Westchester County Executive George Latimer authorized a state of emergency for this week.

The declaration won't involve any specific mandates or changes, but he is urging communities to do their part.

It's a proactive move that currently only raises the level of concern about the current status of COVID-19 in Westchester.

It does give Latimer more power to control the county's future response if cases, hospitalizations, infection rate and deaths continue to go up.

There are four indicators Latimer is watching, and three of them are already above the threshold the county set to trigger a state of emergency.

The order does not come with specific mandates for vaccines, masks or gatherings.

Latimer is calling on residents and private businesses to take matters into their own hands - and take steps such as getting booster shots and requiring masks indoors - before the local government is forced to step up and enforce certain protocols.

Latimer announced the state of emergency as part one of a five-part plan to get COVID under control locally.

A spokesperson tells News 12 more information on the other four parts will be released soon.