BUFFALO, N.Y. — Following the announcement earlier last week from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that parts of Erie County have gone into a Yellow Zone, a continual rise in COVID-19 cases has brought up the warning that the area might be upgraded to an Orange Zone.
As part of the Yellow Zone, houses of worship are capped at 50 percent capacity, businesses can remain open, indoor and outdoor dining is only a four-person maximum per table and schools can remain open with mandatory weekly testing of students and teachers/staff for in-person settings.
During a conference call held on Friday, November 13, Governor Cuomo said if numbers don't improve over the weekend, following the new restrictions/guidelines, then there might be further restrictions coming next week.
"There will be no changes today [Friday, November 13] or over the weekend, there will be a joint discussion over the weekend and see where the state is on Monday," Cuomo said.
RELATED: Cuomo: Further restrictions might come next week if COVID-19 numbers don't get better this weekend
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz provided an update into the county's COVID-19 progress on Monday, November 16 following a weekend of rising COVID-19 cases.
"The state might issue an update tomorrow (Tuesday, November 17) either expanding the Yellow Zone or changing it to Orange or Red. It all depends on the data," Poloncarz stated.
But, if at anytime, Governor Cuomo calls for an Orange Zone or Red Zone to be initiated, here's what will change:
Orange Zone — Warning Zone
- Houses of Worship: 33 percent capacity, 25 people maximum
- Mass Gatherings: 10 people maximum, indoor and outdoor* (This is already in effect per Governor Cuomo's earlier guidelines)
- Businesses: Closing high-risk non-essential businesses, such as gyms and personal care
- Dining: Outdoor dining only, four people maximum per table
- Schools: Closed, remote only
Red Zone — Cluster Itself
- Houses of Worship: 25 percent capacity, 10 people maximum
- Mass Gatherings: Prohibited
- Businesses: Only essential businesses open
- Dining: Takeout only
- Schools: Closed, remote only
So far, there is no Orange or Red Zone for any part of the Western New York region amid COVID-19 cases surging across the community.
The numbers continue to worry the Erie County Executive and Health Commissioner. They are advising people to only celebrate Thanksgiving with the people you live with because "living room spread" is happening, and the ages of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are trending younger than they were in the beginning of the pandemic.
2 On Your Side's Kelly Dudzik asked Poloncarz how they decide which areas go into a potential Orange or Red Zone, or into an expanded Yellow Zone.
"New daily cases per 100,000 population on a seven-day average, and the highest one is the one with the highest number of cases in total which is Hamburg," Poloncarz said. "In which there's basically 78 people per 100,000 that are new cases on a seven-day average. Amherst, Clarence, 14221, drops to 43 1/2, but then you see the next one, Lancaster 65.9. So, we're looking at data like this. We're talking to the state about this type of information. They're also looking at hospitalization data to see is there a greater preponderance of people coming from a particular location that are going to hospitals. There is no one driving factor. Everyone's looked at the numbers. We release it on a daily basis, and the seven-day rolling average, and they're saying, oh we're going to go Orange or Red on Monday. Well, unless something really different happens in the next few hours, I do not believe we're going to go to Orange or Red today."
Burstein says she is worried about the virus spreading over the Thanksgiving holiday.
"Stay away from anybody else that does not live in your household," Burstein said. "And, if you do go out, and you're going to be around other people, wear a mask. Masks are very protective. And then, you know, unfortunately, it's the holiday season and people are planning Thanksgiving, people are planning shopping expeditions, but we have to stay at home or cancel these gatherings and postpone them to another date, until the spring when we hopefully will have a vaccine. This is something that we can't have large gatherings. Even small gatherings. We're seeing what we see living room outbreaks. Just a few people in a living room, and we're seeing outbreaks of that."
The Erie County Executive says it's more likely cases are being contracted outside the schools, though he says there's evidence showing there has been some case-to-case transmission in schools.
"However, the vast majority of cases are those where we can pinpoint that the person was probably infected outside the school, such as a student may have been infected from a parent who caught it from a co-worker, or an employee of a school caught it from someone outside the school district," says Poloncarz.
As of Friday, November 13, new restrictions were put in place across the state, including, bars, restaurants and gyms all now closing at 10 p.m.
You can watch the full press conference below:
