Three coronavirus deaths were listed in reports from the Delaware Division of Public Health as the death toll rose to 609 over the weekend.
The number of daily positive cases rose to 137 on Friday, then declined to 106 on Saturday, 75 on Sunday, and 56 on Monday.
Of those who died from Covid-19 complications in Delaware, two were from New Castle County and one was from Sussex County. All had underlying health conditions and were in the 60-80 age category.
The closely watched seven-day rolling average of positive cases was 4.5 percent on Monday, according to state figures. The rate has been hovering at under the 5 percent figure that denotes a moderate spread of the virus.
The widely viewed Johns Hopkins University dashboard reported a 5.2 percent positive rate for Delaware, near the national rate. The higher rate for Delaware is probably due to cases that were added in recent days. (See explanation below).
The Hopkins index showed Maryland was at 5.8, with Pennsylvania at 6.5. New Jersey’s rate is now down to 1.5 percent. Maryland, despite being the home of Hopkins, uses a different metric that shows a lower rate of positive cases.
The Hopkins index divides the positive cases by the number of people who get tested, a method they say rules out duplicates, according to a recent story from public radio station WAMU.
The number of daily cases reported in recent days is higher than the recent average figure of less than 100 and reflects the work of the Division of Public Health’s epidemiology team in performing data audits of Covid-19 case records.
The division recently identified a technical issue that led to 150 positive cases being omitted from the state’s cumulative positive case count.
All of these cases were processed through the state’s contact tracing program, but were not captured in the state’s statistical reporting on the COVID-19 data website. The technical issue has been resolved and should not impact future case totals.
In its weekly report, the division reported the state-operated Delaware Psychiatric Center, New Castle, had two patients and eight staff test positive for Covid-19.
The first person to test positive on Aug. 24 has recovered. The clients are isolated at the center to decrease the spread of the virus and staff are isolated at home.
All clients, family members, and staff have been notified. DPC has halted all reopening procedures and is not accepting any visitors or non-essential personnel.
A breakdown of cases is available on the My Healthy Community data portal.
Also available below is the Division of Public Health’s dashboard below.
