Spread of the coronavirus seems to be slowing down quite a bit in Delaware in recent days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are down to 34 statewide with 12 people critically ill. The 7-day average of new cases in Delaware is down to just over 66 per day—though state officials say Delaware did not perform about 3,000 tests last week due to Tropical Storm Isaias. But the average number of people testing positive is also down to below 4%.
"Our numbers are looking pretty good," said Delaware Division of Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay at a Tuesday briefing.
Gov. John Carney, however, says the state is not likely to lift any more restrictions, or enter a phase three of reopening, anytime soon.
“There isn’t much that would happen if we went to so-called phase three—any changes,” said Carney. “But it would send a signal to folks that, you know frankly, is not the right signal to send now, which is: ‘we’ve accomplished our goal to stomp out the virus.’”
Carney adds that his overall objective is to get more children back in school for in-person education and more businesses reopened in Delaware.
Though the data is trending downward, the state is still ramping up its testing efforts ahead of the return to school.
Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) Director A.J. Schall says the state wants to test all teachers and faculty before school starts and then continue regular testing of students and staff going forward.
“We’re going to be probably doing twice to three times the amount of testing for several weeks there,” said Schall. “So it’s going to be a heavy logistical lift, but we’re going to be all over the state concentrating on high school—just because they have the footprint to accommodate the drive up and walk-through individuals.’”
Schall says the state will have a testing schedule ready once school districts finalize plans to mitigate spread of the virus when school resumes.
The state recently announced the purchase of 20,000 Vault saliva-based COVID-19 tests that can be administered at home for the purpose of testing students and faculty.
