BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is "very concerned" the city will end up in orange or red zone status.
The City of Buffalo has the most dense population among all parts of Western New York and has the most number of coronavirus cases in the region. As of Tuesday evening, there were 6,696 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which represents nearly 44 percent of all the cases in Erie County.
Most of Erie County, including the City of Buffalo, was given yellow-zone status under Governor Cuomo's cluster initiative on Monday. No businesses need to close under the yellow designation, though businesses like gyms, fitness centers, barber shops, and personal care services would close under orange status. All non-essential businesses in red zones are closed.
That's why Mayor Brown is stressing people need to follow CDC guidance that includes mask-wearing and social distancing.
"It's clear that we are in a more serious situation in Western New York than we were at the beginning of the pandemic when New York City was in a more serious situation," Brown said. "If we don't get our act together and get COVID under control in Western New York in the next week or two, we could see a situation where the state comes in and shuts out businesses and economy down again. We don't want to see that, so we need people to follow the CDC guidelines."
Brown said he and other local leaders pushed the state away from giving them a harsher zone than yellow. Now, he's urging businesses and other organizations to comply with the guidelines issued by the state.
"If we can't get this thing under control, the reality of this is that we're going to see a lot more people getting sick in this community and dying in this community and people we care about dying in this community," Brown said.
Buffalo Niagara Partnership reports that an overwhelming majority of businesses in the City of Buffalo have reported a loss of income according to a business impact survey. Grant Loomis, the organization's Vice President of Government Affairs, said further closures would be "a deathblow" to the local economy.
"Businesses in our economy already have a long road to recovery because of what we've been through this year," Loomis said. "It's been terrible personally and terrible fiscally. COVID-19 continues to have a significant impact on this community."
Mike Loomis said businesses should continue to follow state guidance related to their specific business and remain vigilant. They said it will be their role to provide information to all businesses about the latest state mandates.
