Businesses that serve food or drinks in Philadelphia will no longer be required to check customers' COVID-19 vaccination status, but there is no guarantee newly eased pandemic restrictions won’t be reimplemented in the future, the city's top health official said Wednesday.
Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said the city will relax the requirement for restaurants based on a continued decline in infections and hospitalizations. The change takes effect immediately and applies to all establishments that serve food or drinks, including sports venues like the Wells Fargo Center.
Masks, however, will stick around for now.
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“While we are not done with COVID, and in no way are we declaring the end to the fight against the pandemic, I am glad that we have reached a point where we know much, much, much more about this virus and which strategies will help us manage its spread,” Mayor Jim Kenney said.
The Wells Fargo Center announced Wednesday that they would follow the new city policy, dropping the requirement for guests to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter the facility for Flyers games, Sixers games and other events.
“Over the past two years, we’ve invested tens of millions of dollars in state-of-the-art health and safety measures at Wells Fargo Center, and those investments have been a major success. Now, we’re ready to start getting back to normal, and so are our fans,” said Valerie Camillo, President of Business Operations for Wells Fargo Center and the Philadelphia Flyers. “There’s simply no better place to see a game, concert, or show than Wells Fargo Center, and the atmosphere that made Broad Street famous is finally coming back.”
The news comes after neighboring states began relaxing their own rules and just weeks after Bettigole said it would “probably” take months for Philadelphia to follow suit, at least when it came to masking.
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Philadelphia will continue with its mask requirement for now. However, if conditions continue to improve, and barring another spike in cases or a new dangerous variant, mask restrictions could be lifted within weeks, Bettigole said.
For more on the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Philadelphia, visit NBC10.com.