Philadelphia COVID-19 cases drop, mask’s mandate remains for now

The rate of new coronavirus cases is slowing again in Philadelphia, but health officials are not yet ready to lift the mask mandate instituted last month amid an increase caused by the delta variant.

Acting Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said on Thursday the latest trends “are encouraging,” but as long as there are coronavirus hotspots and lagging vaccination rates, new variants will spread and masks will be needed.

“We would all like to see a time when we can take our masks off, but I don’t think we’ll be there for a while,” she said.

Bettigole credited the Philadelphia mask mandate, as well as immunization mandates for healthcare workers, students, and staff at higher education institutions, with helping to slow the spread of the delta variant. Yet, she said, case rates remain higher than she would like, school is resuming and cold weather is approaching.

READ MORE: COVID-19 cases in Philly area stabilize, but health community “braces for slight increase” as fall approaches

The city has had an average of 282 cases per day over the past two weeks, an improvement from 307 a week ago. By the end of June, with no restrictions in place, that average daily number of cases had fallen to just 24. As of Thursday, there were 195 coronavirus patients in hospitals in Philadelphia.

The positive rate for coronavirus tests has been 5% over the past two weeks, after peaking at 7% in late August. But this figure is also even higher than at the beginning of the summer, when it was only 1%.

” I will not tell [the numbers] look good, because we have more cases than we would like, but they have flattened out and started to shrink a bit, ”Bettigole said in a virtual press conference.

The surge in cases at the end of the summer slowed the city’s reopening as many employers who had planned to bring workers back to their offices after Labor Day chose to stay away. Philadelphia City Council, which begins its fall session next week, has also canceled plans to meet in person and will continue its virtual meetings.

READ MORE: How is the application of the Philly mask warrant going? The city cannot tell.

Bettigole said she is committed to putting in only the minimum level of restrictions necessary to slow the spread. But as the weather changes and school resumes, health officials predict another possible spike in cases and hospitalizations.

“With the increase in the number of vaccines, I hope we can avoid a large [fall or winter] push, but time will tell, ”she said.

It is also possible to add more restrictions. Bettigole said officials discussed expanding the masks’ mandate to include outdoor events like the Eagles games.

The city currently requires masks indoors and at non-seated outdoor events such as concerts. This means that outdoor sports stadiums where fans have assigned seats, like Lincoln Financial Field, do not need masks. Fans must wear masks in the interior areas of the stadium. (The mandate also includes an exception for companies that verify proof of vaccination for all staff and customers, allowing them to waive the mask requirement.)

»READ MORE: Complete list of places in the Philly area where you must show proof of vaccination (so far)

At the Made in America music festival on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway this weekend, Bettigole admitted that many spectators did not meet the masking requirement. She said officials were hopeful there would be no outbreak, given the event took place outside and attendees also had to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result. . But she said the city will be monitoring new cases to see if the event has an impact.

The city is also working with schools to put in place policies for regular testing, Bettigole said. She said health officials have made an effort to have children participating in activities where masks cannot be worn, such as choir or playing musical instruments, and in classrooms where children are tested. children cannot wear masks due to a disability.

“We have over 100,000 children in school, so we expect to see cases,” she said. “We don’t see any major outbreaks at this point, but this is all going to be something that needs to be managed in order to keep children in school and learning.”

Vaccination rates have increased in recent weeks. Although there have been a few breakthrough infections, Bettigole said “the vast majority of cases” have been in unvaccinated residents.

Almost 82% of adults in Philadelphia have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 67% are fully immunized.

Vaccination rates are lowest among young black residents, who Bettigole says also account for the largest share of recent cases. Only 35% of black residents between the ages of 18 and 44 received at least one dose, along with 55% of white residents, 58% of Hispanic residents, and 83% of Asian residents in the same age group.

Bettigole said vaccination efforts are focused on young black residents. And health officials are also urging pregnant women, who have low vaccination rates, to get vaccinated.

Less than 25% of pregnant women are vaccinated nationwide, said Stacey Kallem, director of the maternal, child and family health division of the city’s health department.

“And speaking to our health care providers in Philly, we hear that a lot of their pregnant patients are not vaccinated,” Kallem said.

Bettigole, meanwhile, expressed support for President Joe Biden’s strengthening of a vaccine mandate for federal employees.

“The more people who are vaccinated, for whatever reason, the safer we are,” she said.

And as a summer that was supposed to represent a return to normalcy for Philadelphia draws to a close, Bettigole stressed that it is difficult to know what will happen next with the trajectory of the pandemic.

“I gave up trying to predict the future,” she said.