By Tim Mastro

DOVER — The Delaware Division of Public Health has distributed 52,200 at-home COVID-19 testing kits to local libraries so far.

On Aug. 3, DPH announced a partnership with the state’s libraries to give out rapid COVID-19 test kits, which Delawareans can pick up for free. Library cards are not required.

The tests are self-administered at home using a shallow nasal swab. The rapid antigen tests take approximately 15 minutes to show a result after the specimen is collected. Information on how to interpret the results is available here.

There are two tests in each kit, and recipients are instructed to use both tests themselves, per manufacturer instructions.

Order tracking is handled by DPH and the manufacturer, Abbott BinaxNow. DPH coordinates with Abbott after each individual library requests their weekly total kits to be ordered, said DPH spokeswoman Mary Fenimore.

Orders for new tests were delayed recently due to distribution issues, but Ms. Fenimore said libraries should be receiving kits more quickly now.

“There were slight delays in delivery (during) recent weeks due to the vendor changing their distribution procedures,” Ms. Fenimore said. “The vendor is modifying how DPH receives tests to expedite shipping. We anticipate orders to be received by DPH much faster, leading to quicker distribution to each library.”

According to clinical studies, Abbott’s rapid tests are 84% accurate at detecting positive cases and 98% accurate at detecting negative cases.

If an individual has symptoms of COVID-19, they should not come to a library for a kit. Instead, they should visit one of Delaware’s other fixed or community-based testing locations. A full list of testing sites is available at here.

Delaware’s COVID-19 cases have continued to surge in the latter part of the summer. There were 665 positive cases reported in Friday’s DPH update — the highest one-day total since Jan. 27.

The state is averaging 389 new cases per day over the last week. It has recorded an all-time total of 123,958 positives.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are up to 252, which is the most since Feb. 10. The state peaked with 474 hospitalizations during the height of the pandemic Jan. 12 and went all the way down to 14 on June 26, before a steady increase through July and August brought hospitalizations above 200.

Delaware’s seven-day rolling average for percentage of positive tests is 8.6% — the highest mark since Jan. 22. That figure is as of Tuesday at 6 p.m. due to a two-day lag to account for the time delay between the date of the test and the date DPH receives the result.

No new COVID-19-related deaths were reported Friday. That number remained at 1,900.