Philly will require masks in indoor public spaces again as COVID-19 cases rise - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Philadelphia is first U.S. big city to reimpose indoor mask rules as COVID rates rise

Alone among major U.S. cities, Philadelphia 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.

The mandate takes effect April 18, city health commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said, to give businesses time to adjust, though she encouraged Philadelphians to start wearing masks indoors in public spaces immediately. The move came amid rising COVID-19 cases in recent weeks that triggered the city’s metrics to return to masks.

“I sincerely wish we didn’t have to do this again,” Bettigole said. “I wish this pandemic was over just as much as any of you.”

Philadelphia established a benchmark system in March that uses case counts, hospitalizations, and the rate of case increase to determine which safety strategies are needed. The seven-day daily average of cases, 142 as of April 8, and a 60% increase in case counts over the past 10 days met the standards to reintroduce the indoor mask mandate. There were 44 people hospitalized in the city Monday, a slight decrease from last week.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia is first U.S. big city to reimpose indoor mask rules as COVID rates rise

— Jason Laughlin

8 hours ago

Why Philly is bringing back its indoor mask mandate

A Liberty Place employee removes a mask mandate sign in March.. ... Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

By resuming the indoor mask mandate, city officials hope to stave off another surge in hospitalizations and deaths that could accompany the current case increase that appears to be caused by the BA.2 omicron subvariant.

“If we fail to act now, knowing that every previous wave of infections has been followed by a wave of hospitalizations and a wave of deaths, it’ll be too late for many of our residents,” Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said during a briefing Monday.

Bettigole noted that 750 Philadelphians died in three months over the winter during the omicron wave.

“We don’t know if the BA.2 variant in Philadelphia will have the kind of impact on hospitalizations and deaths that we saw with the original omicron variant this winter,” Bettigole said. “I suspect that this wave will be smaller than the one we saw in January.”

Hospitalizations may be the key in determining how long the masks will stay on, Bettigole said.

“This is our chance to get ahead of the pandemic, to put our masks on until we have more information on the severity of this variant.”

— Jason Laughlin

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8 hours ago

Philly will once again require masks in indoor public spaces

Indoor masking will be required in Philadelphia again next week, the city health department announced Monday.

The mandate announced today won’t go into effect until April 18, city health commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said, to give businesses time to adjust. The move came amid rising COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia in recent weeks.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health established a benchmark system in February that uses case counts, hospitalizations, and the increase in case rates to determine which safety strategies are needed. The seven-day daily average of cases, 142 as of April 8, and a 60% increase in case counts over the past 10 days met the standards to reintroduce the indoor mask mandate.

There were 44 people hospitalized in the city Monday, a slight decrease from last week.

Nationally, cases are up about 3% over the past two weeks, according to the New York Times COVID data tracker. Hospitalizations are down 18% over the same time.

The city hasn’t required indoor masking since March 2.

» READ MORE: What to know about Philly’s newest mask mandate

— Jason Laughlin

9 hours ago

Radnor School District plans virtual day as COVID cases increase

In response to an increase in COVID-19 cases, the Radnor School District is planning a virtual day next Monday to allow students and staff to be tested following spring break.

The district recorded 34 cases among students and staff in the final week of March, Superintendent Ken Batchelor said in a community message last week, up from 11 cases the week before and three the week before that.

“Historically, over the last two years, we have experienced significant Covid spread during and after school breaks,” Batchelor said. In light of that pattern and “based on our current rates of spread and the possibility for increased spread” over break, he said, a virtual instruction day April 18 will give students and staff “ample time to take a Covid test before returning to school, if interested.”

The district will offer free drop-in testing on that Monday for students and staff, Batchelor said. He also noted that the district has KN95 and surgical masks for anyone who chooses to wear them.

In Philadelphia, the school district will require masks for the week after spring break.

» READ MORE: Radnor schools to go virtual for a day after spring break amid rise in COVID-19 cases

— Maddie Hanna

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11 hours ago

Other big cities in the Northeast also seeing rise in COVID cases

The rise in COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia, an 86% increase over the past two weeks, according to the New York Times COVID data tracker, mirrors what’s being seen in other Mid-Atlantic big cities.

In New York City, the seven-day daily average off COVID cases increased 39% over a two week period ending April 10, but hospitalizations declined by 17% over the same period. When cases increase, a rise in hospitalizations typically follows a week or two later, but health officials remain uncertain whether that pattern will hold as the BA.2 variant spreads. It is possible that the number of people vaccinated or immune through prior COVID infections could keep hospitalizations from increasing along with cases.

New York City never had its own indoor mask requirement, but was covered by New York state’s mandate, which ended in February. As of last week, New York’s mayor extended a mask mandate for toddlers another week because of the rise in cases.

Washington, D.C., has seen a 76% increase in case rates from March 27 to April 10, the New York Times COVID data tracker reported, with the city now reporting 144 cases per 100,000 people. The city still describes that rate as presenting a low level of severity and reports it presents low impact to health-care systems.

In Baltimore, cases increased 21% over the past two weeks, but hospitalizations were down 14% in the same span.

Both cities ended their indoor mask mandates at the beginning of March.

— Jason Laughlin

12 hours ago

U.S. efforts to make protective medical gear are falling flat

Jim Schmersahl, owner of Halcyon Shades, poses with material used in making N-95 masks.. ... Read moreJeff Roberson / AP

When the coronavirus pandemic first hit the U.S., sales of window coverings at Halcyon Shades quickly went dark. So the suburban St. Louis business did what hundreds of other small manufacturers did: It pivoted to make protective supplies, with help from an $870,000 government grant.

