Thanksgiving is just days away and officials continue to warn people about family gatherings and how they are expected to cause more people to get sick.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he believes we'll see the effects of Thanksgiving with a spike in cases the first weeks of December and then again the first two weeks of the new year.
"The rate goes up, there are more restrictions to slow the economy. That's bad for business. Rates go up, you overburden the hospital system. You overburden doctors, nurses, possible equipment supplies. Numbers go up, people die," Cuomo said.
The governor says just because a vaccine is projected to come out in December or January doesn't mean people can relax about COVID-19 restrictions. It could take six months or more for most of the population to be vaccinated.
In Monroe County, more than 600 new cases of the virus were reported over the weekend. Cuomo says parts of Rochester could be upgraded to an orange zone by the end of the week.
An area becomes an orange zone if its positivity rate is at 4% for more than ten days.
That would mean:
- Gatherings indoors or outdoors would be limited to only ten people
- Houses of worship would be reduced to 33% capacity with a maximum of 25 people
- Non-essential high-risk businesses like gyms and personal care would close
- Only outdoor dining would be allowed
- Schools would have to go remote with a test-out option that means a school will close to clean and can then test students to reopen
Right now, the positivity rate for Monroe County overall is at 3.5% with some areas higher than that.