PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia will be ending the year with more than 90,000 total cases of COVID-19 and more than 2,400 fatalities from the virus.
However, the number of recent cases appears to be going down again. In the past week, about 500 new cases were reported each day — still high, but about half of what it was in early November.
Fatalities remain high — there were 69 last week — but that is less than the two previous weeks.
At his final city briefing of 2020, Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley said the numbers show that the city’s restrictions on indoor activities have been working since they were imposed on Nov. 20.
“Philadelphia’s case rates have fallen 41%,” said Farley. “For the commonwealth as a whole, case rates have risen 16%. Also in that time period, Philadelphia County’s case rates went from being highest in the southeastern Pennsylvania region to now being the lowest.”
Farley is still anticipating a surge from Christmas and New Year’s gatherings, though any spike won’t be apparent for several more days. He urges people to avoid meeting up with others for the holiday.
“Don’t go to a New Year’s Eve party. Celebrate with your immediate household members only, not with relatives or friends who don’t live with you,” he advised. “It doesn’t matter if they’ve been tested. Don’t get together with people outside your household — (it) is particularly important right now.”
The city will start receiving about 18,000 vaccine doses a week in 2021, creating enough of a supply for everyone in the coming months.
The city is still planning to lift some — not all — of its restrictions on Jan. 4.