Delaware saw 3,381 new positive cases Wednesday after all the reports were in, the Delaware Division of Public Health said Friday.
That broke the record for a daily total, which already had broken the most-new-cases record when only part of the testing was in and the state said it was 1,991.
On Friday, Delaware said there were 2,162 new cases — but not all of the records were in yet.
With many people clamoring for tests and saying they can’t find open slots, Delaware also said that 485 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday night. The previous high was 474 on Jan. 12, 2021.
The numbers are expected to continue rising as a result of holiday activities.
The Public Health announcement encouraged people to not to get together Friday night, New Year’s Eve, with anyone outside of their household.
“Infected individuals can release particles and droplets of respiratory fluids that contain the SARS CoV-2 virus into the air when they exhale,” the announcement said. “When people gather indoors – where they share the same air – the very fine droplets and particles will continue to spread and can accumulate, and infection is likely.
The weekly report said that because of the large volume of COVID-19 lab results being received during the week, and the time needed to process the results into the database, some data is not available this week.
That includes the weekly tally of unvaccinated/partially vaccinated case, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as the tally of which variant is causing the most cases (in recent months, it’s been Delta and no Omicron) and breakthrough case data.
The state said:
180,366 Delaware residents have been reported since March 11, 2020.
The seven-day average of new positive cases was 1,503.1, a huge jump from last week’s 850.6 per day.
The seven-day average for the percentage of total positive tests 18.4%, up from 12% last week
The 485 who are hospitalized are up 84 from last week.
55 are critically ill, up three from last week
2,286 have died from COVID-19.
In the last week, 15 more people have died.
Vaccinations continue to creep up. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
The total number of doses administered in Delaware is 1,556,217
The percentage of Delawareans 5+ who have received at least one dose is 81.2%
The percentage of Delawareans 12+ who have received at least one dose is 86.7%
The percentage of Delawareans 18+ who received at least one dose is 88.7%
The percent of Delawareans who are fully vaccinated: 64.2%
Delaware’s latest COVID-19 vaccination statistics can be found under the Vaccine Tracker dashboard at de.gov/healthycommunity.
Shorter isolations, quarantines
The state told employers and schools they could begin using the short isolation and quarantine periods now advocated by the Centers for Disease Control allow people who test negative after 5 days to leave isolation as long as they continue to mask for 5 days to minimize the risk of infecting others.
Using the new guidance can reduce the impact of illness on a business or school’s workforce, the state said.
Flu Update
Influenza cases are continuing to rise in in Delaware, with 126 laboratory-confirmed cases reported the week of Dec. 12 – Dec. 18, brining the state total to 352.
Only a small fraction of cases are lab tested, though, so hundreds to thousands more are likely to have occurred. Many cases are tested in doctor’s offices with a kit and not reported to the state.
The known flu cases involved 249 individuals from New Castle County, 40 from Kent County and 63 from Sussex County.
