Delaware governor hopes mask mandate will be brief

Health leaders share ER experiences, as hospitalizations grow to 734

By Tim Mastro
Posted 1/11/22

WILMINGTON — Gov. John Carney said Tuesday he hopes Delaware’s reinstated indoor mask requirement is a short one.

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Delaware governor hopes mask mandate will be brief

Health leaders share ER experiences, as hospitalizations grow to 734

Posted

WILMINGTON — Gov. John Carney said Tuesday he hopes Delaware’s reinstated indoor mask requirement is a short one.

“Hopefully, it’s not for an extended period of time but just enough to stem the increase in hospitalizations,” Gov. Carney said at the state’s weekly COVID-19 press briefing.

The mandate was brought back in response to Delaware’s record number of hospitalizations, the governor said. The state set another all-time high for COVID-19 hospitalizations with 734 in Tuesday’s report by the Delaware Division of Public Health — nearly 300 more than two weeks ago, when the rate was 454.

Seventy-two of those are in the intensive care unit, while 51 on are ventilators, DPH said. COVID-19 patients make up 40% of all the state’s hospitalizations, according to DPH statistics, with 70% being unvaccinated, and 90% having not received boosters.

Several of Delaware’s hospitals — ChristianaCare, Bayhealth, TidalHealth Nanticoke and Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic-Saint Francis — entered “Crisis Standard of Care” protocols this week in response to an “unprecedented demand for hospital and health care services.”

Tuesday’s press briefing began with videotaped messages from hospital leaders, sharing their experiences from overcrowded emergency rooms.

“I just want to share that there is so much COVID right now. We have so many sick patients,” said Dr. Kelly Abbrescia, Bayhealth’s medical director for emergency services. “Many patients thought this was just a cold and are surprised at how ill they are and scared and on oxygen. It’s tough, and the family members are scared, too. So we’re asking you to please wear masks. Everywhere I go, I don’t see many people at all with masks on in public. Please get vaccinated. Please distance from each other.

“The medical system here in Delaware and around the world is completely overwhelmed, and we need your help.”

Delaware was under an indoor mask mandate for most of the latter half of 2020 and early 2021, before it was lifted May 22, 2021.

Gov. Carney had previously said he wanted to avoid another masking requirement this year, hoping it would be accomplished by voluntary compliance by private employers, but Delaware’s case rates have skyrocketed post-holidays, averaging 2,753 new cases per day in its seven-day rolling average.

“It didn’t seem to be working, so we had to move to this,” Gov. Carney said Tuesday.
The indoor mask requirement, which took affect Tuesday, applies to convenience stores, grocery stores, gyms, restaurants, bars, hair salons, malls, casinos and other public places. Masks are not required outdoors or while eating or drinking in restaurants and bars but should be worn otherwise in those establishments.

Churches and other houses of worship are exempted from the mask requirement, which Gov. Carney said is due to pending litigation from the state’s first mask mandate.

“There’s litigation nationally on this issue, and we are involved in litigation here in the state,” he said. “I encourage my mother, who goes to church every day, to wear a mask, and we would encourage others, who are going to church or places of worship, to wear a mask, as well.”

Dr. Karyl Rattay, DPH director, said the effectiveness of the reinstated mask requirement won’t be evident immediately.

“Oftentimes, mitigation strategies do take several weeks to have an impact,” she said. “We’ve now passed the holidays, where a lot of maskless gatherings took place, and we have high levels of COVID right now. Increased mask-wearing in public and private settings will have an impact, if people comply, but it might take one to two weeks for us to see an impact on our cases.”

DPH also announced eight new COVID-19-related deaths Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 2,373. Five of the eight were unvaccinated; the remaining were fully vaccinated.

The eight individuals ranged in age from 39-87, and one was a resident of a long-term care center — the 885th COVID-19-related death in a Delaware long-term care facility (37.2%). Four of the deceased were from Sussex County, and the other four were from New Castle County.

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