PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Department of Public Health today announced 43 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Philadelphia. That brings the number of confirmed cases to 34,741.

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 1,763. Of the 1,763 total deaths, 876 (50%) were long-term care facility residents.

Indoor Dining Resumes: Beginning today, indoor dining is able to resume in the city of Philadelphia under specific restrictions that are largely consistent with indoor dining restrictions statewide. The City’s new indoor dining restrictions include, but are not limited to:

  • Restaurants cannot be filled to more than 25 percent capacity.
  • No more than four diners per table.
  • Tables must be arranged so that diners at separate tables are at least six feet apart or have an impermeable barrier between them.
  • Servers must wear both masks and face shields for additional protection.
  • No bar service. Alcohol can be served only for on-premises consumption when in the same transaction as a meal.
  • Last call for all indoor dining orders will be at 11 p.m. and establishments will be required to be closed for service by midnight.
  • Restaurants must install physical barriers such as sneeze guards or partitions in restaurant kitchens and at cash registers, host stands, and food pick up areas where maintaining physical distance of at least six feet is difficult.
  • Restaurants must screen every employee for symptoms before every shift and prevent them from remaining on-site if they have cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, muscle pain, or new loss of taste or smell.

Outdoor dining also continues under current restrictions. The full list of restrictions for restaurants and food trucks is available here.

PPA Launches “PARK, EAT, LOVE”: In support of local restaurants, starting today the Philadelphia Parking Authority will offer discounted pricing at select PPA garages. From September 8 through November 30, 2020, patrons at participating restaurants will be provided a discounted $7 flat-rate parking rate after 5 p.m. at the following PPA operated garages in Center City. The $7 flat-rate discount will be valid for up to four hours after entering the garage.

  • Parkade on 8th (801 Filbert Street)
  • Autopark at the Fashion District (44 North 9th Street)
  • The Family Courthouse Garage (1503 Arch Street)
  • Autopark at Jefferson (10th & Ludlow Streets)
  • Autopark at Independence Mall (5th & Market Streets)
  • Autopark at Old City (2nd & Sansom Streets)

Access Centers Open to Students: The first phase of Access Centers opened today to serve the city’s most vulnerable children while fully-digital learning is in place, providing eligible K–6 students with a safe, supervised environment to access digital learning. Prior registration is required and site capacity is limited to adhere to health and safety guidelines. Priority is given to children of caregivers who need to work outside the home and cannot provide or afford supervision.

Registration for phase two of Access Centers is now open, adding 46 sites for families to utilize. A total of 77 sites in phases one and two will serve 2,200 K-6 students during digital learning time this fall. Phase one sites opened today, September 8. Phase two Access Center sites will open on September 21. Access Centers are located at Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Free Library, and Office of Children and Families Out-of-School Time network sites.

Visit phila.gov/accesscenters to view all the sites and find eligibility information. Eligible families can fill out the online interest form to start the registration process. Those who need help filling out the form can call (215) 709-5366, Monday–Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Filling out the interest form is the first step for registration, but does not guarantee placement in an Access Center.

National Recovery Month: September is National Recovery Month, a time meant to increase awareness and understanding of substance use disorders and to celebrate those who recover. In 2019, 1,150 people died from drug overdoses in Philadelphia—more than three people died every day from a drug overdose. Those struggling with substance use can call the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services’ Community Behavioral Health arm at 888-545-2600 or visit CBHPhilly.org to access addiction services, regardless of whether or not they have medical insurance.

First Vote 2020: The Mayor’s Office of Youth Engagement (OYE) is starting its youth-led voter registration effort as part of the “First Vote 2020” initiative, launched in 2019. This initiative will allow Gen-Z to participate in this election cycle by conducting voter registration and engagement ahead of Pennsylvania’s October 19 deadline. First Vote 2020 is a coordinated voter education and registration effort from the Mayor’s Office of Youth Engagement, sponsored by Freedom Credit Union, that is geared toward engaging young people around all of the ways that one can exercise civic participation leading up to Election Day.

Though the emergence of COVID-19 has made traditional voter registration increasingly difficult, OYE has developed an innovative way for our young people to continue to engage their peers and register their families, friends, and neighbors to vote while being socially responsible. Wearing newly designed VRTees (voter registration t-shirts), First Vote 2020 ambassadors will be able to direct individuals to QR codes on the back of their shirts that will take users to Pennsylvania’s voter registration application and the mail-in ballot application. The QR code eliminates a need for close contact, our ambassadors will not have to be responsible for paper forms, and best of all, voter registration can occur whenever the shirt is worn.

Young people interested in supporting this initiative can sign-up to volunteer by filling out this form: bit.ly/FirstVotePHLAmbassador.

Daily Trash and Recycling Update: Collections will be one day behind this week due to the Labor Day Holiday. Residents should set their materials out the day following their regular day, and can check the daily trash and recycling update blog post for updates.

  • Trash: One day behind citywide, residents should put out trash one day behind their regular collection day.
  • Recycling: One day behind citywide, residents should put out recycling one day behind their regular collection day.

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.

COVID-19 Resources:

Resources for Media:

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