The mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania dined indoors in Maryland on Sunday, a widely circulated photograph shows, though indoor dining is prohibited in Philadelphia until September 8.
Philadelphia restaurateur Marc Vetri posted a photo that showing Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney eating without a mask in a restaurant in Maryland, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The mayor’s office confirmed to the publication that the photo was taken Sunday in the Chesapeake Bay area. (RELATED: Whitmer Does Not Deny That Her Husband Sought Special Treatment Over Boating On Memorial Day Weekend)
“Hi @phillymayor !!! Glad you’re enjoying indoor dining with no social distancing or mask wearing in Maryland tonight while restaurants here in Philly close, suffer and fight for every nickel just to survive,” Vetri said in the post. “I guess all your press briefings and your narrative of unsafe indoor dining don’t apply to you. Thank you for clearing it all up for us tonight.”
A spokesperson for Kenney’s office told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Kenney visited a restaurant owned by one of his friends in Maryland and stopped on his way back to Philadelphia to eat outdoors at Rouge in Rittenhouse Square.
“Throughout the pandemic, the Mayor has consistently deferred to the guidance of the Health Commissioner, who in this case felt strongly about waiting until Sept. 8 to resume indoor dining,” Gamble told the DCNF. “If elected officials at the federal level had similarly deferred to health experts over the past five months, this might not even be an issue by now.”
Gamble added that Kenney understands “the frustrations of local restaurant owners who have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” but emphasized that the Maryland County where Kenney dined has only 782 total coronavirus cases while Philadelphia has more than 33,000.
Indoor dining is currently prohibited in Philadelphia under the city’s reopening plan, according to the Philadelphia Department of Health. (RELATED: A Million Michigan Residents Stopped Staying Home After Whitmer Extended Lockdown, Data Show)
“Indoor dining is back in Philadelphia starting September 8, 2020,” an August 20 Philadelphia Department of Health press release said. “The City looks forward to continuing to expand allowable operations for Philadelphia’s restaurant industry, as well as reopening additional indoor businesses.”
After September 8, a maximum of four people may sit together inside restaurants and a maximum of six people may sit together outside restaurants, according to the press release. Diners must wear masks at all times unless they are seated at their tables.
“You’ll see fewer people around you,” the Philadelphia Department of Health guidance said. “Restaurants cannot allow more than 25 percent of their normal capacity. You cannot sit at a bar. Alcohol can be served only for on-site consumption at your table when in the same transaction as your meal.”
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