Philadelphia keeps mask mandate in place despite Florida judge ruling

On Apr 20, 2022

A shopper wearing a protective mask as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus selects fruit at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia.

Matt Rourke | AP

Philadelphia health officials are keeping the city’s newly reinstated indoor mask mandate in place despite a federal judge’s ruling in Florida that struck down a federal requirement to wear face coverings on public transportation.

The city of brotherly love became the first major city in the U.S. on Monday to reinstate its Covid-19 mask mandate for indoor activities as the highly contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant drives new Covid cases higher across the U.S.

Many cities and states lifted mask mandates in February and March as cases plummeted from a pandemic peak of about 808,000 average new cases a day in mid-January to about 35,000 new cases a day this week. But infections across the U.S. have started to edge up in recent weeks, and cities like Philadelphia are experiencing a new surge in cases.

The Transportation Security Administration on Monday said it would stop enforcing mask rules hours after U.S. Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa, Fla., ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its bounds when it mandated face coverings on planes, trains, buses and other forms of public transportation.

Masked and unmasked travelers line up at a security checkpoint after the Biden administration announced it would no longer enforce a U.S. coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mask mandate on public transportation, following a federal judge’s ruling that the 14-month-old directive was unlawful, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., April 19, 2022.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

While the ruling may lift Philadelphia’s mask rules on public transportation, the mandate still remains in place for other indoor venues, including restaurants, gyms and businesses.

“We are evaluating the implications of this latest ruling and will provide further clarity around masking on transit in Philadelphia when available. This ruling does not impact the city’s mask mandate for certain indoor places.” James Garrow, director of communications at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said in an email to CNBC.

Philadelphia reinstated its mask mandate after cases there jumped 50% from April 1 through April 11, health officials said. Hospitalizations were steady as of April 11, but have since rapidly risen. The number of people hospitalized with Covid there almost doubled last week, from 46 people on April 11 to 82 people on Monday — what health officials called a “worrisome sign that this wave could be more dangerous than we had hoped.”

“We have been watching this wave of the pandemic sweep over Europe and it looks like it’s coming to Philadelphia now,” Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said in a statement Monday. “We need to do whatever we can to make sure that our most vulnerable neighbors and loved ones stay safe. Each and every one of us has…