Philly soon will again require masks indoors at all restaurants, shops, offices, and other indoor public spaces again next week, the city health department announced Monday. Businesses can opt to require proof of vaccination instead of requiring masks.
While the local health care system has not reported being stressed by COVID recently, Bettigole said hospital capacity isn’t the only concern as cases rise. The impact on people particularly vulnerable to COVID is another significant factor, she said.
“This announcement is a major blow to thousands of small businesses and other operators in the city who were hoping this spring would be the start of recovery,” said Ben Fileccia, senior director of operations at the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.of omicron. This iteration of COVID seems no more likely to cause serious illness than the original omicron, health experts said, but is slightly more transmissible.
have completed the initial series -- or are immune through prior COVID infections could keep hospitalizations from increasing along with cases.”This is our chance to get ahead of the pandemic,” Bettigole said, “to put our masks on until we have more information on the severity of this variant.”Public health experts credited the city for establishing a benchmark system to dictate when safety restrictions would increase, and sticking to them.
As to whether masks are needed, experts said it is difficult to say with certainty. Sweet noted that many people remain vulnerable to COVID even after vaccination, like the immunocompromised or people with underlying conditionsKolker felt there was little harm in requiring masks again.