Philadelphia Brings Back Masks For Schoolchildren; the Group Who Needs Them Least

Philadelphia is giving mask mandates another shot after reinstating the masking policy for schoolchildren on Monday.

Over the weekend, William R. Hite Jr., superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, noted that schools would revert to mandatory masking, starting May 23, based on a recent increase spike in COVID cases seen nationwide; as well as the CDC's recommendation to bring back indoor masking.

"As we've learned since the pandemic began, the coronavirus continues to evolve, and so too will our response to it," Hite suggested, going against calls to revoke mask-wearing based on sparse data to support the strict measure.

Officials in Philadelphia have not been deterred by their choppy record with mandates. In early April, the city issued indoor masking guidance that after only four days was rescinded based on its lack of effect on the data.

Rising COVID cases are sending largely liberal cities and states to shift into panic mode and call for renewed pandemic-era restrictions.

Heavily mandated counties such as Los Angeles continue to see the natural wave of cases appear in the data, similar to unmasked parts of the U.S.

According to the New York Times COVID tracker, "Philadelphia County, which includes the city, most recently had an average of 434 new cases reported per day, a 42 percent increase from the average two weeks earlier."

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