LYONS, N.Y. — Wayne County is one of a handful of counties reporting higher than average COVID-19 cases.

For Dobbins Drug, the last few years haven't been easy.

COVID caused the pharmacy in downtown Lyons to lose a lot of their foot traffic. But recently, business is starting to rebound. Pharmacist Sean Dobbins hopes it stays that way, even with the rising COVID case numbers across Wayne County.

“[I’m a] little less worried, but yes, cases are going up locally and in the county,” Dobbins said.

Public Health Director Diane Devlin said just last week, Wayne County was in the low category for COVID transmission. This week is a different story.

“With our designation, we’re one of 14 counties across the country with high transmission levels,” said Devlin.

Cases in Wayne County are more than double what they were just a few weeks ago. Devlin says masks coming off, people getting together more and the subvariants are likely causing the spike.

“With each subvariant, we don’t what we’re going to see, don’t know if it will cause more serious disease,” Devlin explained. "The state is having us transition from case studies and contract tracing and move to a more endemic situation.”

Just like with the flu, Devlin says COVID cases tend to drop in the summertime.

At Dobbins Drug, they’re hoping that’s the case with Wayne County.

“We’re seeing more foot traffic with spring, people coming from the city to check out our little gift shop,” Dobbins said.

With the high COVID risk level, people are encouraged to wear masks in public, get tested if they're feeling any symptoms and get vaccinated.