Philadelphia will once again require masks in schools –

Philadelphia officials are returning face masks to public schools in another attempt to bring back face masks after authorities introduced a citywide mask requirement last month that remained in effect a few days ago and was later revoked.

The masks returned to schools in the city of brotherly love on Monday, and Chief Inspector Dr. William Hite made a statement on the subject last week, referring to the increase in Covid cases in Philadelphia for the decision.

Second attempt in months to restore masks in the city. In mid-April, authorities announced that case and hospitalization data exceeded the threshold needed to reinstate a regulation for indoor masks in public places, including schools.

The bizarre decision was widely reported by residents, and no other blue city has followed the city’s example in eastern Pennsylvania. The mask was removed a few days after the mask’s mandate came into effect, and officials later said they planned to do so all the time.

Covid cases in the state of Philadelphia, which is mostly made up of the city’s 1.5 million residents, have soared to nearly 500 per day this month, after spending most of the previous month in the 1930s, according to the latest data. of last week. However, deaths in the city remained at a single figure for about two months.

Daily Covid deaths in Philadelphia have been in the single-digit range for nearly two months, according to official data.

“As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the Philadelphia area, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) has recommended continued universal mask wear to help protect the health and well-being of everyone,” Hite said in a statement. Said. .

Dr. William Hite (pictured) wrote in a statement that the city’s response to the virus will “evolve” over time.

The regulation is indefinite and applies to both students and employees of the city’s public schools. There are approximately 200,000 students and 18,000 employees who are appointed.

“As we’ve learned since the start of the pandemic, the coronavirus continues to evolve and so is our response to it,” Hite said.

On April 11, authorities announced a drastic but short-lived decision to impose a Covid mask requirement for all closed public spaces.

“Philadelphia’s COVID-19 response levels allow us to be open, transparent and predictable in our response to local conditions,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement. Said. chirp†

Considering the increase in the number of cases, we will move to level 2 on April 18 to avoid higher ranks.”

‘Our city remains open; We can still live our daily lives and visit the people and places we love in disguise in internal public spaces.’

After widespread criticism, the order was lifted on April 22, just four days after it took effect on April 18.

“With this steady decline in hospital admissions offsetting, we’re not really seeing the sustained increase we’re concerned about,” said Dr. Cheryl Bettigone at the time.

Covid cases have increased across the country in recent weeks, but the country’s high vaccine coverage, combined with the relatively mild nature of the Omicron variant, has ensured that cases do not translate into deaths.

The United States recorded an average of 108,605 cases per day, an increase of 18% from last week, and recently broke the 100,000 record per day for the first time since February.

However, deaths remained low, with 344 Americans dying from the virus every day, one of the lowest numbers in more than a month-long pandemic.

Other similar blue cities have managed to resist the temptation to restore their Covid permits after increasing cases.

In New York, health officials raised the city’s Covid alert level to “high” last week, reportedly forcing Mayor Eric Adams to restore authorization for household masks to control the number of cases.

The mayor was asked at a news event if he would like to follow these orders, and he said no on Wednesday. It had also previously revoked the city’s vaccination and mask authorization for enclosed public spaces, introduced in response to the winter wave of Omicron variants.

The recovery of face masks in Philadelphia schools comes as the availability of COVID-19 vaccines could be expanded.

Pfizer announced this week that trials of the three-dose vaccine in children aged six months to five years have shown 80 percent effectiveness in preventing infection from the Omicron variant.

An FDA consultation meeting was planned to follow up on the new report of Pfizer, which developed the project as a joint project with the German company BioNTech.

Unlike previous versions of the injection, the regimen for this age group is available in three doses. The injections are also only three micrograms (mg) in size, one-tenth of the 30 mg injection dose for adults.

The New York City-based pharmaceutical giant had originally planned to give only two doses to the youngest of Americans, but preliminary results late last year showed that the first two doses had little effect on people’s immunity to the virus. four years.