COVID cases are rising across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic as Philly leads charge to bring back masks

Philadelphia’s mask mandate is coming back, city health officials announced Monday, as the city responds to a new wave in coronavirus cases.

The rise in COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia, an 86% increase over the past two weeks, according to the New York Times COVID data tracker, mirrors what’s being seen in other Mid-Atlantic big cities.

In New York City, the seven-day daily average of COVID cases increased 39% over a two-week period ending April 10, but hospitalizations declined by 17% over the same period. When cases increase, a rise in hospitalizations typically follows a week or two later, but health officials remain uncertain whether that pattern will hold as the BA.2 variant spreads. It is possible that the number of people vaccinated or immune through prior COVID infections could keep hospitalizations from increasing along with cases.

New York City never had its own indoor mask requirement, but was covered by New York state’s mandate, which ended in February. As of last week, New York’s mayor extended a mask mandate for toddlers another week because of the rise in cases.

Washington, D.C., has seen a 76% increase in average daily cases from March 27 to April 10, the Times tracker reported, with the city now reporting an average of 144 cases per day. The city still describes that rate as presenting a low level of severity and reports it presents low impact to health-care systems.

In Baltimore, cases increased 21% over the past two weeks, but hospitalizations were down 14% in the same span.

Both cities ended their indoor mask mandates at the beginning of March.