How Philly's new vaccine mandate impacts sporting events originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The City of Philadelphia on Monday announced a new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for indoor dining and drinking starting Jan. 3. The mandate will have a two-week grace period city-wide during which patrons can show recent negative COVID-19 test results, but on Jan. 17 proof of vaccine will be the only acceptable form of entry for indoor dining.
Because the Wells Fargo Center serves food and drink, the mandate applies to Sixers and Flyers home games, the city announced Monday:
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The Wells Fargo Center was already requiring attendees to wear masks at Sixers and Flyers games unless actively eating or drinking in accordance with the city's mask mandate. Masks will still be required when not actively eating or drinking.
The Wells Fargo Center announced on its website that the grace period for negative COVID-19 test results at the arena will last one month.
As for Eagles games, the city said the mandate does not apply to outdoor spaces at games. Only indoor spaces at Lincoln Financial Field will be affected:
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The city's announcement comes as Philadelphia has seen a recent uptick in the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases, NBC10 Philadelphia reports. The city is averaging about 500 cases per day in the first part of December; that's the highest daily number of cases that the city has reported since March of this year.
