Philadelphia abruptly ends briefly revived indoor mask requirement amid falling COVID-19 hospitalizations

Philadelphia mask mandate ends
(Image credit: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Philadelphia's new public indoor masking requirement, which took effect Monday, is ending Friday morning, city health officials said Thursday night. The city Board of Health said it voted to rescind the mandate Thursday in part because of "decreasing hospitalizations and a leveling of case counts." The health board's April 11 announcement that masks would be required again was also met with threats of legal challenges.

"We're in a situation that we really had not anticipated being in this soon, but it is good news," acting Philadelphia health commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said at Thursday's meeting. "So I'm really very happy ... to say it appears that we no longer need to mandate masks in Philadelphia and that we can actually move to simply a strong recommendation."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.