By Laura Smythe – Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal
Philadelphia has not changed its plan to allow modified indoor dining and indoor movie theaters to reopen Sept. 8, city officials said Thursday, the same day Temple University announced it will move about 95% of fall semester courses online after a Covid-19 outbreak among students.
The Department of Public Health confirmed 166 additional cases of Covid-19, marking the second day in a row the city has seen high new case counts after 235 were announced Wednesday.
Some affected people in the case surge were tested last week and are now being identified as Philadelphia residents, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said. A complete count of cases associated with the Temple University outbreak isn’t available, he noted, as some instances are reported with a student’s home address outside of the college area.
Farley still believes much of the increase across the city in the past week is linked to Temple’s outbreak, following a statewide and national trend in coronavirus surges tied to college campuses, he said. Based on data from the week ending Aug. 28, Philadelphia has an average of 108 new Covid cases per day with a 4.1% positive testing rate.
As of Thursday afternoon, Temple indicated 236 students and one university employee had tested positive for Covid-19.
