What to Know
- Philadelphia jury duty is suspended until January 2021.
- The First Judicial District announced the decision on Tuesday, a day after the city announced six weeks of new COVID-19 restrictions.
- People who were summoned to jury duty prior to the shutdown will get credit for at least a year, the court said.
Jury duty in Philadelphia is suspended until January 2021 as Philadelphia enacts a new set of coronavirus restrictions to combat a exponential surge in new COVID-19 cases.
The First Judicial District said Tuesday that it made the decision in light of new guidance issued by the Philadelphia Health Department.
"If you’ve received a juror summons, you do not have to report as scheduled, and you will be given credit for at least one year," the court wrote in a tweet.
Anyone with questions is asked to email court staff at Jury@courts.phila.gov.
Philadelphia on Monday announced sweeping new restrictions to shutter indoor group activities at restaurants, gyms, museums and even inside private homes. Outdoor events cannot have food or drink. Public health officials are focused on ensuring people wear their face masks when they are with people from outside their household. The restrictions go into effect Friday, Nov. 20 and last through Jan. 1, 2021.
Dr. Thomas Farley, the city's health commissioner, said new COVID-19 cases have risen rapidly. The city reported 1,034 new cases on Tuesday for a total of 55,641 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. He and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney warned that doing nothing would lead to the city's hospitals running out of capacity by the end of the year.
