A dramatic surge in coronavirus infections prompted Philadelphia to reintroduce its indoor mask mandate on Monday, with the city’s top health official stating she wished to avert a fresh wave of infections fueled by an Omicron subvariant.
Doctor Cheryl Bettigole, the city’s health commissioner, claimed that the number of confirmed COVID cases has increased by more than half in the last ten days, above the level at which the city’s guidelines require that residents wear face masks indoors. Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant, which has spread fast across Europe and Asia, and has now become the dominant strain in the United States in recent weeks, is being blamed for a recent rise.
Hundreds of Philadelphia residents died in the wintertime omicron outbreak if the city doesn’t take action now, according to Bettigole. “If we don’t take action now, knowing that every previous wave of infections has been followed by a wave of hospitalization, and then a wave of deaths, it will be too late for many of our residents,” he said. The opportunity to put our masks on until we get more knowledge regarding the severity of this new variation is here, so let’s take use of it.
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As a result of revised CDC guidelines focusing less on case counts and more on hospital capacity, most states and towns abandoned their masking rules in February and early March. According to the CDC, most Americans could remove their masks without risk because the infection was receding.
“It was fantastic to feel that sense of normalcy again,” Bettigole said after Philadelphia removed its indoor mask mandate on March 2.
More than 140 cases have been reported every day thereafter, although that is still a small fraction of what Philadelphia witnessed during the height of the omicron wave, when only 46 people were hospitalized.
The last time this happened, I wished we never had to do it again.” “Bettigole said that. Yet, my first concern is for our most vulnerable neighbors and family members.”
This is why the restaurant sector is fighting to keep its anti-masking policies in place, arguing that workers will suffer the brunt of customer dissatisfaction with the new restrictions.
As a senior director of operations for the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, Ben Fileccia remarked, “This announcement is a tremendous blow to thousands of small businesses and other operators who were expecting this spring would be the start of recovery.”
“Our team advises against compulsory masking assuming that hospital capacity is good,” said the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on Friday.
Bettigole stated that masking would keep restaurants and other businesses open, while a massive new wave of COVID-19 would keep people at home. Hospital capacity was only one element in her decision to revive it, she said.
In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has halted his efforts to dismantle several of the municipal’s virus laws as cases have grown, deciding for now to preserve a mask mandate for children ages 2 to 4 in city schools and pre-schools. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s anti-pandemic stance has already led him to abolish most other mask restrictions and rules demanding proof of vaccination to dine at restaurants, work out at gyms, or attend shows.
When asked about the possibility of reinstating the city of New York’s mask requirement in light of Philadelphia’s ruling, Adams said no. The mayor stated that he would follow the advise of his medical staff when deciding whether or not to impose new limitations. At the end of the day on Sunday, it was discovered that Adams had tested positive for COVID-19.
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There are currently roughly 1,800 new instances each day in New York City, which is three times as many as there were in early March before the city began loosening laws. However, this does not include all of the unreported home testing.
New Jersey and Connecticut Governors Chris Christie and Chris Murphy are among those who have been afflicted by the newest outbreak in Washington. Some colleges and institutions have brought mask requirements back.
Health officials in Washington, D.C., said they have no immediate plans to alter virus protocols, but they do not rule out doing so in the future.
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