Philly Lifting Last Coronavirus Restrictions Friday

PHILADELPHIA — The final two coronavirus restrictions will be lifted in Philadelphia Friday.

At 12:01 a.m. on Friday the City of Philadelphia will end the last two COVID-19 restrictions: the indoor mask mandate and the 11:00 p.m. last call for restaurants.

The first COVID-19 restrictions were put into place on March 12, 2020 and non-essential businesses were closed on March 16, 2020.

People who got their final vaccine dose at least two weeks ago are considered fully vaccinated, and the Health Department no longer requires they wear masks indoors or outdoors in most settings.

Those who are not vaccinated or are not fully vaccinated yet are still strongly recommended to wear masks indoors and outdoors when around others, but are no longer required to do so by Philadelphia.

However, masks will be required in some select settings including healthcare institutions, temporary community healthcare events such as vaccine clinics and blood drives; congregate facilities such as prisons, shelters, and adult day programs; public transportation including planes, trains, buses, taxis, and ride-share vehicles; and indoor schools, camps and early childhood education among other settings.

Additionally, mask requirement will remain in place for all court facilities and procedures.

"For nearly fifteen months, the City of Philadelphia has had restrictions in place to protect each other, and I have no doubt that these restrictions saved countless lives," Mayor Jim Kenney said. "But Friday will be a day that we’ve all been looking forward to: getting back to doing the things that we love. Thanks to the more than two-thirds of adults who’ve been vaccinated already, we can finally do the things that we’ve missed doing for the last year. I urge everyone who has not been vaccinated to join the more than 800,000 fellow Philadelphians so we can continue to move forward from the pandemic."

The Health Department reports that an average of 53 cases of COVID-19 have been identified per day in June. This is the lowest number of COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

During the week of May 30, 285 new cases of COVID-19 were reported to the Health Department; prior to that, the lowest number was 525 new cases reported during the week of March 15, 2020.

The numbers of people in Philadelphia hospitals is quickly approaching the low point seen in late September 2020.

"Due to the lowest new case counts that we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic, we are now excited to lift the last of the Safer-at-Home restrictions," said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole. "Lifting the requirement for vaccinated people to wear masks indoors doesn’t mean that we are totally past COVID-19. Dozens of Philadelphians are still being diagnosed with COVID-19 every day, which means that more of us still need to get vaccinated."

As of Monday, June 7, the Health Department reported that at least 836,370 Philadelphians have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 645,568 Philadelphians were fully vaccinated.

In percentage terms, 67.4 percent and 52 percent of Philadelphia adults, respectively.

According to the CDC, 66.3 percent of Philadelphians over the age of 64 are fully vaccinated.