Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has designated three cities and 11 Erie County towns as part of a "yellow zone" that will set new limits on public gatherings, bar hours and restaurant table capacity, and subject many students in prekindergarten through high school to new Covid-19 testing requirements.
Though Cuomo had foreshadowed his intention to create new focus zones in Erie County as part of his microcluster strategy, there's nothing "micro" about the new yellow zone that encompasses Buffalo and most first-and second-ring suburbs.
The microcluster strategy was designed to fight community spread of Covid-19 without shutting down large sections of the state. But County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz said Monday that he spent much of his weekend ironing out the boundaries of the yellow zone with state officials and recommended that broader boundaries be established instead of focusing on smaller, individual communities.
"We agreed this is not a microcluster," he said of his conversations with the state. "This is a macro. This is large scale."
Erie County's yellow zone is larger than some other state zones that focus on particular neighborhoods or ZIP codes. Poloncarz said that given the community spread and travel between towns in Erie County, he and state officials agreed a larger focus zone is most appropriate.
"We do not want to shut down things," Poloncarz said. "We want to give everyone an opportunity to enjoy what our community has, but we cannot do that if we continue to see these rises in Covid-19 cases, especially at an exponential rate. In a very short period of time, they've been doubling."
Map: Erie County's microcluster 'yellow zone'
Erie is not the only county seeing alarming increases. Niagara County has also seen a major surge in positive tests. But Erie is the first Western New York county to receive a yellow, orange or red zone designation that rolls back the reopening standards that residents have been living with for the past few months.
Under the yellow "precautionary" zone restrictions:
• Allowable gatherings are reduced from 50 people to 25 people.
• Houses of worship must limit services to 50% of capacity.
• Restaurants may seat no more than four people to a table, indoors or out, and bars must close by midnight.
Schools remain open. However, all schools in the yellow zone – public and private – that offer in-school instruction must test 20% of their students and staff weekly with Binax tests that will be provided by the state and can be administered by school nurses. More detailed information will be coming within the next day or so, Poloncarz said.
Cuomo said Monday that the state will provide the additional test supplies schools need.
Schools that are operating 100% remotely, including the Buffalo Public Schools, are unaffected by the governor's yellow zone designation.
Businesses are still open under the yellow zone. However, there will be more aggressive enforcement of capacity restrictions, with assistance being provided to Erie County by the New York State Liquor Authority and state Department of Agriculture.
The yellow zone encompasses all of Erie County, except its easternmost and southernmost towns. All Erie County cities are affected, as well as the towns of Amherst, Grand Island, Clarence, Lancaster, Elma, Aurora, Orchard Park, Hamburg, West Seneca and Cheektowaga.
Cuomo described the new yellow zone designation as a precaution that will allow businesses and schools to stay open in hopes that the public will do its part to help contain further spread of the virus. It is the least restrictive of three colored zones that the state can impose on a geographic area.
Restaurants with 'razor thin margins' grapple with 'very, very tough' restrictions
The state's microcluster approach targets specific areas with high coronavirus infection rates, includes red zones for the most serious spread of the virus, orange zones for areas adjacent to red zones or that have slightly less severe infection rates, and yellow zones for areas that have elevated infection levels but are not as severe as in orange or red zones.
In red zones, nonessential gatherings are prohibited, nonessential businesses are closed, schools are remote-instruction only, dining is limited to takeout and delivery, and houses of worship are limited to 25% of capacity or 10 people, whichever is lower. Orange zones would shutter businesses considered high risk, such as gyms and movie theaters, and close on-site learning at schools.
The state and county will revisit Erie County's yellow designation weekly to see if any adjustments should be made, but Poloncarz said no one should expect the restrictions to be lifted quickly.
"This is a reprieve," Poloncarz said. "If our numbers continue to go up, our hospitalizations go up, our cases go up, our deaths go up ... we'll be going to the orange and red, and we don't want that."
On Monday, Erie County reported that it had 245 new Covid-19 cases and a 6.4% positive test rate for Sunday. The county's seven-day positive test average was 5%.
The Western New York region's positive coronavirus test rate has tripled in the last two weeks; its seven-day average rate is 3.8%. Monday's rate for the region, which includes Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, was 5.3%.
Earlier this year, Erie County had rates around 1%.
The World Health Organization recommends positive test averages not exceed 5%.
Poloncarz said Erie County contact tracers have found no single or isolated source for the recent, rapid spread of the virus, but did mention adult Halloween parties, retirement parties and other adult gatherings. He also mentioned that two people told contact tracers they participated in a Trump rally in Erie, Pa., and got sick.
Erie County is far from alone in noticing a pattern of adults gathering privately and putting themselves and others at risk.
Niagara County reported Monday that it has added 151 new cases of Covid-19 to its list since Friday morning.
"It's the most we've ever had," county Public Health Director Daniel J. Stapleton said as the county reported it now has 342 active cases, eight of them hospitalized.
Stapleton blamed Halloween for the general increase in cases.
"For the past week, we've been seeing through contact tracing that it was Halloween parties," Stapleton said.
The tally also includes students at Niagara University, which said Saturday that 47 students tested positive last week and 160 were being quarantined. The university has had 85 positive cases among students and employees in the last 10 days, but that was a net increase of only six since Sunday, a university spokesman said.
Erie County is not the only area that had yellow zones imposed by the state. Cuomo on Monday also added portions of Monroe County, which includes Rochester, and Onondaga County, which includes Syracuse.
