Governor Andrew Cuomo says Western New York had its chance to get its COVID-19 numbers down, but they continue to spike.

The region has the worst COVID-19 positivity rate in the state and that's why the governor is putting most of Erie County into an orange zone.

Parts of Niagara County are now a yellow zone.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says the latest numbers as of Tuesday show the seven-day positivity rate is 7%, with 516 new cases confirmed in Erie County.

As of Wednesday in Niagara County, the health department reports 65 new cases with 517 active cases. More restrictions are set to take place starting on Friday.  

Lancaster and Hamburg are two towns that have been designated orange zones. They have some of the highest rates in the region at 9%.

 So what does an orange zone designation mean?

  • There is no indoor dining
  • Restaurants can only serve people who are seated outside or through takeout or delivery
  • Certain high-risk non-essential businesses, like gyms, fitness centers, barbershops, hair salons, and personal care services, must close
  • Gatherings should also be limited to 10 people regardless of whether they are inside or outside
  • All of this takes effect on Friday

For Niagara county, a yellow zone designation means:

  • Indoor and outdoor dining is still permitted
  • A limit of four people per table
  • Schools can stay open, but there must be weekly testing of 20% of in-person students and faculty

While some businesses and schools will be shutting down on Friday in Erie County, not all will be. Retail stores, including malls, will remain open. The same is true for virtual learning centers. Those places will still have specific protocols in place, such as limiting guests.

Regardless of whether businesses are open or closed, there will be extra enforcement of the rules.

"First time violation gets a warning, second time gets a fine. Multiple ones — it can get shut down. We'll be continuing to go to those locations that we went to in the past doing spot checks. You never know when it's gonna come, but we're gonna do those," said Poloncarz.

Despite the warnings and pleas from leaders for people to avoid Thanksgiving get-togethers, Cuomo believes we're going to see a tremendous spike after the holiday. That's why he keeps stressing that everyone needs to follow the CDC recommendations to only celebrate the holiday with people who live in your house.