BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – The concerns of businesses shutting its doors permanently continue after the recent declaration of an orange zone through most of Erie County.
Cold weather also plays a factor in the decision of some businesses, particularly restaurants, to close.
"We had a fear this would happen," Buffalo Niagara Partnership President Dottie Gallagher said. "We were hoping it wouldn't happen and hoping we could keep the infection rate low enough so this wouldn't happen.
This is devastating to businesses that are going to have to close like restaurants and gyms and hair salons. All those people who were last to come into the economy are the first ones out. A lot of them won't make it because of this."
The majority of businesses surveyed by Buffalo's chamber of commerce reported a decline in sales this year.
"We can still patronize those businesses and do it the right way," she said. "As long as we're in compliance with social distancing and mask wearing. I would really implore your listeners to make an effort to patronize those small businesses because it will be the difference between them surviving the next 60 days or having to close."
Gallagher said help won't come from the federal government until at least 2021, meaning the onus will be on the community to stop the spread of the virus.
When Governor Cuomo theorized Wednesday that Western New York was not living in reality over the virus, Gallagher said she thought the comment was "nonsense."
"I supported the governor's leadership around COVID completely and New York has done a good job, but I thought that comment was out of hand and not accurate," she said. "I can tell you certainly we all are here.
We all lived it. We saw what was happening in New York City and our own community and we are taking it seriously. We have had great leadership from the county in terms of keeping the public informed. I thought the comment was off-base."
