Delaware hits record for COVID hospitalizations

By Tim Mastro

DOVER — The number of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 in Delaware is up to a record 509, as Delaware reenters a state of emergency order today.

Hospitalizations went above the 500 mark for the first time in Saturday’s report by the Delaware Division of Public Health with 501 and increased by another eight in Sunday’s update. The previous high a year ago was 474, set on Jan. 12, 2021.

Today’s state of emergency order will allow the state to mobilize the National Guard to help hospitals and manage the current COVID-19 surge, Gov. John Carney said last week. Approximately 100 members of the Delaware National Guard are being trained to become certified nursing assistants.

The order comes as Delaware is posting all-time highs in its COVID-19 case rates as well.

DPH reported 2,328 new positive cases in Sunday’s update, which reflects data as of Saturday at 6 p.m. It was the fourth consecutive day new cases were more than 2,000.

Saturday’s case total is likely to increase as DPH needs more time to process the reported results into its database due to the large volume of lab results received last week.

To that point, the total of new positive cases on Friday increased to 3,554, a positive case high, after remaining lab results for that day were processed. Before the final week of December, Delaware’s record for most new positive cases in a single day was 1,217 on Jan. 6, 2021.

Delaware’s seven-day rolling average for percentage of positive tests was up to 23.1%, in Sunday’s report. That number reflects data as of Thursday 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 test result.

DPH encourages those seeking testing to make an appointment in advance. A full list of testing sites and registration options are available online here or here.

Delawareans should not go to the emergency room for a COVID-19 test, DPH advised.

With the threat of snow in the forecast for today, DPH said it anticipates some testing and vaccination sites could close. Those who have appointments should check their email, text messages and social media sites before leaving for a testing or vaccination appointment.