Philadelphia reinstates indoor mask mandate; Could the Miami Valley be next?

MIAMI VALLEY — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 27 states including, Ohio, have reported a rise in COVID-19 cases over the past week.

An outbreak of COVID cases already has Philadelphia leaders re-instating an indoor mask mandate. Cases there have increased more than 50-percent in the last 10 days.

>> Coronavirus: Philadelphia reinstates indoor mask mandate in public spaces

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke with Dan Suffoletto, a spokesperson with Public Health Dayton-Montgomery County, about what cases look like in the Miami Valley and what could happen next.

Public Health officials for Public Health Dayton-Montgomery County are not ready to declare total victory over COVID, but they are willing to say that the situation is much better than two years ago.

“There’s no plans for a mask mandate, there’s no requirements for a mask mandate for people to wear indoors,” Suffoletto said.

Tae Winston, a Dayton business owner and entrepreneur, says she’s enjoying the personal freedom of taking masks off and not having to act as the un-official mask police at her stores.

>> Legendary comedian Gilbert Gottfried dead at 67

“It helps me as a business owner not having to tell them to go find a mask out of the car,” Winston said.

Public Health leaders only have the authority to recommend masks, if needed.

Elected officials, like those in Philadelphia, are the ones with power to put mask mandates in place if they see rapidly rising cases of the new BA.2 sub-variant and it threatens community health.

Ohio is currently in the low category, and the CDC only recommends masks in areas classified as high.

One of the only places masks are required right now is on a bus or plane due to federal transportation guidelines.

©2022 Cox Media Group