Attorney Who Filed Lawsuit To Overturn Philadelphia's Mask Mandate Will Ask Commonwealth Court For Emergency Injunction
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's reimplemented mask mandate is about to face its first immediate legal challenge. A lawsuit filed over the weekend was just one-upped by attorneys now asking the Commonwealth Court to grant an emergency injunction to suspend the city's indoor mask policy.
As of Monday, masks and face coverings are once again required in businesses and restaurants in Philadelphia.
BREAKING: The attorney who filed suit against Philadelphia, its mayor & health commissioner over masking on Saturday, tells me he'll be filing for an emergency injunction asking the Commonwealth Court to immediately suspend the city's indoor mask mandate. @CBSPhilly
— Joe Holden (@JoeHoldenCBS3) April 18, 2022
Most people Eyewitness News talked with supported the move as city health officials pointed to rising COVID-19 cases as a reason for bringing the masks back.
"If it helps people and it keeps us safe, then I say, let's do it, man," Larry Allen said.
"I think for health purposes, I think it's great," Ryan Blatstein said.
The mandate, though, conflicts with recommendations from the CDC and health policy experts at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. They say hospital capacities are in good shape.
Barbara O'Neill from Rittenhouse strongly disagreed with the city's position.
"There's not a lot of people sick, I've been in the hospitals," she said. "They're not complaining about people coming in with the virus. There aren't that many cases. I think it's overexaggerated and why are we the only city?"
Over the weekend, attorneys representing a handful of businesses filed suit against the city, a move to toss out the mandate arguing it has no scientific basis.
"Philadelphia actually did away with the CDC guidelines as the standard and they've invented their own guidelines," Attorney Thomas W. King III told Eyewitness News on Saturday. "They're making this stuff up. I want to see the state commonwealth court strike down this mandate as a violation of Pennsylvania law."
But David Mason, who works the door at 1845 Walnut and sees hundreds of people each day, agrees with masking.
"People just have to realize, if you don't follow the protocols, you could make somebody else sick," Mason said.
Philadelphia is the first major U.S. city to bring back an indoor mask mandate.
Businesses that require proof of vaccination are exempt from the city's order.