The city of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA) announced Thursday that it will eliminate its obligation to wear masks indoors, just four days after that mandate came into effect again in the locality.
The decision by the Philadelphia authorities to resume the mandatory use of masks indoors in the face of the increase in COVID-19 infections had contrasted with measures taken in the rest of the United States, which since March have relaxed the rules on the use of face coverings.
In addition, Monday's entry into force of the Philadelphia mandate coincided with a Florida federal judge's ruling that overturned the order to wear a mask on public transportation across the country, including airplanes, trains, buses, stations and airports.
The local rule in Philadelphia came into conflict with the federal court decision, causing confusion and frustration, especially after the city's public transportation company said it would stop requiring masks to be worn on trains and buses to comply with the ruling.
On Wednesday, a group of Philadelphia businessmen asked a state court to stop the town's mask mandate, arguing that it was causing them “irreparable harm,” reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Finally, this Thursday night, the mayor's office, Jim Kenney, announced that the local health board had voted to rescind the indoor mask mandate.
“Due to the decline in hospitalizations and the stabilization of the infection count, the city will now strongly recommend masks in public places indoors, rather than a mask mandate,” the mayor's spokesman Kevin Lessard told the aforementioned newspaper.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the city dropped this Thursday to 65, the lowest figure in a week.
The U.S. Department of Justice appealed the Florida judge's decision that overturned the mask mandate on public transportation, ensuring that such an order fits with the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In early March, the United States overcame the wave of the Ómicron variant, the one with the highest number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic, and relaxed the use of masks indoors, although not on public transport.
(With information from EFE)
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