Governor Andrew Cuomo held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon and made an announcement regarding the COVID-19 pandemic across the state, but also the situation in Western New York, which has seen a spike in COVID1-9 cases over the last couple of weeks.

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According to Governor Cuomo, many parts of Western New York will move from a yellow microcluster zone to an orange microcluster zone.

According to WIVB, parts of Erie County move from a yellow to an orange zone, while a small section of Niagara County (North Tonawanda) moves to a yellow zone.

The parts of Erie County that will move to an orange zone are:

  • Buffalo
  • Lackawanna
  • Evans
  • Eden
  • Tonawanda
  • Amherst
  • Cheektowaga
  • Clarence
  • Lancaster
  • Elma
  • West Seneca
  • Orchard Park
  • Aurora

The remainder of Erie County moves to a yellow zone.

According to Orange Zone restrictions:

  • Places of worship limited to 33 percent.
  • Outdoor dining and takeout only, NO indoor dining.
  • Gatherings of more than 10 people indoor or outdoor are not permitted.
  • Non-essential businesses close, such as gyms, hair salons, and other personal care.
  • Schools must close for in-person learning, remote learning only.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says these restrictions go into place on Friday for businesses and Monday for schools.

Dave Greber of WIVB also reports that schools MAY open in an orange zone if they're not in a microcluster, and some additional testing.

There's no official word on when these restrictions go into place -- whether that's immediately or at a later date.

UPDATE: according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, these restrictions for businesses go into effect FRIDAY. Schools will follow on MONDAY.

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