The city of Philadelphia will go back under an indoor mask mandate, the city's public health department announced on Monday.
In a statement, Philadelphia Public Health said on Twitter that the indoor mask mandate would be reinstated "due to increasing COVID-19 cases."
The statement said the city would move to a "Level 2," and that order would begin this week, but masks would be required in all indoor public spaces starting on Monday, April 18 to "provide a one-week education period for businesses."
🧵 Due to increasing COVID-19 cases, @PhiladelphiaGov will move to Level 2: Mask Precautions beginning today. In order to provide a one-week education period for businesses, masks will be required in all indoor public spaces as of Monday, April 18, 2022. (1/4)
— Philadelphia Public Health (@PHLPublicHealth) April 11, 2022
As WPVI reported, residents would be asked to report businesses that are not complying with the mandate to the city's 311 hotline.
City officials are hoping to mitigate another surge in hospitalizations, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said on Monday, “If we fail to act now, knowing that every previous wave of infections has been followed by a wave of hospitalizations and a wave of deaths, it’ll be too late for many of our residents.”
