Indoor Mask Requirement Could Come Back To Philly As COVID Cases Rise

PHILADELPHIA — Coronavirus cases and positive testing rates are increasing again in Philadelphia, and that means an indoor mask mandate could be reinstated.

The city ended all its indoor mask mandates on March 2.

That marked the move to the "all clear" tier of its new coronavirus response system, the most lenient of the tiers.

But, recent data and statements from Philadelphia health officials point to a potential shift to the more strict "mask precautions" tier of the system as a potential new subvariant emerges.

The new BA.2 subvariant is estimated to be responsible for anywhere from 61 to 73 percent of new cases in the wider region, according to the latest estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The newly identified subvariant is considered to be more transmissible, but it's not expected to cause more severe illness than the delta variant, according to a preliminary study from the State Serum Institute in Denmark.

The average number of Philadelphians testing positive for COVID-19 has been slowly rising over the last several weeks, and in the last 10 days, the slope of that rise has increased.

Data shows 3.1 percent of COVID-19 tests in Philadelphia have come back positive in the past two weeks. The city is averaging 94 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the last two weeks.

To be in the "all clear," three of the following must be true:

• Average new cases per day is less than 100 (this is approximately the cut-off between CDC's "substantial" and "moderate" levels of transmission).
• Hospitalizations are under 50.
• Percent positivity is under 2 percent.
• Cases have not risen by more than 50 percent in the previous 10 days.

"Mask precautions" requires three of the following to be true:

• Average new cases per day is less than 225 (this is approximately the cut-off between CDC's "high" and "substantial" levels of transmission)
• Hospitalizations are under 100
• Percent positivity is under 5 percent
• Cases have not risen by more than 50 percent in the previous 10 days

"The Health Department has been warning that, based on what we've seen in Europe, we could see another COVID-19 wave sooner rather than later," Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said Monday. "And now, cases in Philadelphia are slowly rising and have increased by more than 50 percent in the last ten days."

Officials recommended Monday that people start considering wearing a mask while in indoor public spaces to help reduce their risk.

The city entered the "mask precautions" tier on Feb. 16, and "all clear" on March 2.

The two other tiers are "caution," and "extreme caution." See details on those tiers here.