Indoor Dining To Resume In Philadelphia Saturday

PHILADELPHIA — Indoor dining is coming back to Philadelphia this weekend, according to city officials.

Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said Tuesday that starting Saturday, restaurants will be permitted to have diners eat indoors.

However, some restrictions still apply.

Restaurants will have a cap on the number of diners set at 25 percent of the seating capacity.

Farley said the 25 percent cap is not comparable to occupancy limits for other industries, such as theaters which can reopen Saturday, as it only applies to the capacities of seating areas.

Additionally, Farley said increased ventilation is key to safe indoor dining. This 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.

Theaters and performance spaces will be allowed with a cap on the total number of attendees, including staff, of 10 percent maximum occupancy. If the maximum occupancy is unknown, these spaces must have 10 persons per 1,000 square feet. Everyone in attendance must be masked, and no food or drink is allowed.

Colleges will be allowed to resume in-person classes with occupancy restrictions and mask usage, too, Farley said.

Despite allowing these industries to resume operations, Farley said they could be forced to end operations again should case counts rise and increases are tied to these settings.

Senior day services, such as senior centers and adult day cares; indoor catered events; and indoor gatherings, including in the home, will still be restricted as of Saturday.

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. A total of 616 patients are hospitalized in Philadelphia Tuesday, with 91 on ventilators.

Tuesday's data shows the city has seen 98,215 cases of the virus and 2,640 coronavirus-related deaths. Of the 2,640 total deaths, 1,041 or 39 percent were long-term care facility residents.