But things haven’t worked out as planned. The company quit making face shields because it wasn’t profitable. It still hasn’t sold a single N95 mask because of struggles to get equipment, materials and regulatory approval.

“So far, it has been a net drain of funds and resources and energy,” Halcyon Shades owner Jim Schmersahl said.

Many companies that began producing personal protective equipment with patriotic optimism have scaled back, shut down or given up, according to an Associated Press analysis based on numerous interviews with manufacturers. Some already have sold equipment they bought with state government grants.

» READ MORE: U.S. efforts to make protective medical gear are falling flat

— Associated Press

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13 hours ago

These Philly neighborhoods have the highest COVID death rates

Last week, Philadelphia reported 5,000 lives lost to COVID since the start of the pandemic, though the grim milestone was likely reached earlier in March.

By some measures, Philadelphia has weathered COVID better than other big cities. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago each had higher death rates from the virus. But the 5,000th death is a symbolic landmark in a pandemic that appears to be waning but isn’t over.

No part of the city has been untouched by COVID, but an Inquirer analysis of city deaths by zip code highlighted the communities hardest hit by the virus. As with virtually every aspect of the pandemic, people of color generally suffered more. Black residents make up 38% of the population but 48% of deaths.

Perhaps the most reliable determinant of who survives or dies from COVID is age. Nine out of 10 COVID deaths in the city have been among people 55 or older, a group that accounts for a quarter of the city’s population. About half of the city’s COVID deaths were among people 75 or older, though that group makes up just 6% of the population. A third of all COVID victims in Philadelphia have been nursing home residents, said James Garrow, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

» READ MORE: COVID has killed more than 5,000 Philadelphians. These neighborhoods lost the most.

— Jason Laughlin and John Duchneskie

15 hours ago

COVID-19 cases up slightly across the region, but hospitalizations remain low

COVID-19 cases have begin to inch up across the Northeast once again, fueled by the omicron subvariant known as BA. 2, which now accounts for nearly three-quarters of new COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the CDC.

While case counts are rising slightly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, they remain far below peaks seen during the recent omicron wave. COVID-19 deaths also remain down across the region, largely thanks to widespread vaccinations.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware as of Saturday, according to data from the New York Times, the New Jersey Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services:

Pennsylvania

• 845 new COVID-19 cases a day over the past week, an increase of 41% compared to two weeks ago (599 cases a day).

• 413 COVID-19 hospitalizations, a decrease of 37% compared to two weeks ago (653 COVID-19 hospitalizations).

• 15 new COVID-19 deaths a day over the past week, a decrease of 40% compared to two weeks ago (25 deaths a day)

New Jersey

• 1,580 new COVID-19 cases a day over the past week, an increase of 66% compared to two weeks ago (952 cases a day)

• 370 COVID-19 hospitalizations, an increase of 8% compared to two weeks ago (342 COVID-19 hospitalizations)

• 8 new COVID-19 deaths a day over the past week, a slight increase compared to two weeks ago (7 deaths a day)

Delaware

• 94 new COVID-19 cases a day over the past week, a decrease of 5% compared to two weeks ago (99 cases a day)

• 29 COVID-19 hospitalizations, an increase of 53% compared to two weeks ago (19 COVID-19 hospitalizations)

• 2 new COVID-19 deaths a day over the past week, flat compared to two weeks ago (2 deaths a day)

United States

• 30,753 new COVID-19 cases a day over the past week, a slight increase compared to two weeks ago (30,233 cases a day).

• 15,112 COVID-19 hospitalizations, a decrease of 20% compared to two weeks ago (18,866 COVID-19 hospitalizations).

• 565 new COVID-19 deaths a day over the past week, a decrease of 29% compared to two weeks ago (798 deaths a day)

— Rob Tornoe

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16 hours ago

What to know about the BA.2 omicron variant

The Omicron BA.2 variant has led to a surge of new COVID-19 cases across Europe, and is not spreading across the U.S. . ... Read moreMatt Dunham / AP

The coronavirus version known as BA.2 is now dominant in at least 68 countries, including the United States.

BA.2 has lots of mutations. It’s been dubbed “stealth omicron” because it lacks a genetic quirk of the original omicron that allowed health officials to rapidly differentiate it from the delta variant using a certain PCR test.

One reason BA.2 has gained ground, scientists say, is that it’s about 30% more contagious than the original omicron. In rare cases, research shows it can sicken people even if they’ve already had an omicron infection — although it doesn’t seem to cause more severe disease.

Besides being more contagious, it’s spreading at a time when governments are relaxing restrictions designed to control COVID-19. Also, people are taking off their masks and getting back to activities such as traveling, eating indoors at restaurants, and attending crowded events.

Vaccines appear equally effective against both types of omicron. For both, vaccination plus a booster offers strong protection against severe illness and death.

» READ MORE: The BA.2 subvariant is now dominant in the U.S.

— Associated Press

16 hours ago

Fauci says uptick in cases concerning, but not surprising

Here is a roundup of COVID-19 news from across the country and around the globe:

• ABC News: The uptick in new U.S. coronavirus cases in recent days is concerning but not surprising, according to Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. As of now, Fauci is hopeful the nation won’t see another large surge in hospitalizations or deaths.

• Washington Post: The next leap in coronavirus vaccine development could be a nasal spray. “Having seen all these new variants that are so much more transmissible and rendering our vaccines useless for infection prevention — that’s when we realized we may have the chance to contribute something during this pandemic,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University School of Medicine.

• BBC: China’s President Xi Jinping has praised his country’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as Shanghai reported record case numbers and its 25 million residents remain under lockdown.

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