On Wednesday, March 2, Philadelphia health officials announced that the city has moved to a “level one: all clear” COVID-19 response level, meaning that masks are no longer required for most indoor public spaces. Masks are still required in schools, healthcare facilities, congregate settings, and on public transportation. 

“Level one: all clear” means the average new cases per day is less than 100, hospitalizations are under 50, the percent positivity is under 2%, and cases have not risen by more than 50% in the last 10 days. 

Beginning on March 7, masking will be optional for visitors and fully vaccinated staff in city buildings. Unvaccinated staff are still required to double mask while indoors and around others. 

James Garrow, a spokesperson for the health department, said that if this positive trend continues, the school mask mandate could end two days later, but a one-week mask requirement will be put in place after spring break to avoid a post-break surge. 

Businesses and other institutions are permitted to be more strict than the city’s COVID Response levels, so some businesses may still require masking and/or proof of vaccination. 

Officials did say that this announcement doesn’t mean the pandemic is over and if cases do start to rise again, some mandates will need to return. 

“If a new COVID variant were to come to Philadelphia or cases started to rise again, we may need to move to the Mask Precautions Level or higher and start enforcing the public mandates again,” health officials said in a release Wednesday.

The department noted that many people will choose to continue masking for multiple reasons, and all of them are valid. Officials also mentioned that people with chronic health conditions should still consider masking. 

“The Health Department reminds you that wearing a mask is one of the best ways to keep yourself and others protected,” officials said.