NYS MICROCLUSTER GUIDANCE ENFORCEMENT

The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) is providing the following statement related to enforcement of NYS Microcluster Guidance.

After consultation with our legal counsel, and based solely on the preliminary injunction issued by NYS Supreme Court Justice Henry J. Nowak on January 13, 2021, ECDOH public health sanitarians will apply “yellow zone” criteria to all permitted food service facilities that are currently located in “orange zones.” Practically, this means all restaurants in Erie County will be able to offer indoor dining at 50% capacity, as long as yellow zone measures including a maximum of four people per table and six feet of distance between tables are maintained.

This action is only effective as long as Judge Nowak’s preliminary injunction is in place. If an appellate court of law should rule differently, ECDOH will follow such new judicial order.

Also, restaurants and bars must end on-premise food and beverage consumption at 10 p.m. pursuant to current New York State regulations.

All permitted food facilities should be aware this action only applies to ECDOH’s enforcement of cluster zone regulations. It does not apply to enforcement that may be taken against any entity permitted by the New York State Liquor Authority.

ECDOH public health sanitarians are continuing educational outreach to permitted facilities along with complaint investigations and inspections as appropriate.

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Republicans made a ‘tacit admission’ about midterms — and it could blow up in their face



A conservative columnist warned on Monday that her Republican colleagues just made a "tacit admission" about the 2026 midterms that could blow up in their face.

S.E. Cupp, a columnist for CNN, said during a segment on "The Source" with host Kaitlan Collins that Republicans have all but admitted that they don't stand a chance during the midterms with their push for mid-cycle redistricting. While those efforts seem to have paid off so far, Cupp warned that they could energize the Democratic base in a way that thwarts all the time Republicans spent trying to rig the election in their favor.

"Here's the thing that I think is important to point out if you care about democracy," Cupp said. "The republicans have done what they've done because they've been allowed to. But it's also a tacit admission that they know they cannot win without rigging it. They're out of ideas. They're not even attempting to win new voters or win back the voters that they've been losing since gaining them in 2024."

Several Republican states from Texas to Louisiana and Tennessee have adopted new election maps ahead of the midterms in an effort to preserve the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Cupp warned that voters can see through the Republicans' plans, and that may cause them to backfire in November.

"So this is the giddiness and the crowing I'm seeing from republicans about the state of the redistricting math and how it's helping Republicans," she said. "What they're not saying out loud is what I think a lot of voters can see, which is you had to rig it to make yourself competitive. And I don't even know if this will still make them competitive. They might actually be handing Democrats an advantage by really ginning up that base, firing them up to go and vote."

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