Philly Expands Outdoor Group Sizes, Indoor Dining Goes Unchanged

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia's health commissioner delivered mixed news Thursday regarding returning to "normalcy" in Philadelphia amid the coronavirus.

Dr. Thomas Farley Thursday announced the expansion of outdoor gathering capacity.

Outdoor group gathering were capped at 50 people.

But starting Monday, groups of 150 will be permitted outdoors, Farley said.

He said all gatherings create some risk of spread, but said outdoor gatherings are less risky than indoor gatherings due to increasing evidence that the coronavirus spreads through the air and outdoor air movement makes spreading the virus more difficult.

"We have few, if any, reports where it's clear that spread occurred outdoors," he said. "We have many examples of spread of the virus indoors, even in some very small gatherings."

Despite expanding outdoor group capacity, Farley said the city is not planning to expand indoor dining capacity even after the state approved it.

"We've reviewed this proposal, and we're not going to be making the change here in Philadelphia on Sept. 21," Farley said.

Gov. Tom Wolf Tuesday said restaurants can increase indoor capacity from 25 percent to 50 percent occupancy starting Monday, Sept. 21.

"However, if the case counts continue to decline and there are no problems elsewhere with the 50 percent limit, we will consider making that change here sometime in October," he said.

Indoor dining at restaurants in Philadelphia resumed Sept. 8 with stringent restrictions.

But overall, Farley said over the next six months officials expect to gradually restart activities that had been suspended. Safety will be a priority when doing so, with an emphasis on mask usage, he said.

Farley reiterated previous statement that he is confident a vaccine will be available in early 2021, and said a vaccine may even be available in late 2020.

Just 77 new cases of the coronavirus and no new coronavirus-related deaths were reported Thursday.

Most new cases identified are younger people, Farley said.

The total count of cases identified in the city since March 10 is 34,886. Additionally, 1,763 people have died from the coronavirus. Of those 1,763 deaths, 877 — or 50 percent — were long-term care facility residents.

As of Wednesday, a total of 175 people in the entire Philadelphia region were hospitalized due to the coronavirus. Farley said that number is down 90 percent from the peak on April 24 when 1,881 people hospitalized in the region.

Additionally, the last week of August saw just four deaths, which is a 98 percent decrease in deaths from the worst week in April when the number was about 250 deaths per week, he said.

Roughly 3,000 tests are being administered each day with results taking one to two days.