Philadelphia Health Officials Cautioning Residents To Keep Guard Up As City Enters 'Dangerous Period' With COVID-19
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia health officials say the city is entering a "dangerous period" in the coronavirus pandemic. They say the fall resurgence of the coronavirus is here and that things could get a lot worse before they get better.
"People are not as afraid of the virus as they were before, but the virus is just as deadly as it was before," said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley.
Farley is telling residents to keep their guard up against the coronavirus.
Over the last 24 hours, Philadelphia recorded an additional 268 positive cases and eight additional deaths.
"I'm concerned we may be entering a fall/winter wave and my concern is, that if the virus follows other respiratory viruses, it will continue to get worse through January or February," Farley said.
The commissioner says every zip code in the city is seeing increases but, he said, over the last week, spread appears to be happening more so in the Northeast and South Philly.
The age group getting hit hard now are people ages 20 to 50, younger than in the spring, but older than the late summer when colleges went back into session.
"The risk is high now. It's higher than it was a month or so ago," said Farley.
The commissioner says the city is testing more than it was in the past. They're averaging 4,000 tests a day, but positivity rates are going up, meaning more people who are being tested are testing positive.
He says, at this point, there won't be any new restrictions because the increases appear to be linked to social gatherings within households.
However, he said workers returning to offices are also contributing.
"People who can work from home should work from home. I'm concerned with what may be happening in offices right now," he said.
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