Delaware is seeing a rising number Covid-19 cases as well as British, South African, New York and even California variants of the virus
In the weekly report from the Delaware Division of Public Health,.a total of 93,325 positive cases of Covid-19 among Delaware residents have been reported to since March 18, 2020.
The seven-day average of new positive cases increased to 235.1 as of Thursday, March 25. The average number of cases had been more than 700 a day and after the holidays had been moving toward 150 a day.
The seven-day average for the percentage of persons who tested positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday, March 25, was 20.2 percent, an increase from 17.1 percent as of Thursday, March 18.
The seven-day average for the percentage of total tests that were positive was 4.5 percent, an increase from 3.9 percent. The percentage of total tests takes into account people who have been tested more than once.
In addition, 116 individuals are currently hospitalized due to Covid-19 in Delaware, which is an increase of six from the same day last week. Eight of the hospitalized persons are critically ill, down one from last week.
A total of 1,536 Delawareans have died due to complications from Covid-19. The state reported 14 additional deaths since last week’s update. The total number of individuals who have died from Covid-19 ranges in age from younger than 5 to 104 years old. Of those who have died, 769 were female and 767 were male. A total of 761 individuals were from New Castle County, 322 were from Kent County, and 453 were from Sussex County.
To date, the Division of Public Health has identified the following Covid-19 ariants in Delaware through routine surveillance of test specimens.
These variants are based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list of Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest. The CDC recently added two variants – B.1.427 and B.1.429, both originating in California, to its list of Variants of Concern.
| Variants of Concern | Variants of Interest | |||||
| Variant | Origin | # of Cases | Variant | Origin | # of Cases | |
| B.1.1.7 | United Kingdom | 17 | B.1.525 | New York, US | 1 | |
| B.1.351 | South Africa | 1 | B.1.526 | New York, US | 23 | |
| B.1.427 | California, US | 2 | ||||
| B.1.429 | California, US | 5 | ||||
The cases include 47 adults ranging in age from 18-74, as well as two individuals under the age of 18.
Thirty-five individuals were from New Castle County, eight were from Kent County and six were from Sussex County.
The Delaware Public Health Laboratory has sequenced 1,152 specimens for COVID-19 variant strains to date, including 92 within the past week.
Virus mutation is common, but variants have been known to spread more rapidly than the original virus.
