The city of Philadelphia announced some major changes today regarding their COVID-19 restrictions, vaccine mandates, and mask mandates.

Before today’s announcement, restaurants and places indoor in the Philly were required to show proof of vaccination before entering the building. That will no longer be the case, with the vaccine mandate being lifted.

Although the mask mandate is hardly enforced, that will still remain in place, which doesn’t make much sense to me in the first place. People just sip on a beverage or have food with him and boom, don’t have to wear a mask and COVID-19 is no longer an issue. Literally makes zero sense, but whatever.

Anyways, in response to the move, the Wells Fargo Center has announced they will be adjusting their requirements to meet these changes, meaning fans no longer have to show vaccination cards upon entry to any Philadelphia Flyers or Philadelphia 76ers games.

The pointless mask mandate will remain in effect until three of the following four points are true:

• Average new daily case count is under 100
• Hospitalizations are under 50
• Positive cases are under 2%
• Cases have not risen by more than 50% within the past 10 days.

Trigger those benchmarks and kiss the mask mandates goodbye. Well, except in schools (??), healthcare institutions, congregate settings, and on public transportation.

Here’s what the Wells Fargo Center had to say about the latest updates from the city of Philadelphia.

“Over the past two years, we’ve invested tens of millions of dollars in state-of-the-art health and safety measures at Wells Fargo Center, and those investments have been a major success. Now, we’re ready to start getting back to normal, and so are our fans,” said Valerie Camillo, President of Business Operations for Wells Fargo Center and the Philadelphia Flyers. “There’s simply no better place to see a game, concert, or show than Wells Fargo Center, and the atmosphere that made Broad Street famous is finally coming back.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Wells Fargo Center has undergone a comprehensive health and safety transformation. Earlier this year, the venue was awarded the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management, a widely-respected, evidence-based, third-party-verified rating of the venue’s health and safety protocols. The arena also recently completed an $11 million replacement of its HVAC systems, installing a new, state-of-the-art air filtration system that replaces all the air in the arena’s seating bowl every 30 minutes.”

Still, Philly is already falling behind a few other major cities in the United States. Washington D.C. is lifting the mask mandate on March 1st and New York City already dropped the vaccine and mask requirements back on February 9th. Hell, even New Jersey and California are moving forward so please, lets get it together Philly.

COVID-19 is over in my book. Sorry, it just is. Go argue with your family members on Facebook about it because I certainly do not care.

COVID-19 free Philadelphia 76ers playoff basketball would be fantastic. Hell, maybe even the Flyers will get some fans to attend their games without the mandates.

Mandatory Credit: CBS Philly