Delaware ranks in the top 20 in states with the highest number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents as variants of the virus become more prevalent.
Becker’s Hospital Review had Delaware in 17th place among the 50 states. East Coast states and Michigan have seen an upturn in cases.
Delaware Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay said at the state’s coronavirus briefing that recent information indicates that Delaware now ranks fifth in the its case rate.
“We don’t want to be moving in that direction,” Gov. John Carney said of the elevated number of cases that come as thousands of Delawareans get mainly second doses of the vaccine.
Rattay said faster spreading variants are a factor in the increase. British and New York variants have been showing up in about half the tests sampled.
Rattay said no pattern has showed up when it comes to the source of infections. Instead, small family get-togethers around Easter and other smaller gatherings.seem to be responsible for the uptick in cases.
She urged all eligible Delawareans to get vaccinations. About 42 percent of Delaware residents have received at least one dose of vaccine.
Tuesday’s report from the Delaware Division of Public Health showed a decline in daily cases, a reflection of fewer lab results coming in over the weekend.
The numbers
- One new death reported today – an individual from Sussex County in their 70s who was a resident of a long-term care facility. The total number of Covid-related deaths is now 1,603.
- 163 new positive cases, bringing the overall total to 101,707, or about 10 percent of the state’s population.
- 26.2 percent of people who tested positive in the seven-day rolling average, down five-tenths of a percent from the previous day.
- 6.1 percent of total tests were positive in the seven-day rolling average, down one-tenth of a percent from the previous day.
- 163 current hospitalizations, down 11 from the previous da, including 23 individuals in critical condition. Hospitalizations have ranged from under 30 last summer to more than 470 during a winter surge.
- 43 new hospital admissions, up 6 from the previous day.
- 390 people who tested negative, bringing the total to 583,151.
- 234,628 Delawareans fully vaccinated (up 1,876 from the previous day).
- 650,899 total vaccine doses administered (up 9,828 from the previous day).
Below is an interactive map, accessible via laptop computer, from Google and media partners that shows Delaware well above the national average in the number of new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents. Also available are maps on vaccinations and fatalities.
Laptop or desktop computer users can click on the map to access county-by-county case rates by clicking on an individual state or clicking twice on the map and on the screen, typing in the county.
New Castle and Kent counties are now in the dark red zone of 500 or more cases per 100,000 population. Sussex County, which struggled with Covid-19 a year ago, now has fewer cases than the state’s two other counties.
State officials said Sussex’s high vaccination rate among its population of older residents may a factor in its lower numbers.
Click here for more Delaware data, including breakdowns by age, sex, race/ethnicity, at the statewide, county, and, in some cases, ZIP code or census tract level.
