01 Mar Philadelphia Ends Vaccine Mandate for Indoor Dining
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s new tiered system for determining when COVID-19 safety mandates are needed was announced today in a news conference held by city health commissioner Cheryl Bettigole.
Based on these metrics, the state of COVID-19 inthe city now would fall into the Mask Precautions Only category, ending the need for either vaccine cards or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter a business that serves food or drinks in the city. This would apply not just to restaurants, but to businesses as wide ranging as hotels, bowling alleys, and the Wells Fargo Center. The city’s mask mandate will remain in effect.
The tiered system is as follows:
Extreme caution: vaccine mandate for dining establishments (with no testing option) and mask mandate remain in place when two or more of the following are true:
(1) Average case count 500 or more
(2) Hospitalizations are 500 or more
(3) Positivity is 10% or more
(4) Cases have risen by more than 50% in the past 10 days
Caution: Allow a negative COVID-19 test done within 24 hours in lieu of vaccination for dining establishments as long as 3 or more of the following are true:
(1) Average case count is under 500
(2) Hospitalizations are under 500
(3) Positivity is under 10%
(4) Cases have not risen by more than 50% in the past 10 days
Mask precautions only: Do not enforce vaccine requirement for dining establishments when any 3 of the following are true:
(1) Average new daily case count is under 225
(2) Hospitalizations are under 100
(3) Positivity is under 5%
(4) Cases have not risen by more than 50% within the past 10 days
All clear: Masks will not be required in public places when 3 of the following are true:
(1) Average new daily case count is under 100
(2) Hospitalizations are under 50
(3) Positivity is under 2%
(4) Cases have not risen by more than 50% within the past 10 days
The easing of mandates doesn’t mean they’ll be gone for good, though. Future case surges or new variants could lead to a return of restrictions. The system is intended to create a transparent set of benchmarks that will give the public an understanding of when mandates will be introduced, and why.
Health officials said the department is relying on a combination of indicators, rather than any one, in an effort to capture the full scope of COVID-19′s presence in the city. A sudden increase in cases, for example, will be one of the first signs that the virus may pose an increased threat in the city, while hospitalizations will likely be the last indicator to decline over the course of a surge.
Read the full article here: https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/philadelphia-covid-vaccine-mandate-restaurant-restrictions-20220216.html
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