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“It is not something that we are actively discussing. We are certainly very supportive of vaccination. But we have not actively sought or talked about anything like this,” said the Acting Health Commissioner, the Dr Cheryl Bettigole, during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Bettigole said it was a fluid situation, however. While she said it wouldn’t take anything off the table, it’s “certainly not a priority as a logical next step” for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia currently recommends that people wear masks in indoor public spaces, whether or not they are vaccinated, but no mask warrant has been issued. Bettigole has said she will not rule out one in the future.
“The pandemic in Philadelphia took a turn that none of us wanted to see,” she said. “We believe the delta variant is now the dominant strain of COVID in Philadelphia and this is what is driving our number of cases up the way they have been.”
Bettigole said the number of cases is similar to last summer and far lower than when things were at their worst.
She said it wasn’t just the number of cases or hospitalizations that concerned her most, but how quickly those numbers had increased.
The numbers doubled from July 12 to July 19 and again from July 19 to August 1, Bettigole said.
“We need to come together as a city again to fight this new wave, but this time we have better weapons. We have a better understanding of the virus, how it is spread, how we can protect each other and ourselves. themselves, ”Bettigole said.
RELATED: New York City to Require Proof of COVID-19 Vaccine Soon for Indoor Meals, Gyms
The acting health commissioner said she wanted to be completely open about what it means to be fully vaccinated at this time.
“Being fully vaccinated doesn’t mean you can’t get COVID. You still can. But your chances of getting COVID are much lower – only about 1 / 8th that of an unvaccinated person,” said Bettigole.
She continued, “And being fully vaccinated means you’re much, much less likely – 25 times less likely – to become seriously ill or to end up in the hospital if you’ve contracted COVID.”
Almost everyone in the hospital these days is not vaccinated, Bettigole said.
In addition to the vaccine, Bettigole said residents of Philadelphia should wear a mask in public spaces, repeating the city’s recommendation.
“We know for a fact that wearing a mask when you are with other people in public, especially indoors, reduces your risk,” she said.
RELATED: Philadelphia Again Recommends Masks for Indoor Public Spaces, Regardless of Immunization Status
The CDC had issued a similar recommendation based on a study showing that the COVID-19 delta variant produced similar amounts of the virus in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people if they were infected.
For other ways to tackle the increase in COVID cases, Bettigole said people should avoid crowded indoor public spaces, get tested if you start to feel sick, and, if you test positive, isolate yourself from them. others for 10 days after you start to have symptoms.
“If we do all of these things, we can stop this increase in cases before it gets worse,” Bettigole said. “Vaccines, the use of masks, crowd avoidance, testing, isolation and quarantine have solid science behind them.”
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health will update the testing and vaccine dashboards on the Phila.gov/COVID website every day of the week, and post daily cases and vaccine administrations to the website. . department’s Twitter account every day of the week.
They’re also restarting their weekly COVID-19 update press conferences, starting with this one.
“We’re all tired of this pandemic… but it’s important to be here every week so that we can all get through this together,” Bettigole said.
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