There is a statewide mask mandate for students, effective next Tuesday, Sept. 7. In the last two weeks, five percent of COVID-19 tests in Philadelphia have come back positive.
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On Monday, August 30, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health reported 205 patients with COVID-19 are currently being treated in Philadelphia hospitals, with a total of 23 on ventilators.
On Tuesday, August 31, Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam announced masks would be required for all Pennsylvania students, preK-12, effective Tuesday, September 7. It also includes licensed day care centers.
In the last two weeks, five percent of COVID-19 tests in Philadelphia have come back positive. Thus far during the pandemic, 154,130 Philadelphians have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 3,807 have succumbed to the virus. Philadelphia is averaging 292 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the last two weeks.
“Today our COVID-19 dashboard was updated to show that 80 percent of Philadelphia adults have now received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole. “This is very encouraging news and is one of the highest rates of vaccination of large cities in the country. We could not be more proud or thankful of all of our vaccine providers who have ensured easy access to the vaccine throughout the city. But we’re not done yet. Eighty percent is a nice round number to celebrate, but we need to make sure all of those people get their second doses, and the remaining 20 percent get their first dose, and we still have many teenagers who are not yet vaccinated. We have a lot of work to do, but today our city is better protected from COVID-19 than ever before.”
“Philadelphia is among the first big cities in our country to reach this important milestone and make no mistake – it did not happen by chance,” said Mayor Jim Kenney.
Starting on October 15th, all healthcare workers in Philadelphia will be required to be vaccinated unless they have a religious or medical exemption. All staff, students, and faculty at colleges and universities in the city will also be required to be vaccinated unless they have a religious or medical exemption.
This story has been updated to incluide the student mask mandate.
