Port Chester Micro-Cluster Zone Upgraded To Orange

PORT CHESTER, NY — The micro-cluster zone in Port Chester has been changed to an orange warning zone, up from a yellow zone.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday during a news conference that scientists have been saying for months that there would be a national and global surge in the fall and winter.

"The trajectory is going up, and we have learned how to stay ahead of COVID," he said. "When we see a small increase, we attack it — that is our strategy as cases increase all around us."

In Port Chester, the seven-day average positivity rate has been above 3 percent for 10 days, the state said, meeting the metrics for an orange warning zone declaration.

The latest Port Chester micro-cluster zone map can be found here.

The designation as an orange zone means that public and private schools can have in-person learning only if all students and staff are tested for the virus. High-risk businesses cannot open. Restaurants can offer outdoor dining, with a maximum of four people at a table. Worship services are limited to 33 percent capacity — or a maximum of 25 people. Mass gatherings must be limited to 10 people, whether in- or outdoors.

The Port Chester school district said it would continue remote instruction for the remainder of the week and until further notice. Beginning Thursday, there will be meal distribution for all students at the four elementary schools between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Mask wearing and social distancing applies to all.

According to information from the state, the seven-day rolling average, as of Wednesday, is 7.5 percent in Port Chester. The rate of positive cases for Tuesday is 4.52 percent, down from 14.66 percent Monday.

There were 244 new positive cases of the virus in Westchester — for a 4.6 percent positive rate, according to the state tracker. The total for the county since the pandemic began is 42,940.

Rye Brook Mayor Paul Rosenberg said he was notified by the governor's office that they agreed most of his village did not belong in the yellow cluster zone.

As a result, the size of the yellow cluster zone in Rye Brook has been trimmed. Blind Brook Middle/High School has been removed from the yellow zone, though portions of Rye Brook including Port Chester High School remains in the yellow zone.

"Rye Brook residents should still realize that our own COVID-19 infection numbers are still going up," Rosenberg said. "I am urging each of you to please redouble your efforts and keep up the mask wearing, hand washing and sanitizing and social distancing."

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