Their decision comes after a slew of states and major cities dropped their masking requirements as cases began trending downward in January. On March 25, Hawaii became the last state to drop its mandate.
The city will move to its second level of Covid-19 restrictions, which requires Philadelphians to wear masks in indoor public places. The mandate goes into effect on April 18.
The city is now averaging 142 new cases per day, according Bettigole. Current case counts in the city are now more than 50% higher than they were 10 days ago, Bettigole said in a news conference Monday.
“By wearing masks consistently, we can continue to go about our daily lives and continue to take part in the life of our city without contributing to increasing transmission of Covid-19,” Bettigole said.
The city has now surpassed Level 1 requirements, though Bettigole believes masking precautions could prevent cases from increasing to previous levels.
“I suspect that this wave will be smaller than the one we saw in January,” she said. “But if we wait to find out and to put our masks back on, we’ll have lost our chance to stop the wave.”
Nationally, cases are trending upward in more than half of states, though case numbers are still relatively low. Averaging around 34,000 new cases per day, the daily case rate remains one of the lowest since mid-July.
It’s expected that Covid-19 case numbers will rise and fall over the course of the pandemic, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told CNN’s New Day Monday, and he said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance about what actions to take is in the right place.
“In terms of what to do about it, I think we really want to be guided by the CDC on this,” Jha said. “I think the CDC policy is right on this and that’s what I’ve been following for months, and I think that’s what we should be doing.”
According to the CDC, the Covid-19 community level for Philadelphia County, where the city of Philadelphia is located, is low. In such communities, CDC urges people to stay up-to-date on Covid-19 vaccinations and get tested if they have Covid-19 symptoms, but it does not suggest wearing masks.
Jha also said the CDC will share a scientific framework this week for the federal transportation mask mandate set to expire April 18. The federal mandate requires masks on public transportation such as planes, trains, buses and hubs like airports and bus terminals.
On NBC’s Today Show Monday, Jha said extending the federal transportation mask mandate is “absolutely on the table,” adding the CDC will make a decision based on the scientific framework it is creating.
CNN’s Raja Razek, Naomi Thomas and Amanda Watt contributed to this report.
