Effective Sept. 30, staff at long-term care and other healthcare facilities will be required to provide proof of vaccination or undergo regular Covid-19 testing.
On the same day, state employees will also be required to provide proof of vaccination or undergo regular testing.
The order came on a day when the Delaware Division of Public Health reported 343 new positive cases and one death from an unvaccinated resident of New Castle county in their 50s. Hospitalizations rose to 108, up five from the previous day.
The average number of new cases is now at the highest level since early May.
The administration of Gov. John Carney stopped short of mandating vaccinations. As a result, the long-term care industry and areas of state government, notably corrections, are dealing with labor shortages and a wave of retirements during the pandemic.
The order will be posted in detail by the end of the month and will cover the following entities regulated by the DHSS Division of Health Care Quality (DHCQ), a release stated.
Driving the mandates is a rising number of Covid-19 cases in Delaware and elsewhere. Case numbers are sharply higher, thanks to the faster-spreading Delta variant and a slowdown in the rate of vaccinations. In addition, younger unvaccinated adults are accounting for much of the spread.
Facilities include:
Long-term care
- Nursing homes
- Assisted-living facilities
- Intermediate-care facility for persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities
- Neighborhood homes
- Group homes for persons with serious and persistent mental illness
- Group homes for persons with HIV/AIDS
- Family care homes
- Rest residential facilities
- Intensive behavioral support and educational residences
Acute and outpatient providers:
- Adult daycare
- Free-standing birthing centers
- Free-standing emergency departments
- Free-standing surgical centers
- Home health agencies: aide only (non-skilled)
- Skilled home health agencies
- Hospitals (including psychiatric hospitals)
- Prescribed pediatric extended care centers
- Hospice
- Personal assistance service agencies
- Office-based surgery
Carney and the Division of Public Health also encouraged private employers to take actions to encourage vaccinations.
While the state’s requirements will offer employees the choice between getting vaccinated or getting tested, federal guidance permits employers to require vaccinations.
ChristianaCare, Delaware’s largest employer, opted to require vaccinations as a condition of employment and saw protests from some employees and those opposed to mandatory vaccinations.
Those opposed to vaccines often cite unproven and false information on the dangers of Covid-19 shots. They also argue that mandates violate their personal liberty.
