ALBANY, N.Y. (WIVB) — When the graphic of a series of valves came up during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Monday update on the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a sign that more restrictions were about to be lessened or lifted.

And that turned out to be true, as the governor announced a series of changes to capacity levels that are set to start soon.

Here are the changes:

• April 26 – Museums and zoos can increase capacity to 50 percent.
• April 26 – Movie theaters can increase capacity to 33 percent.
• May 19 – Large, indoor arenas can increase capacity to 25 percent.

Christian Dobosiewicz, communications manager at the Buffalo Zoo, says the increase in capacity limits is a step in the right direction toward getting people back into their facility.

“On busy days, like last week when it was spring break, we definitely sold out. We had to tell people they couldn’t come,” Dobosiewicz said.

In addition to these changes, Gov. Cuomo also announced the latest COVID-19 numbers:

Western New York still has the highest seven-day average rate for COVID-19 positivity, at 4.78 percent.

Governor Cuomo says the state is not at the point yet where it needs to impose further restrictions on WNY, despite a 4.8% positivity rate.

He says the state is doing research right now on why some places have higher infection rates than others.

— Chris Horvatits (@ChrisHorvatits4) April 19, 2021

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Still, when looking at the state’s seven-day average for COVID positivity, the number is going down.

MORE | Gov. Cuomo announces lowest COVID positivity rate since Nov. 7 for NYS

And hospitalizations are decreasing, too.

As of Monday, 8.3 million people in New York have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 5.6 million have received their final dose.

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