By Tim Mastro

WILMINGTON — With Delaware on the other side of the most recent COVID-19 surge fueled by the omicron variant, state officials outlined their plan for managing the virus going forward.

“We’re going to have to figure out how to live with this virus,” Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Molly Magarik said Tuesday at the state’s weekly COVID-19 press briefing. “I know it’s hard for people and there’s a lot of grief in this. We’re not going to go back to a time like 2019 where we have never heard of this. The virus is with us.”

Living with the virus includes being aware of one’s risk factors and risk tolerance levels, Ms. Magarik said. She added Delawareans should take into account their age, health status, vaccination status and family situation, such as if they live with immunocompromised individuals or more vulnerable older family members.

The Delaware Division of Public Health reported 190 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Tuesday’s update. That number was as low as 175 this week which is the best mark since there were 173 on Nov. 26, 2021, and well down from the peak of 759 set on Jan. 12.

Delaware’s seven-day rolling average for new positive cases is down to 305.6 new cases per day — the lowest number in the last 90 days. The state was averaging more than 3,000 new cases per day in mid-January.

The decrease in these numbers led to Gov. John Carney lifting the statewide indoor mask mandate last Friday, which was in effect since Jan. 4 during the post-holiday surge. The masking requirement in schools was temporarily extended to March 31 when it will then be decided by local districts.

“All of the data tells us we’re moving into a new phase,” Gov. Carney said. “On the governors’ call with the White House, all the governors were looking to the future. What’s next? How do we manage this virus, keep our economies open and keep our children in school? We do have the tools — antivirals, the vaccine and the boosters.”

Gov. Carney added Tuesday’s briefing will be the state’s final briefing for the time being due to the improving situation.

Ms. Magarik issued a warning Delaware is not out of the woods yet. The current numbers are still elevated compared to last summer when hospitalizations were in the teens and the state was averaging less than 30 new cases per day, but they are expected to continue to drop as the weather gets warmer, people spend less time inside and more vaccine and booster doses are administered.

She said the state is in a better position compared to the past because more information is available on the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies, antivirals, better data regarding the quality of masks and booster doses of the vaccine.

“Our response is going to have to ebb and flow with the virus itself,” Ms. Magarik said. “We’re all hoping and praying we don’t see another variant like delta or something as transmissible as omicron but the truth is, we don’t know. We can hope and we can plan but nobody can say with any certainty exactly what is going to happen.”

“That’s really been the case for the last two years,” she added. “We’ve been responding to a highly mutating virus. We understand the frustration and people saying ‘The guidance keeps changing.’ It’s changing and adapting to keep pace with a virus that keeps throwing us curveballs and keeps surprising us with every twist and turn.”

Some sectors will continue to see mask mandates.

Masks are mandated in health care facilities, long-term care centers and on public transportation, which Gov. Carney said is a requirement of the federal government.

While Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan recently announced he will drop the state’s mask mandate in state buildings effective Feb. 22, Delaware’s will remain. Gov. Carney said the state continues to evaluate that requirement but will keep it in place for now, as Delaware has numerous facilities which require direct public contact.

“We have state facilities that are very different who have different risk profiles,” Gov. Carney said. “We have prisons with congregate settings and youth detention centers which require a certain extra level of attention when it comes to keeping the virus out of their facilities. I know the commissioner has a plan to reopen the facilities. It is also important that the inmates have visitors so that’s an area of concern.”