Philadelphia keeping indoor, school mask requirements ‘for the time being’

Philadelphia will be keeping their mask requirements in schools and indoor public spaces ‘for the time being’ as officials say they’ll be sticking to their new tiered response levels.

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia will be keeping their mask requirements in schools and indoor public spaces ‘for the time being’ as officials say they’ll be sticking to their new tiered response levels.

Monday afternoon, city officials announced that Philadelphia would remain in the ‘Mask Precautions Only’ response level. Under that response level, there is no vaccine requirement for places that serve food or drink, but masks are required indoors.

City officials say they will be sticking with their newly unveiled response levels, rather than following the CDC’s latest guidelines.

The CDC’s guidance outlines a new set of measures for communities where COVID-19 is easing its grip, with less of a focus on positive test results and more on what’s happening at hospitals.

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The new system greatly changes the look of the CDC’s risk map and puts more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where the coronavirus is posing a low or medium threat to hospitals.

Those are the people who can stop wearing masks, the agency said.

The agency is still advising that people, including schoolchildren, wear masks where the risk of COVID-19 is high.

CDC relaxes its mask guidelines as COVID-19 cases wane

The CDC has relaxed its mask guidance for most healthy, fully vaccinated people as COVID-19 cases continue to steadily decline. Dr. Mike Cirigliano joined FOX 29 News at 5 to discuss the updated guidelines and other health topics.

"Our Response Levels were developed based on analyses of detailed local data with the goal of predicting and preventing high rates of hospitalization. We examined multiple models to identify key metrics that would better catch a more severe wave early, before it can cause high levels of hospitalizations," Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said.

A spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia said its sticking with the direction of the city's health department

"They've been great partners in keeping our students and staff as safe as possible and the recommendations they've given us have really helped us make sure we could open schools for in-person learning last August," Monica Lewis said.