Mask Backlash Forces Philadelphia to Scrap Mandate

The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says residents no longer have to wear face coverings indoors amid dropping COVID-19 numbers as well as resistance and confusion over masking requirements.

The city's board of health voted to rescind the mandate Thursday. The vote is a stark reversal of the mandate, which went into effect just days earlier as public health officials sounded the alarm over rising infection rates. Philadelphia was the only major city with a mask mandate, placing it at odds with a pandemic-weary public and an unexpected shift in federal regulations.

"Due to decreasing hospitalizations and a leveling of case counts, the City will move to strongly recommending masks in indoor public spaces as opposed to a mask mandate," Kevin Lessard, spokesman for Mayor Jim Kenney, told Newsweek in an email. "Given the latest data, the Board of Health voted tonight to rescind the mandate."

Lessard said details would be provided Friday morning.

The city announced a new indoor mask mandate on April 11 that would go into effect on Monday. The mandate was adopted after Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, the city's health commissioner, said at a board meeting that the city could be on track to experience another COVID-19 wave similar to one that recently swept over Europe.

While COVID-19 hospitalizations remained low at 46, Bettigole said case counts had increased by 50 percent over the last 10 days, triggering the mask mandate in hopes of getting ahead of a potential wave.

However, on Saturday a group of businesses and individuals filed a lawsuit in state court arguing that the city lacked the legal authority for the mandate. The lawsuit filed by attorney Thomas W. King III argued the mandate contradicted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommendations and "imposed a renegade standard unfound anywhere else in the world."

King told Newsweek in an email that he had filed a motion for an emergency injunction on Wednesday. He welcomed the city dropping the mandate.

"We are very pleased that Philadelphia rescinded its mask mandate regulations tonight in the face of our lawsuit," he said. "We are proud of the small businesses and individuals we represented who stood up for the Rule of Law. As this case shows no one is above the law."

Philadelphia's mask mandate also went into effect the same day a federal judge in Florida struck down a federal requirement that facial coverings be worn on airplanes and Amtrak trains.

The sudden reversal of the requirement was met enthusiastically by many travelers, as the White House offered confusing messaging on masking, which has become a culture war battlefield.

The CDC has recommended people wear masks on planes. However, President Joe Biden on Tuesday said it was a personal choice to wear a mask, leaving the onus on travelers to continue following CDC guidelines. On Wednesday, the Justice Department said it would appeal the judge's ruling.