COVID In Philadelphia: Dr. Thomas Farley 'Hoping' City May Start To See Turnaround From Winter Wave
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a big weekend for Philadelphia businesses as the city will begin lifting some coronavirus restrictions. This includes the resumption of indoor dining at 25% capacity.
Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley joined Eyewitness News on Friday to explain what went into the decision.
He says the city had an uptick in cases after the holidays which they expected to see. But by now they expected to see cases begin to fall and he says it appears as though they have.
"We do want to keep the economy going, and so we are carefully and cautiously easing back in some of the restrictions. Including as you said letting restaurants have indoor at 25% capacity and raising capacity limits for some other settings," Dr. Farley said.
He adds that another industry seeing the ease in restrictions are theaters along with other places that were at five persons per 1,000 square feet. They will now be at 10 persons per 1,000 square feet.
"Now I don't want anybody to take that as a sign to not wear a mask when they get together, case rates are still very high," said Dr. Farley.
So, is there a chance that would you reverse course if there is another significant spike in cases?
"Absolutely, there is a chance of that. This virus is unpredictable, it has gotten worse before and it could get worse again," Dr. Farley said. "If we feel we need to, we might impose these restrictions."
He went on to explain that at this time only health care workers in the city are receiving the COVID vaccine but officials will keep residents updated on when they move beyond that.
Dr. Farley also emphasized that the vaccine is only 95% effective and says that even though you receive the vaccine it is possible you could still get the infection.
He went on to say that the trend of cases in the city is "looking good."
"I think we're on a decline now, I can't say how rapid it is. Everybody still needs to be very serious about this. I'm hoping we may be starting to see the turnaround for this winter wave," he said.
Watch the video for the full interview.
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