Philadelphia considers possible COVID-19 restrictions due to rapidly increasing case count
Philadelphia COVID-19 live updates, news and information
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Philadelphia Department of Public Health on Wednesday announced 761 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19.
"More important than that, daily case rates are rising quickly. Yesterday we reported the most new cases and today, the second-most ever. We are entering the most dangerous phase of this pandemic, and everyone-everyone-needs to take this seriously: stay away from others, and wear a mask," said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Farley talked about the possibility of Covid-related restrictions.
"I would say that the full range of options is something we're considering. These are tough decisions," said Farley.
The number of hospital cases has more than doubled in the last two weeks.
Doctors at Temple University and across the city are preparing.
"What I don't know is are we in the worst of it, is the worst coming in the next week or two, or are we just at the beginning of what could really be bad?" said Dr. Tony Reed of Temple University Hospital.
Health officials anticipate a further increase in cases, especially with the holidays approaching, which is why they are looking at implementing new restrictions.
"As the holidays come up, it's gonna be really tempting to go inside and have gatherings where it's warmer with larger groups of people, but you should refrain from doing that," said La Toya Nesbit, an ICU nurse at Einstein Medical Center.
"Wear a mask, keep social distancing, I know the holidays are coming and we want to get together with family. We need to do it in a wise way," said Dr. Reed.
"We really want to change the trajectory of this epidemic, but we don't want to be so heavy-handed that we unnecessarily restrict things that may be important for people," said Farley.
Officials said they are also having active discussions about possible restrictions that could impact restaurants.
"Hearing about spread in restaurants from our contact tracing interviews, for example a group of people are going to restaurants for birthday parties," said Farley.
Restaurant owners in Philadelphia said they bracing for a worst case scenario, with more restrictions possibly coming to their already hurting business.
During lunchtime at Morea, a restaurant in Center City that opened about two weeks ago, tables were empty. The owner said he is dreading more limitations, but he's planning ahead on how to pivot if dining capacity is reduced.
"We have to be a little more creative, we have to do a lot more delivery and pickup," said Scott Hockfield, the owner of Morea.
"Looks like mask use might actually be going down, unfortunately, I'd rather that not be the case but it doesn't seem to be rising for sure," said Farley.
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