PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Department of Public Health today reported an additional 11,222 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Philadelphia since last reported on Thursday, July 29. This brings the total number of fully vaccinated Philadelphians to at least 774,881, and the number of Philadelphians with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to at least 942,043. Currently, 62.4 percent of Philadelphia adults are fully vaccinated, and 75.9 percent of Philadelphia adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Public Health reports 75 patients with COVID-19 are currently being treated in Philadelphia hospitals, with a total of six on ventilators.

In the last two weeks, four percent of COVID-19 tests in Philadelphia have come back positive. Thus far during the pandemic, 147,369 Philadelphians have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 3,773 have succumbed to the virus. Philadelphia is averaging 119 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the last two weeks.

In response to the CDC reporting that Philadelphia is experiencing significant spread of COVID-19, Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said, “On July 22, we instituted a strong recommendation for everyone over age two in Philadelphia to mask while indoors in public places. The CDC has now seconded that recommendation. All Philadelphians should pay attention to this warning to prevent the kind of surge that’s being seen in other parts of the country, which are seeing increases in hospitalizations of both adults and children. The Delta variant spreads more easily than previous forms of COVID-19, but that spread can be prevented by vaccination, masking, avoiding crowded indoor places, and keeping distance from others. None of these measures are fully effective alone, so we recommend layering protections: get vaccinated and wear a mask indoors in public places.” 

Testing Remains Widely Available: While people who are fully vaccinated are 25 times less likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who remain unvaccinated, they can still catch and carry the infection to others including children under 12, people who are immunosuppressed, and those who remain unvaccinated. COVID-19 infection is typically very mild among those who have been fully vaccinated, so people need to remain alert to symptoms that can be mistaken for a common cold and get tested so they don’t inadvertently spread the infection further. Testing sites remain available without cost across the city. See phila.gov/testing for details.  

COVID-19 Safety Recommendations for Masking: On July 22, 2021, the Health Department issued new recommendations to protect Philadelphians in light of rising COVID-19 case counts and a slight increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. The Health Department strongly recommends that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask when indoors in public. In addition to that recommendation, the Health Department also recommends that Philadelphians: 

  • Choose outdoor rather than indoor spaces
  • Avoid crowded indoor spaces
  • Mask while indoors around people you don’t know are vaccinated
  • For unvaccinated people, consider double masking while in indoor public spaces

For more information on this guidance, see the City’s blog post on the updated mask recommendations, available in multiple languages. 

COVID-19 Resources:

 

Resources for Media:

COVID-19 press releases.

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