Philadelphia Health Officials Giving Rapid COVID Tests To Event Organizers As Cases Rise
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- From the city to the shore, crowds gathered for Memorial Day weekend. Now that the unofficial start of summer is over, the medical community is concerned about COVID cases possibly rising.
Between the fireworks, festivals and concerts, there's no shortage of events that will draw a crowd this summer.
"You're doing things, we're re-engaging. That's important. But if we need to take extra safety precautions, that's an individual decision, but it may be very helpful," Dr. Rob Danoff with Jefferson Health said.
With Memorial Day weekend behind us, doctors want people to be aware that COVID-19 is still here and they expect cases to go up.
Currently, cases are up. Philadelphia is now averaging about 400 new cases a day.
To get ahead of a possible uptick, the Philadelphia Department of Health has launched a program that will give rapid COVID-19 testing kits to event organizers.
"We want to be as less restrictive as possible but still want people to be safe at their weddings, graduations, and summer parties so this testing program is a way for people to get as many tests as they need and into the hands of guests," Philadelphia Department of Health media coordinator Matt Rankin said.
Officials say in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania cases are up at a time when they usually dip due to the warm weather.
"People are not being cautious so you just want to keep yourself safe and your family safe," Tamika Ward-Andrew said.
For Ward-Andrew, her caution comes from being hospitalized with COVID-19 in November 2020. Her symptoms ranged from heart conditions to breathing problems.
"I was on a machine, I almost died. Don't want that to ever happen again. I'm still living with those conditions today," she said.
The city has about 20,000 kits on hand but organizers can get as many as they need just head to the health department's website.
