enter a house that someone inside has the virus so they can be on alert.

She thanked the Youngstown Police Department for helping the Youngstown Health Department make first contact with people who tested positive because it can be difficult to get people to answer the door.

Bishop clarified that employees in businesses are not required to wear masks, but it is highly encouraged.

The health department’s environmental health director, Tara Cioffi, sent out “robo calls” to all of the city’s businesses to let them know that the state requires them to post a notice on the front door telling the public the number of people that can be inside the business at one time.

She also reminded the businesses that they need to put an “X” six feet apart on the floor to show where to stand in line. “We have the power to shut them down” if they do not follow the state rules, she noted.

The health department is working with the city’s nursing homes, group homes, jails and other facilities to make sure they are providing the necessary social distancing and following the rules.

erunyan@tribtoday.com