PHILADELPHIA — The city of Philadelphia is reinstating its indoor mask mandate in public spaces due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the city.
Masks will be required in all indoor public spaces in the city beginning April 18, Philadelphia public health officials announced Monday.
Indoor spaces include schools and childcare settings, businesses, restaurants and government buildings, according to a statement from Philadelphia Public Health.
🧵 Due to increasing COVID-19 cases, @PhiladelphiaGov will move to Level 2: Mask Precautions beginning today. In order to provide a one-week education period for businesses, masks will be required in all indoor public spaces as of Monday, April 18, 2022. (1/4)
— Philadelphia Public Health (@PHLPublicHealth) April 11, 2022
City health officials said Philadelphia is now operating under Level 2: Mask Precautions as part of its COVID-19 response guidelines. WPVI reported that under the Level 2 COVID-19 guidelines, there is no vaccine or testing requirement for places that serve food or beverages.
According to WTXF, city health officials used four key metrics in making their decision to reinstate the indoor mask mandate: COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, test positivity rate and the rate of increase in cases.
Philadelphia previously lifted its indoor mask mandate on March 2, WPVI reported.
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