Cover Up: Philadelphia Ends Mask Mandate DAYS After Announcing Its Return
Philadelphia's latest round of masking mandates beat CNN+ for 'Fastest Cancelation of 2022.'
Announced Thursday, Philadelphia will be lifting its citywide indoor mask mandate, just 10 days after the senseless announcement (April 11) brought back the pandemic-era restriction and only four days since it went into effect (April 18).
Lawsuits quickly hit the city. A group of business owners and restauranteurs sued the city after it decided to bring back the cumbersome guideline.
Possibly thinking other cities would follow suit, Philly opted to reject masking data amid a spike in COVID cases and reinstated mandatory mask-wearing for all indoor settings.
As reported by OutKick's Sam Amico, the city announced that its recent spike in cases propelled the region into Level 2 of a four-tiered COVID defense guideline.
Philadelphia's health commissioner, Cheryl Bettigole, said the following once masks were brought back:
We hope by having folks whenever they’re in public, indoor spaces we can get ahead of the wave and keep it from reaching a peak like we saw in January with the omicron variant. If we can do that, we can literally save the lives of vulnerable Philadelphians. At this level of transmission, we do not believe that there is any reason to panic or enjoy any activities that we enjoy and are important to use. Our city remains open.
On Thursday, Philadelphia's Board of Health voted to do away with the restriction and fear-mongering as sliding case counts confirmed that masking fails to reduce the spread of the virus.
The department released a statement on Thursday: “The City will move to strongly recommending masks in indoor public spaces as opposed to a mask mandate.”
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