Indoor Dining Coming Back To Philly Sept 8

PHILADELPHIA — Restaurant owners, employees, and patrons rejoice: indoor dining will resume in Philadelphia after Labor Day weekend.

Officials Thursday announced indoor dining will resume in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Indoor dining in the city will have restrictions that will be similar to and even exceed indoor dining restrictions set by the state.

Some restrictions for indoor dining include a 25 percent capacity limit, only four diners per table, six feet of space between tables, no bar service, alcohol will only be available as part of the same transaction as a meal, and more.

Diners must wear masks when they are not seated at a table.

Employees must be screened for symptoms before every shift and prevent them from remaining on-site if they have coronavirus symptoms. They must also wear both masks and face shields for additional protection.

Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said servers are at the highest risk of being infected due to their constant contact with others during their shifts.

Some of these restrictions require additional work from restaurants.

"We are announcing this change now in order to give restaurant operators sufficient time to prepare," Farley said.

Farley urged Philadelphians and others who plan to visit restaurants in the city to avoid crowds over Labor Day weekend.

The decision comes after weeks of declining positivity rates in the city. According to Farley since the week of July 19, positivity rates by each week have been 5.4, 4.8, 4.1, then 4, respectively.

When reporting Thursday's figures, Farley said the positivity rate was 3 percent. Farley said 105 new cases were identified since Wednesday, bringing the total case count since March 10 t0 32,674. No new deaths were reported Thursday, keeping the total death toll at 1,735.

Back in July, the city laid out target figures for allowing indoor dining, among other activities.

Farley said many of the metrics were met, but the positivity rate, daily case count, and contact tracing goals were not met.

Farley said contact tracing efforts last week reached 69 percent of cases. The target goal is 70 percent.

But indoor dining could be put on hold again if positivity rate increase again

"Between now and September 8, should we witness an increase in the rate of COVID-19 case counts in Philadelphia, we will reconsider whether this change is still viable," Farley said. He went on to say if rates increase after Sept. 8, indoor dining could be prohibited again.

Mayor Jim Kenney urged restaurant owners, employees, and patrons follow these new rules in order to keep staff and customers safe.

"I hope this change marks a turning point in our in recovery and everyone follows restrictions so that this is only the beginning in part of a larger recovery for restaurants and the city as a whole," he said. "I beg you to follow the rules."

Farley said establishments that do not follow these new restrictions will be shut down.

In addition to indoor dining, other indoor activities can resume now. Establishments such as bowling alleys, arcades, and other indoor games will be allowed to resume effective immediately.

Indoor theaters will reopen in the city on Sept. 8.

All indoor venues, theaters included, will not be able to offer food or drink and cannot exceed 50 percent capacity, with a maximum of 25 people allowed inside.