If you want to know why no fans will be allowed at Buffalo Bills games next month, look no further than the positive Covid-19 test rates for Western New York.
"Until such time as our numbers go down, I doubt we're going to see fans in the stadium, so we might have fans in the stadium in October, but we've got to get our numbers down," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Wednesday.
County officials also expressed concern about the high numbers of local travelers who, despite warnings, are still visiting states under the governor's quarantine travel advisory.
And they warned that many local gyms, fitness centers and dance studios in the county may once again be closed because they reopened this week without submitting the proper information with the state and without filing inspection requests with Erie County.
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"If you didn't follow the rules, you're going to get shut down," the county executive said.
These warnings follow on the heels of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo saying Wednesday that the coronavirus caution flag remains out for Western New York.
Although the average percentage of positive tests in Western New York has generally remained between 1% and 2% since June, the region is not seeing the same declines in positivity rates as the rest of the state. Instead, the numbers have generally ticked upward since early last week.
Western New York had a 1.4% positive test rate for Tuesday, much higher than the statewide rate of 0.79%. New York State's overall positive coronavirus test rate has been under 1% for 19 straight days.
"The situation was good all across the state – we still have a caution flag for Western New York, which is at 1.4% today," Cuomo said. "It’s better than it was, but not where it should be. So we are focused on Western New York and we will continue to do that."
For the sixth straight day, Western New York – which the state deems as Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties – has had the highest positive test rate among the state's nine regions.
As has been the case for much of the past week, Western New York's rate was well above other regions, all of which had rates below 1%. New York City, Long Island and the Mid-Hudson region were all at 0.9%.
Western New York's rate has been 1% or above for nine straight days. Tuesday's 1.4% rate for Western New York was a result of 53 positives among 3,807 tests, according to state data, and it was the highest of any upstate region. Poloncarz attributed the positive Covid-19 results to community spread in Erie County, though other case clusters have also been identified throughout the region.
Dr. Alyssa Shon, medical director at Evergreen Health, collects a sample from a patient at the drive-up Covid-19 testing site outside the Evergreen Health office on Bailey Avenue in May.
The higher-than-state-average numbers were factors in the governor's decision to maintain the blanket ban, at least for now, on having fans at any professional sporting event, Poloncarz said. The decision has a particularly negative impact on the Bills since the team is the only National Football League franchise with a stadium physically located within the state.
Despite ongoing stadium reopening discussions among Bills, county and state officials, Poloncarz said the state shut the door on stadium reopening for the team's first two home games because the region's positive Covid-19 test rates continue to be higher than the rest of the state.
Poloncarz said he's been repeatedly warning fans that unless the test positivity rate fell, the state was likely to continue banning stadium visitors. He urged county residents to do their part to reduce the transmission of Covid-19.
Despite continued discussion and work on a "return-to-the-stadium plan," and hopes that the stadium will be opened to fans in October, Poloncarz said no plan can move forward while the region's confirmed case numbers remain consistently above the state average.
"If the numbers don't go down and we're still the highest part of New York State, I'm doubtful that we're going to see games in October be allowed," he said. "It's in everyone's hands. If you like going to a Bills game, be smart out there. Wear a mask. Try to safely socially distance when you can."
He also reiterated that both public and private tailgate lots will be closed if there are no fans allowed in Bills Stadium. While individuals may have private gatherings for friends near the stadium for a limited number of guests, he said, they cannot charge anyone money to tailgate near the stadium.
Concerns about community spread of the virus were echoed by Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein, who pointed out that over the past week, the county Health Department received roughly 2,000 reports of people who had traveled to states listed under the governor's quarantine travel advisory. That doesn't include the many more who traveled by car to states on the quarantine list.
"These states are on the governor's travel advisory because they have very, very high rates of disease, and they have high rates of disease because people aren't masking, people aren't social distancing," Burstein said. "So more people are exposed to the disease when they go out. We really want to encourage people to think twice about traveling."
On the upside, she said, the Health Department is receiving fewer health and safety complaints about bars and restaurants, and fewer establishments are being cited for violations.
Poloncarz did express concern, however, that many gyms, martial arts, yoga and dance studios, which were given the green light to reopen this week, could be shut down once again by the county for failure to submit their reopening plans to the state or to file a health inspection request with the county.
Of 600 such businesses in Erie County, he said, only about a third have followed state guidance on submitting the proper documentation and request forms. That was based on a Google search of businesses, he said.
The 600 figure is not an indicator, however, of how many businesses have chosen to reopen to the public this week.
Last week, Poloncarz issued a "blanket approval" for all gym and fitness facilities to reopen on Monday, but businesses were required to affirm with the state that they have a safety plan in place. They also had to submit a request form to the Erie County Health Department to schedule an inspection of their facilities.
"The rules are the rules," Poloncarz said. "We have to inspect your facility. You have to have on file your affirmation with New York State. If you don't, we have to shut you down."
Read the full story from News Reporters Samantha Christmann and Jonathan Epstein.
