Delaware saw another small increase in COVID-19 cases Tuesday while hospitalizations remained largely stable.
State health officials reported 83 new cases Tuesday, after an announcement of just 80 new cases Monday. Delaware’s total known cases to date stand at 5,371.
Gov. Carney expressed cautious optimism during a briefing Tuesday.
“The indicators that we’re watching for 14-day trends are trending in a positive direction which gives us some level of optimism that we will be able to start moving towards Phase 1 of reopening later on in the month - lots, lots, lots more work to do," he said.
The state reported five more deaths Tuesday, bringing the state’s total fatalities to 187. Five deaths were reported Monday as well.
The latest victims ranged in age from 48 to 101. One lived in New Castle County, two were Kent County residents and two were Sussex County residents. Four of the five had underlying health conditions. Four were residents of long-term care facilities.
Hospitalizations ticked up by just three patients Tuesday. That measure peaked at 337 on April 27 and has stayed at or below 300 for nearly a week. 61 are critically ill.
The five-day average for the percentage of people testing positive has fallen incrementally since April 22, standing at just below 21 percent Monday.
131 more Delawareans have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total to 1,847 so far. More than 19,300 people have tested negative in the state.
This story has been updated.
