Phillies fans may return to Citizens Bank Park as city relaxes some COVID-19 restrictions

With coronavirus case counts on the decline, Philadelphia will loosen more pandemic restrictions next week, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said Tuesday.

Though he said he wouldn’t provide more details until later in the week, Farley offered one ray of hope for the spring: The Phillies may be able to host some fans at Citizens Bank Park on Opening Day.

Officials have not yet determined how many fans might be able to return to the nearly 43,000-seat stadium for the April 1 home opener against the Atlanta Braves. But Farley said it was likely, though it could be limited by the state rules. Along with caps on event sizes, the city is reviewing its other restrictions that are set to expire Monday.

“In the light of the falling cases, we will be carefully easing back those restrictions,” he said at a news briefing, adding that the city is unlikely to change rules governing indoor catered events or restaurants.

Virus case counts have dropped 80% in the city since late December, and the city has responded with a trickle of changes, including expanding dining capacity inside restaurants that install ventilation systems.

A step such as allowing crowds to return to the ballpark — where seats last season were filled with cardboard cutouts — could offer hope not just for baseball fans but for the economy overall. Nationwide, the closure of sports stadiums to the public has cut economic engines, causing a loss of billions for sports teams, stadium workers, and adjacent businesses.

But allowing some fans back into Citizens Bank Park won’t necessarily mean that the stadium will be bustling again. When the Eagles were permitted to have fans at home games, the team welcomed only about 6,000 people into Lincoln Financial Field, less than 10% of its capacity, and strict restrictions and mask requirements were in place.

The Flyers, Phillies, and Sixers have all asked the city to let them play before fans.

Farley said their requests would require approval not just by the city but by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration. Under the state’s current outdoor gathering rules, professional sports events in major stadiums are capped at 2,500 people, including players and staff. (New Jersey will allow a limited number of fans starting March 1, the state announced this week.)

Mayor Jim Kenney said the city would “follow the science and the medicine” and said he would “love to see some people in the ballpark safely for Opening Day.” He said he has had conversations with representatives from the Flyers and Sixers — who play their home games inside the Wells Fargo Center — but not the Phillies.

“I would love it,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said after hearing of Farley’s comments. “I think our players are longing for it. As much as we love to play, we also love to play in front of fans that are passionate like the Philadelphia Phillies fans are.”

» READ MORE: Phillies spring training roster: Position-by-position analysis of the team’s players in Clearwater

Uncertainty about reopening continued elsewhere in the city: A timeline for the Philadelphia School District’s return to in-school instruction remained unclear after a mediator met with district and teachers’ union officials Tuesday.

Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said he’s still planning on a Monday return to buildings for 9,000 Philadelphia prekindergarten through second-grade students but said reopening remained “a fluid situation.”

His original plan to bring students back Feb. 22 was scuttled by teacher concerns over building safety, particularly school ventilation.

» READ MORE: Chester and Delaware Counties consider relaxing distance guidelines to teach more students in schools

By late Tuesday afternoon, about 1,000 Philadelphia educators and others who work in schools were set to have been vaccinated through the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, officials said, and in the next few days, all 35,000 eligible will be invited to schedule their shots.

CHOP expects all who want the vaccination to receive it within six weeks. Farley said the city would have enough doses.

The district’s return to in-school instruction is not contingent on teachers being vaccinated, and Hite is not mandating school workers receive vaccines. Still, the superintendent said he hopes all teachers sign up for inoculation.

National vaccine distribution issues caused by last week’s winter storms have not disrupted Pennsylvania’s three-week plan to get residents caught up on appointments that were rescheduled due to the state’s Moderna second-dose shortage, Wolf said Tuesday.

The shortage, which the state has said was caused by “miscommunication” that led providers to erroneously administer shots designated as second doses to patients getting their first doses, has threatened to delay as many as 100,000 scheduled shots in the coming weeks.

It’s unclear how many will end up being affected, but Wolf told reporters at a briefing that the state’s plan to give a second dose to everyone who needed one when the shortage hit remained on track. Those residents should receive their second doses within six weeks of their first dose.

Wolf also said every resident and staff member who wanted a coronavirus vaccine at Pennsylvania’s more than 500 skilled nursing facilities has been fully vaccinated. All long-term care facilities should finish inoculating their residents and staff next month.

“We need to remember that there is hope,” said Wolf, adding that the state was examining ways to improve its vaccine process. “Though the constant grind of a global pandemic has worn all of us down and frustrated each and every one of us, the progress we are making with the vaccine gives all hope for a brighter future, right around the corner.”

» READ MORE: Nursing home group cites evidence COVID-19 vaccine is already working for their residents

Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said the state hoped to expand vaccine eligibility to more residents only when the supply was sufficient for everyone to easily access appointments.

Philadelphia’s health commissioner said the city doesn’t expect to expand who can get vaccinated until late April at the earliest. This week, officials added HIV to the list of medical conditions that make residents eligible for the vaccine.

Officials in the city — which is distributing the vaccine independently from the state — expect about 37,000 first doses next week, a significant increase.

That boost comes as the city opens its first neighborhood vaccination clinics this week; as Walmart, Acme, Sam’s Club, and independent pharmacies begin administering vaccines; and as the federal government prepares to open a mass vaccination site at the Convention Center.

The federal site is tentatively scheduled to open next Wednesday, March 3, Farley said, and run for at least six weeks. Residents will be invited to make appointments through the city’s vaccine registration website.

Philadelphia opened its first standing coronavirus vaccination clinic on Tuesday at North Philadelphia’s Martin Luther King Jr. Older Adult Center, where staff were set to vaccinate 256 eligible residents.

Two other clinics are set to open in the city later this week: One at the Community Academy of Philadelphia in Kensington on Thursday, Farley said, and another at the University of the Sciences in West Philadelphia on Saturday. They will vaccinate Philadelphians who have been given appointments after preregistering online.

“Today is just one more step in the process” of getting the pandemic under control, Farley said. But, he said, noting he’d seen a 99-year-old woman get vaccinated at the North Philadelphia site on Monday, “it is inspiring to talk to the people who are being vaccinated.”

Staff writer Scott Lauber contributed to this article.