PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Department of Public Health today announced 185 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Philadelphia. That brings the number of confirmed cases to 31,910. 

The Department of Public Health confirmed no additional fatalities in Philadelphia. The number of residents who have succumbed to the virus in Philadelphia remains at 1,709. Of the 1,709 total deaths, 864 (51%) were long-term care facility residents. Current and cumulative totals of both symptomatic and asymptomatic positive cases in Philadelphia prisons are now posted on the testing and data page of the City’s COVID-19 website. 

Mask Up PHL Masks for Sale: When the City’s #MaskUpPHL campaign started running, numerous residents asked how they could participate. Today, the City announced that Philadelphians can proudly declare that they never back down, and just how much they love their neighbors, by wearing masks printed to look just like those seen on SEPTA buses, in newspaper ads, and online. The printer, Minuteman Press, will donate a portion of the proceeds from every mask sale to support the work of the Black Doctor’s COVID-19 Consortium, which is providing free testing in Philadelphia. To purchase a mask, support a worthy cause, and do their part to prevent the spread of COVID, residents should visit bit.ly/maskupphl.

Contact Tracing Update: Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley provided an update on COVID-19 contact tracing. From August 1 through August 8, the Department of Public Health attempted to contact 653 people who tested positive for COVID-19. They were unable to reach 25 percent of them (down from 32 percent from the previous week), 4 percent did not have a phone, 4 percent refused, while 65 percent agreed to participate. One-third of those who agreed to be interviewed reported no contacts; the other two-thirds reported an average of three contacts. Contact tracers reached out to all of the identified contacts and reported that 77 percent of them were successfully reached and agreed to quarantine for 14 days.

PHLConnectED Update: Last week, the City announced PHLConnectED, a partnership with the School District, Comcast and other generous local funders to provide in-home internet access for more than 35,000 students and their families this fall. Plans for how eligible families can sign up are being finalized and will be shared as soon as possible. In the meantime, parents of children who do not currently have internet at home are urged to make sure their school is aware and that their contact information is up to date. School District of Philadelphia families can update their contact information in the parent portal by visiting philasd.org/face.

Testing Site Map: A testing site finder at phila.gov/testing helps people find a free COVID-19 test in Philadelphia. Anyone can search for a site by address, click on a map location for specific site information, and filter by day of week and by drive-thru or walk-up.

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