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mm hmm. Word. So today I’m announcing that we have reached the threshold from moving out of the all clear covid response level and into the mask precautions level. Simply put that means that we’re reintroducing the mask mandate in philadelphia. We’ll have a one week education period to allow time for us to get the word out. We hope that by having folks masked up whenever they’re in public indoor spaces we can get ahead of the wave and keep it from reaching a peak. Like we saw in january with the american variant. If we can do that, we can literally save the lives of vulnerable Philadelphians. We don’t know if the be a two variant in philadelphia will have the kind of impact on hospitalizations and deaths that we saw with the original american variant this winter. I suspect that this wave will be smaller than the one we saw in january. But if we wait to find out and to put our masks back on, we’ll have lost our chance to stop the wave. If we mask up now and find out that hospitalizations don’t increase in the U. S. In response to this variant, the way they have in the UK and great. We can then take off our masks with a sense of relief. But if we fail to act now knowing that every previous wave of infections has been followed by a wave of hospitalizations and then a wave of deaths. It will be too late for many of our residents

CDC to extend travel mask requirement for 2 weeks, AP source says

The Biden administration will extend for two weeks the nationwide mask requirement for public transit as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases, according to a person familiar with the matter.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was set to extend the order, which was to expire on April 18, by two weeks to monitor for any observable increase in severe virus outcomes as cases rise in parts of the country. The move was being made out of abundance of caution, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview the CDC’s action.When the Transportation Security Administration, which enforces the rule for planes, buses, trains and transit hubs, extended the requirement last month, it said the CDC had been hoping to roll out a more flexible masking strategy that would have replaced the nationwide requirement.The mask mandate is the most visible vestige of government restrictions to control the pandemic, and possibly the most controversial. A surge of abusive and sometimes violent incidents on airplanes has been attributed mostly to disputes over mask-wearing.Critics have seized on the fact that states have rolled back rules requiring masks in restaurants, stores and other indoor settings, and yet COVID-19 cases have fallen sharply since the omicron variant peaked in mid-January.There has been a slight increase in cases in recent weeks, driven by an even more contagious subvariant of the omicron strain, with daily confirmed cases nationwide rising from about 25,000 per day to more than 30,000. Those figures are an undercount since many people now test positive on at-home tests that are not reported to public health agencies.Severe illnesses and deaths tend to lag infections by several weeks. The CDC is awaiting indications of whether the increase in cases correlates to a rise in adverse outcomes before announcing a less restrictive mask policy for travel.

WASHINGTON —

The Biden administration will extend for two weeks the nationwide mask requirement for public transit as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was set to extend the order, which was to expire on April 18, by two weeks to monitor for any observable increase in severe virus outcomes as cases rise in parts of the country. The move was being made out of abundance of caution, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview the CDC’s action.

When the Transportation Security Administration, which enforces the rule for planes, buses, trains and transit hubs, extended the requirement last month, it said the CDC had been hoping to roll out a more flexible masking strategy that would have replaced the nationwide requirement.

The mask mandate is the most visible vestige of government restrictions to control the pandemic, and possibly the most controversial. A surge of abusive and sometimes violent incidents on airplanes has been attributed mostly to disputes over mask-wearing.

Critics have seized on the fact that states have rolled back rules requiring masks in restaurants, stores and other indoor settings, and yet COVID-19 cases have fallen sharply since the omicron variant peaked in mid-January.

There has been a slight increase in cases in recent weeks, driven by an even more contagious subvariant of the omicron strain, with daily confirmed cases nationwide rising from about 25,000 per day to more than 30,000. Those figures are an undercount since many people now test positive on at-home tests that are not reported to public health agencies.

Severe illnesses and deaths tend to lag infections by several weeks. The CDC is awaiting indications of whether the increase in cases correlates to a rise in adverse outcomes before announcing a less restrictive mask policy for travel.