Philadelphia is ending its indoor face-mask mandate just days after reimposing it with health officials saying it’s no longer needed as case numbers and hospitalizations have improved.
The Board of Health voted Thursday to rescind the mandate, according to the Philadelphia health department, the Associated Press reported.
Face masks have again become a more controversial issue in the U.S. after a federal judge in Florida overturned the national mandate on Monday. That move led airlines to immediately drop their requirements — in some cases midflight, to the consternation of passengers traveling with young children who are not yet eligible for vaccination.
A survey published this week found that most Americans still support wearing face masks in such spaces, with 56% of those polled on board with their continued use. The country is averaging 15,069 hospitalizations a day, down 1% from two weeks ago, but up from a day ago, and are climbing again in 19 states.Experts are cautioning that the U.S. is not yet fully in the endemic phase of the pandemic, even if much of the country may be behaving as if it is.