No More Masks!
On May 15, 2023, there were shouts of joy at the historic, longed-for, announcement — “No more masks!”
Actually, it was on May 5, 2023, three years and 100 days after the Trump administration declared the coronavirus a public health emergency, that the Biden administration finally allowed the emergency declaration to expire, ushering in a new era when the government would treat Covid-19 like any other respiratory ailment. If the coronavirus pandemic were a war, the United States officially entered peacetime!
However, it took another 10 days for Nursing Facilities, like ours, to be permitted by the Philadelphia Department of Health to end COVID Restrictions. And so, on May 15th there was an outburst of loud applause as Mother Celine Thérèse and Administrator Pat Lo thanked our employees for their steadfast cooperation in keeping all of us, especially our Residents, safe and well-cared-for throughout the COVID Crisis, and then explained that although our vaccine requirements would continue, our mask mandate was ended, over! Off with our face coverings; on with our smiles! The Little Sisters joined in with shouts of “Blessed be God!” and we all shared water-ice to celebrate.
