Delaware passed the 100,00 mark in coronavirus cases, according to the weekly report from the Delaware Division of Public Health.
Delawre also saw its first cases of the Brazilian variant.
A total of 100,322 positive cases of Covid-19 among Delaware residents have been reported to DPH since March 11, 2020. It means about 10 percent of the state’s population has tested positive for the virus.
The seven-day average for the percentage of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday, April 15, was 26.7 percent, an increase from 23 percent as of Thursday, April 8.
The seven-day average for the percentage of total positive tests was 6.4 percent, an increase from 5.4 percent, as of Tuesday, April 6. The percentage of total tests takes into account people who have been tested more than once.
A total of 145 individuals are currently hospitalized due to Covid-19 in Delaware, a decrease of nine from last week. Nineteen of the hospitalized persons are critically ill, down two from last week.
A total of 1,596 Delawareans have died due to complications from COVID-19. Since last week’s update, the state reported 23 additional deaths, including 13 from a review of vital statistics records. The total number of individuals who have died from Covid-19 ranges from younger than 5 to 104 years old. Of those who have died, 801 were female, and 795 were male. A total of 796 individuals were from New Castle County, 328 were from Kent County, and 472 were from Sussex County.
To date, the Division of Public Health has identified the following COVID-19 variants in Delaware through routine surveillance of test specimens, which includes the state’s first three identified cases of the P.1 variant first found in Brazil. These variants are based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list of Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest.
Variants of Concern | Variants of Interest | |||||
Variant | Origin | # of Cases | Variant | Origin | # of Cases | |
B.1.1.7 | United Kingdom | 95 | B.1.525 | New York, US | 2 | |
B.1.351 | South Africa | 1 | B.1.526 | New York, US | 81 | |
B.1.427 | California, US | 6 | ||||
B.1.429 | California, US | 8 | ||||
P.1 | Brazil | 3 |
The variant cases include 167 adults ranging in age from 18-99 and 29 individuals under the age of 18. A total of 132 individuals were from New Castle County, 43 were from Kent County, and 21 were from Sussex County.
The Delaware Public Health Laboratory has sampled 1,518 specimens for Covid-19 variant strains to date, including 92 within the past week.
The variants are believed to spread more rapidly than the original virus.
Brazil has been hard hit by the pandemic, with a higher percentage of younger people dying from the virus, with cases spreading into the country’s neighbors.