Wear a mask to thank EMS workers and stop the spread, officials urge; trends still rising in South Jersey and Philly region

Pennsylvania officials said Thursday that wearing a face mask is the best way to thank first responders who have risked their lives working on the front lines of the pandemic, and with infections rising again, it remains a key defense against the spread of the coronavirus.

Gov. Tom Wolf said he hoped more people would “open their minds” to heed scientific evidence that masks reduce transmissions, though he said he would not use law enforcement to implement the mask mandate because it would be ineffective.

“When you wear a mask, whether you’re walking on the street or inside a grocery store or shopping at a retail store or even outside in a park, it is a sign to the whole community and to our commonwealth that we’re all in this together,” said Health Secretary Rachel Levine, speaking with the governor Thursday outside a Lancaster EMS facility in Millersville.

In Philadelphia, about 75% of people are wearing masks, according to a city analysis of video footage of people exiting retail stores and walking through SEPTA stations.

That’s an increase from about 60% at the end of June, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said Thursday.

“Most residents are doing the right thing, but not quite enough,” he said.

» READ MORE: How to properly wear a face mask

As the country struggles to contain the virus, Wisconsin on Thursday became the 32nd state to issue a mask mandate. In Maryland, an expanded mask order goes into effect Friday, requiring everyone older than 5 to wear masks outdoors whenever social distancing isn’t possible and inside all public buildings.

More than one million new unemployment claims were filed last week for the 19th week in a row, and new second-quarter figures indicated Thursday the economy had its largest decline in recorded history. But the Senate failed to come to an agreement on extending the $600-a-week unemployment payments for jobless Americans that expire Friday.

Pennsylvania reported 860 newly confirmed cases of the virus Thursday, and Philadelphia reported 136. The state’s seven-day average for new daily cases was 960, and the city’s was 159.

“There is clearly more virus circulating in Philadelphia right now than is safe,” Farley said.

Hospitalizations in the Philadelphia region have also increased in recent days, Farley said. New cases of the coronavirus have been concentrated in young people, with 57% of them under age 40.

Philadelphia officials also vowed to announce by Aug. 21 whether they will allow indoor dining in September. They apologized to restaurants for not announcing until Tuesday that the ban, previously in effect until Aug. 1, would continue through August.

Daily case numbers were trending higher over the last 14 days in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, and Berks Counties and in Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester Counties.

New Jersey reported 261 cases Thursday. Its seven-day average for new daily cases was 439 on Wednesday. Camden, Burlington, Atlantic, and Mercer Counties were identified as emerging hot spots by the federal government in a daily report, ABC News reported Thursday.

Across the region, schools and sports seasons remained in limbo. The Phillies canceled all activity at Citizens Bank Park until further notice Thursday — five days after the team played the Miami Marlins — after one member of its coaching staff and one member of the home clubhouse staff tested positive for the virus.

Six more members of the Marlins also tested positive, bringing the Florida team’s total to 17 players and two coaches. They were “immediately relocated” from the Rittenhouse Hotel, where some Marlins players are believed to be quarantining, according to an email from the Rittenhouse Condominium Owners Association obtained by The Inquirer.

Citing safety concerns, the Norristown Area School District canceled all fall sports, the day after the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association decided high school sports should proceed.

“If we cannot guarantee a safe return to the classroom, we cannot guarantee a safe return to the playing field, course, sidelines, courts or locker room,” the superintendent said in a statement posted to Twitter on Thursday.

Nearly 500 Temple University faculty do not feel safe returning to in-person instruction this fall under the school’s plan, the faculty union said Thursday, calling for everyone to teach online. About half the union’s eligible voting members voted, and of those, 92% signed on to the union’s statement.

The university administration defended its plan, a spokesperson saying it was approved by the city Department of Public Health this week and was “comprehensive and caring.”

Philadelphia officials encouraged parents to enroll their children in the city’s pre-K program, which will operate in person this year. The program, which is funded by the city’s tax on soda and sweetened beverages, has about half its 3,300 slots available, said Shante Brown, director of operations for PHLpreK.

Farley said he believes it is safe to open pre-K — with safety measures in place — because only a small number of children gather in one place. City child-care providers have been permitted to operate since June. City officials are also considering virtual offerings, Brown said.

Also on Thursday, Wolf condemned comments made by a Pennsylvania lawmaker mocking Levine, the health secretary.

Levine — the first transgender person to head a Pennsylvania state agency — on Tuesday responded to transphobic harassment she has experienced since becoming the face of the state’s pandemic response. On Wednesday, Rep. Russ Diamond (R., Lebanon) tweeted a statement that closely mirrored Levine’s speech but replaced “LGBTQ” with “unmasked,” mocking both the need to wear masks and the health secretary’s appeals for support of the LGBTQ community.

“To all unmasked young people, it is okay to be you. It is okay to stand up for your rights and freedoms,” Diamond said, using Levine’s words of encouragement to queer youth.

Wolf said the comments were a “thinly veiled attack on the LGBTQ community” and said Diamond should be censured by House leaders. Diamond responded by calling for Levine to be removed from her position and for Wolf to resign.

» READ MORE: Pa. health secretary denounces transphobic attacks: ‘Our children are watching’

“My reaction is this is really another example of harassment against LGBTQ individuals,” Levine said. “By taking my words and making that substitution, I think that that’s another example of disrespect.”

And, she added, citing science: “In terms of masks, he’s wrong.”

Contributing to this article were staff writers Oona Goodin-Smith, Susan Snyder, Allison Steele, Robert Moran, Matt Breen, and Scott Lauber.