PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia has slightly relaxed its COVID-19 rules for restaurants, but the city's health commissioner said he remains cautious while cases and hospitalizations remain high.
Commissioner Tom Farley says the city is lifting the 50-person limit on outdoor dining. The city will also allow bar seating as long as groups of four people from the same household remain six feet apart from other groups, and if there is a barrier between patrons and bartenders.
"We’re allowing it now, because there are restrictions we think we can have on bar seating that will make it no riskier than table seating," Farley said.
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Farley said drinking at indoor bars remains about the riskiest activity for spreading COVID-19.
He detailed how there are signs that the rise in new cases over the last several weeks is letting up. He promised more on the restrictions next week, when the current limits are set to expire.
Farley believes the current COVID-19 case numbers, about 573 new cases per day, are still too high. He believes hospitals are still too strained to ease restrictions further for now.
One promising sign is the increasing ease of access to vaccines, especially at the large-volume clinics run by FEMA. Demand there has dropped off steeply and appointments have been easy to get.
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Farley said demand remains high at neighborhood clinics, suggesting convenience is important in coaxing people to get the shot.
He continued to urge everyone over 16 to get vaccinated, noting that there are lots of open appointments at the big FEMA clinics at the Convention Center and Esperanza.
At this point, more than 700,000 adults have received at least one shot. Nearly half a million are fully vaccinated, including more than half of those over 65.
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Farley said racial disparities persist among young people who became eligible one week ago, though there is some equity among those over 65.
"I’m pleased that we don’t see racial disparities among the age group that is most likely to have severe illness," Farley said.
"Clearly the center of our target for the future is going to be younger African-Americans."