By Tim Mastro

WILMINGTON — Gov. John Carney will lift Delaware’s indoor and outdoor mask requirements for fully vaccinated individuals effective Friday, May 21.

Gov. Carney’s announcement came on Friday, one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance on Thursday to advise that fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most places indoors and outdoors. The CDC guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters.

A person is considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 two weeks after their final dose of a vaccine series. If people who are vaccinated do develop COVID-19 symptoms, they should immediately put their mask back on and get tested, according to the CDC.

Delaware was already scheduled to lift most capacity restrictions on May 21, per a recent order by Gov. Carney. Indoor facilities will be allowed to use as much capacity as social distancing requirements allow. The social distancing requirement will also be changed from 6 feet to 3 feet.

The new restrictions and mask rules will go into effect at 8 a.m. on May 21.

Those who are not fully vaccinated, including children not yet eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, should continue to wear masks when around others who are outside their immediate household, according to CDC guidance.

Unvaccinated Delawareans ages 12 and older are urged to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves from infection and serious illness. Vaccination sites can be found by visiting here.

“It’s clear that the COVID-19 vaccines are extremely safe and protective against infection and serious illness,” Gov. Carney said in a prepared statement. “Delawareans who are fully vaccinated have significant protection against this virus and can feel comfortable getting back to the things they loved to do before this pandemic. For our neighbors who aren’t vaccinated, the message is clear. The COVID-19 vaccine is the best protection we have against the virus. Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect you and those you love. In the meantime, Delawareans who are unvaccinated, including children, should continue to wear masks in public places.”

Gov. Carney also formally extended the State of Emergency declaration another 30 days to confront community spread of COVID-19 and to continue administering vaccines to Delawareans.

Delaware providers have administered 830,781 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Thursday at 11:59 p.m. and 56% of Delawareans 16 and older have received at least one shot.

As more Delawareans have gotten vaccinated, COVID-19 case rates have dropped. The seven-day rolling average for new daily positives fell to 135.9 new cases per day which is the 25th day in a row that number has fallen. It is the lowest seven-day average since Oct. 26, 2020.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Delaware also decrease to 80 — the fewest since Sept. 30, 2020. Of those currently hospitalized, just five cases are considered critical.

An all-time total of 106,715 positive cases of COVID-19 among Delaware residents have been reported to the Delaware Division of Public Health. Delaware has recorded a total of 1,651 COVID-19-related deaths.