Philly Indoor Dining Coming Back Saturday: What You Need To Know

PHILADELPHIA — Earlier this week, Philadelphia's Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley delivered some good news for restaurants in the city.

Farley announced Tuesday that indoor dining will be permitted to resume starting Saturday.

But, as with nearly all industries impacted by the coronavirus, restaurants have to follow guidelines while offering indoor dining.

Restaurants choosing to offer indoor dining in the city must comply with capacity limits.

Just 25 percent of restaurants' dining room capacity will be permitted inside restaurants offering indoor dining. If the lawful occupancy is unknown, then the density must not exceed one person per 60 square feet in the dining area including staff.

Only parties of four people will be allowed per table, and those parties should only consist of people in the same household.

Masks are required for diners any time they are not seated and eating, and all restaurant staff must wear face masks and face shields.

While not required, restaurants are urged to increase ventilation of their indoor dining areas.

Improving ventilation includes introducing more outside air into their spaces, adding improved filtration devices to ventilation systems, and ensuring at least six air exchanges per hour for indoor dining spaces.

Farley said those three ventilation tactics are not required by restaurants but are highly encouraged, but officials are working on enhanced standards that would be required to allow greater indoor seating capacity.

While indoor dining will resume Saturday, Farley said should case counts and positivity rates rise indoor dining could be prohibited once again.

Farley said since the city imposed restrictions on Nov. 20, case rates in the city fell 33 percent. Additionally, hospitalizations fell by a third since the peak in April, which saw about 1,000 patients with coronavirus at that time.

As of Friday, Philadelphia has seen a total of 99,963 cases and 2,712 coronavirus deaths, 1,061 or 39 percent of which were long-term care facility residents.