The state again shattered its single-day record for new COVID-19 cases.
Public health officials recorded 754 new cases Wednesday. The previous record—685 cases in a single day—was set Monday.
By this measure, Delaware’s coronavirus outbreak is worse now than it was this spring, when daily statewide case counts never reached 500.
The rolling weekly average used to smooth out the data has consistently topped 500 in recent days.
The growing numbers prompted Gov. John Carney to issue a new stay-at-home advisory Wednesday afternoon.
It asks Delawareans to avoid gathering indoors with anyone outside their households between Dec. 14 and January 11. It also recommends schools “pause” hybrid learning during that period.
The school recommendation comes as the 7 day percent of positive tests hit 8 for the first time. That's a significant benchmark because, if it holds, it puts two of the state’s three school reopening indicators in the “red” zone.
The state is already well past the "red" benchmark for new case rate per 100,000 people of 100. It was 337.7 Monday. The other benchmark is average daily hospitalizations per 100,000 people. That was at 19.2 Monday. 25 puts the state in the "red" zone.
The state previously indicated two indicators going "red" would prompt schools to return to remote learning.
Carney maintained Wednesday that he believes he believes schools can still safely operate in hybrid mode, but concedes pausing it for now makes sense.
"The data here in Delaware and our lived experience with the many schools that have successfully reopened, combined with what we’ve seen across the country and in Europe, indicates that the risk of transmission in school when social distancing protocols are followed is not significant. The harm of keeping students out of school, as we all know, is. Given those facts, there is not really a public health reason to close schools right now. And I believe strongly that students learn better in person," said Carney in a statement. "However, we live in a complicated world and a complicated time, and it’s clear to me that there are operational needs that make considering a brief pause a good idea."
Carney also instituted a universal mask mandate statewide as part of Wednesday's advisory, requiring people to wear a cloth face covering when indoors with anyone outside their immediate household as the state tries to get rising COVID numbers under control.
Hospitalizations are rising sharply, but have not yet reached the level they peaked at this spring. More than eighty people were hospitalized for the virus in the past week, bringing the total to 277.
So far 779 Delawareans have died of the coronavirus.
