Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health has lifted the indoor mask mandate.

Although the city was experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases in the past few weeks, there has been a recent leveling-off of case counts and a decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to today’s announcement.

The City’s decision to reinstate the mask mandate on Monday, April 18 drew criticism. It was the only large U.S. city to reinstate the mandate this spring.

Instead of requiring residents to wear a mask in indoor public places, masks are now “strongly recommended.” As of yesterday, the city was averaging 242 new COVID-19 cases per day and 65 hospitalizations.

The department also announced that they are retiring the system of COVID-19 response levels introduced earlier this year.

“Response levels worked as intended and helped act as an early warning system to level off this current rise in cases,” Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, Philadelphia’s Health Commissioner, said in statement. “People responded by being careful even prior to the mandate, and so we believe that a strong recommendation is adequate rather than a mandate at this stage of the pandemic.”

The Health Department strongly recommends residents & visitors wear a mask in indoor public settings, and get vaccinated and/or boosted if you’re eligible. Thank you, Philly for stepping up once again and responding to this pandemic with solidarity and care for each other. (2/2)

— Philadelphia Public Health (@PHLPublicHealth) April 22, 2022