Philadelphia reversed its reinstated indoor mask mandate days after it was reimplemented.
The city’s Board of Health voted Thursday to rescind the rules, meant to stop the spread of COVID-19 after an uptick in coronavirus cases occurred due to the omicron subvariant BA.2. Philadelphia was the first big city to reimpose a mask mandate since the last remaining ones were lifted starting in February.
“Due to decreasing hospitalizations and a leveling of case counts, the City will move to strongly recommending masks in indoor public spaces as opposed to a mask mandate,” said the Philadelphia Public Health Department in a statement Thursday.
The department did not release new data to support its reversal, according to 6 ABC, instead claiming that it would provide more information on Friday.
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“We’re in a situation that we really had not anticipated being in this soon, but it is good news,” said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole, according to a transcript of the Thursday meeting. “So I’m really very happy … to say it appears that we no longer need to mandate masks in Philadelphia and that we can actually move to simply a strong recommendation.”
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney defended the mask reinstatement from its critics hours before the board reversed it.
“The politicalization of this issue, based on national politics and politics around the country, [has] just made everyone crazy about it,” Kenney said during a live Washington Post interview. “It’s not a big burden to wear a mask walking into a restaurant, sitting down at your table, and when you eat, you take your mask off. It’s not a big burden to wear your mask on a plane or on public transportation.”
City officials announced the reimposed mandate on April 11, claiming that it was implemented in response to an anticipated increase in cases attributable to the COVID-19 BA.2 subvariant. Joe Holden, a CBS Philadelphia anchor, noted that the department was “rejecting” guidance released by the PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
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Several cities and government entities have dropped their mask mandates in recent weeks. A Florida judge overturned the federal mask mandate for transportation on Monday, stating that the mandate “exceeds the CDC’s statutory authority.” Several airlines have dropped their mask mandates since. The Biden administration is appealing the decision.
