iradiophilly | News - PIAA: No Parents/Fans In Fall Says State; Philly Mask Usage Up to 76%; AirBnb Bans NJ Party Houses

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PIAA: No Parents/Fans In Fall Says State; Philly Mask Usage Up to 76%; AirBnb Bans NJ Party Houses

by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA
started: 07/31/20 1:09 pm | updated: 07/31/20 1:09 pm

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Board of Directors voted to allow fall sports for the upcoming school year earlier this week. They approved the recommendations of individual sport's steering subcommittees and the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. All sports will follow the Pennsylvania Department of Health restrictions. Local school districts and conferences would make the final decision whether or not to participate in athletics.

State guidance at this time restrict spectators from attending K-12 sporting events. Close to 3,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the PIAA to allow parents to be able to attend. The PIAA says, "This is not a PIAA decision. PIAA is following the sports guidance put out by the Wolf Administration." The guideline reads, "During the Yellow and Green phases of reopening, sports-related activities at the PK-12 level are limited to student athletes, coaches, officials, and staff only. The addition of visitors and spectators will be contingent upon future health conditions within the state and local communities." The PIAA says they will follow the state if it changes the restriction.

SEE PETITION: Allow parents to attend sporting events

SEE STATE GUIDANCE: Guidance for All Sports Permitted to Operate During the COVID-19 Disaster Emergency to Ensure the Safety and Health of Employees, Athletes and the Public

SEE: PIAA Approves Fall Sports

Return to Competition Guidelines - Protect Yourself, Protect Others, Protect the Season: https://t.co/1l4yQOc4uT
— PIAA (@PIAASports) July 29, 2020

Spectators at School Athletic Events: https://t.co/FOV3Y0MXhp
— PIAA (@PIAASports) July 30, 2020

Philadelphia Health officials say that public mask usage is on the rise. Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said Thursday, 7/30, that 76% of people are wearing masks or face coverings. That is up from 60% at the end of June. Officials are using security cameras outside of retail stores and at SEPTA stations to count the number of people who are wearing masks. No one is being tracked or identified, just counted as anonymous statistics (mask/no mask). On SEPTA, Regional Rail had the highest compliance at 96% where the Market-Frankford Line had the lowest at 63%. Overall SEPTA ridership was at 81.4%. "Most residents are doing the right thing, but not quite enough," Farley said. "We'd love to have that at least 80%. I would love it to be 90%."

AirBnB announced on Friday, 7/31, that is has suspended or removed 35 listings across New Jersey in a crackdown of so-called 'party houses.' Most of the listings were in North and Central Jersey with a few down the shore in South Jersey. "Our actions today address the small minority of hosts who have previously received warnings about hosting responsibly," the company said in a press release. "The suspensions were communicated to the hosts beginning yesterday." This comes after a 700-person party took police several hours to break up at a AirBnB rented house in Jackson Township, Ocean County last weekend. The homeowner and party organizers were issued summonses for violating Gov. Phil Murphy's Executive Order on large gatherings amid the pandemic. Several outbreaks of coronavirus COVID-19 have been traced to large private gatherings like this one throughout the state. "We stand with Governor Murphy, and we support his call to action to stop parties and promote behavior that respects the public's health," said Chris Lehane, Airbnb's senior vice president of Global Policy and Communications. "We ban party houses and will not tolerate irresponsible behavior on our platform."

Weather
Hurricane Isaias is expected to hit Florida this weekend and then start to move up the East Coast. It will affect the Philadelphia-area sometime early next week. There is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding the storm, which is now just a Category 1 near the Bahamas. We could expect heavy rains and strong winds by Tuesday. The New Jersey coast and beaches will seeing increasingly strong surf and dangerous rip tides in the coming days.