BUFFALO (WBEN) - Good news across the board according to Mark Poloncarz, as the Erie County Executive pointed to numerous COVID-19 metrics that show the region continues to head in the right direction.
Weekly cases dropped 32% last week from the previous week and 68% from the week of April 24.
Over the past seven days, Erie County has 82 cases per 100,000 residents, and the only two age groups above 100 cases per 100,000 residents are the 20-29 and 30-39 ranges.
Poloncarz also addressed the elephant in the room - Governor Andrew Cuomo's Monday announcement stating that New York State will align with the CDC's mask and social distancing guidance starting Wednesday.
"When it comes to issues associated with capacity, capacity requirements have been eliminated in New York State effective tomorrow," said Poloncarz. "However, for bars and restaurants, they still have to have six0-foot separation. If they want to go to 100% without the six-foot separation, they can, but they have to require proof of every person who comes in to be vaccinated."
Poloncarz also noted that private businesses have the ability to require protocols that exceed what state and local government allow. For instance, a food market can still require everyone who enters wear a mask even though state guidelines don't mandate it.
"Some businesses are going to require their employees to still wear a mask; they're going to require people to come in and wear masks, and that's okay," he said. "I would just remind the customer that the owner of the establishment, a private establishment, can set their limits. They can say a mask is required to enter here - like no shoes, no shirt, no service...they can do no mask, no service. You don't have a constitutional right to go into a private establishment and demand to be served without a mask on."
