Philadelphia expands coronavirus testing criteria, launches #mindPHL
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The City of Philadelphia announced a change to its testing criteria to include more people.
Health Commissioner Doctor Tom Farley said on Monday that improvements in testing a lab's abilities to process results are making this possible.
Now, if you have symptoms, you can get tested regardless of how old you are and you do not need to be a health care worker.
Farley also suggested one of the keys to reopening is wearing masks beyond the grocery store.
"We need to make wearing a mask like this something that is the expectation, something that people wear all the time," Farley said. "If we can get to that stage, we can gradually open up all of our other activities, and do that safely, we won't see an increase in the number of cases."
RELATED: Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's revised budget includes layoffs, tax increases
So far, there's no word about any policy change regarding masks.
Philadelphia has reported 16,040 positive COVID-19 cases and 726 deaths.
Also on Monday, the city launched a new website filled with mental health resources.
#mindPHL Together is being done in partnership with Independence Blue Cross.
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