Health inspectors will be on the lookout Saturday to make sure restaurants are following the state's Covid-19 regulations during the Buffalo Bills playoff game, Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein said Thursday.
Most of Erie County remains designated an "orange zone" under the state's color-coded microcluster program. Under "orange zone" restrictions, restaurants are allowed to offer outdoor dining, takeout and delivery but no indoor dining. Any outdoor dining is limited to four people per table.
Under state rules, Burstein said, any outdoor structure must be open on at least two sides.
"If restaurants have an igloo or restaurants have a tent that is fully enclosed in four walls, that is not allowed," Burstein said.
The easternmost and southernmost towns in the county are in a "yellow zone," the least restrictive of the three color-coded zones.
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Health inspectors will be deployed during the game to enforce the state's restrictions, the health commissioner said.
"We want people to have fun and we want people to be safe," Burstein said.
As Buffalo rides a wave of momentum heading into the NFL playoffs' first round against the Indianapolis Colts, The News takes a look back at the Bills' last five playoff results, beginning with last year's overtime loss to the Houston Texans.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz said he expects social gatherings of people watching the Bills game will lead to an increase in Covid-19 cases, though he said that figure would be hard to quantify.
Additionally, the Covid testing conducted Wednesday and Thursday on the roughly 6,200 fans able to buy tickets to attend Saturday's game is expected to result in a "big bump" in Covid cases, though not all of those being screened to attend the game are county residents, Poloncarz said.
Simply by virtue of the mass testing for fans planning to attend the playoff game, asymptomatic positive cases of Covid-19 in people otherwise feeling healthy will be revealed, he said.
"We know if you follow the basic tenets of staying at home and being with your immediate family, you can do it safely," he said. "We are worried, but there's no way to quantify it."
The Bills agreed to provide the state the number of people tested and the number who tested positive, the county executive said.
County personnel from several departments will be deployed to the stadium area on Saturday, Poloncarz said. The numbers will be fewer than for games with normal attendance but greater than the games played this past regular season when no fans were allowed to attend, he said.
Abbott Road in front of stadium will be closed to vehicular traffic, like on a regular game day, he said.
The Bills play the Indianapolis Colts at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bills Stadium in Orchard Park.
