BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo provided an update into the state's progress on the COVID-19 pandemic Monday morning following a weekend of increased numbers in the Western New York region.
Governor Cuomo announced that the statewide positivity rate with micro-clusters was 2.8 percent on Sunday and without micro-clusters, the stateside positive rate was 2.6 percent on Sunday.
Cuomo announced that parts of Erie County will go to a Yellow Zone, no red zones.
Yellow Zone — Precautionary Zone
- Houses of Worship: 50 percent capacity
- Mass Gatherings: 25 people maximum, indoor and outdoor
- Businesses: Open
- Dining: Indoor and outdoor dining, 4 person maximum per table
- Schools: Open with mandatory weekly testing of students and teachers/staff for in-person settings. The New York State Department of Health will establish a percentage of teachers and students/staff who need to be tested by Friday.
"Micro-cluster approach works, it's inarguable, do more testing, more targeting, as soon as you see an increase, be more aggressive," Governor Cuomo said during the call.
"Red zones are our way of saying, the virus is making headway and we are going to increase restrictions and enforcement," Cuomo added.
2 On Your Side’s Claudine Ewing asked Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul if the 25 maximum for gatherings includes weddings and funerals.
“Yes gatherings, indoor and outdoor,” she said.
When asked about enforcement to keep the COVID-19 numbers down and make sure businesses are compliant. Hochul said the state is taking an additional step in Western New York.
“We are sending in enhanced liquor authority teams to drive it down," Hochul said. "So I'm telling all the restaurant and bar owners, make sure your staff and patrons are following the rules."
The percent of tests that were positive for COVID-19 in the Western New York region on Sunday, November 8, 2020 was 5.3 percent, which was the highest rate for any region in the state.
In the region, there were 278 positive test results and the majority of them, 228 to be exact, were in Erie County. Erie County now has a seven-day rolling average of 25 new cases per 100,000 residents.
The total number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the region was 117. Down one person from Saturday’s total of 118.
