Carney urges vaccinations but makes no announcements on restrictions

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Gov. John Carney continues to strongly  urge vaccinations but stopped short of announcing any other measures.

At a Thursday Covid-19 briefing, the governor said his administration will focus on vaccinations and children returning to school.

The  briefing came on a day when 195 new cases were reported, nearly 20 times the figure reported earlier in the summer.  Hospitalizations have not increased at the same rate but are up three-fold from the summer low. 

Carney said the  emphasis will continue to be  younger adults who have a low vaccination rates.

The administration has been seeing a message  to the business community and others that restrictions are not in the works.

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One consideration will be masks for students and teachers. Vaccines have not been authorized for students under the age of 12, and it has been only a few months since those 12 to 18 were cleared for Pfizer shots.

The Christiana School District in northern Delaware has ordered masks for students and staff.

“Masks work,” said Delaware Division of Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay. Rattay noted that the rate of Covid-19 infections was low when masks were required during the previous school year.

Rattay and Carney pointed to western Sussex County being an area of concern due to a combination of a low vaccination rate and a high number of cases. However, Carney acknowledged that politics might play a role in the low vaccination rate in heavily Republican western Sussex.

Carney vowed to work with trust community groups and others to break down any barriers.

Kent County in the central part of the state also has a lower vaccination rate than New Castle and coastal Sussex County.

The Carney administration earlier dropped weekly Covid-19 press conferences, citing the end to the State of Emergency and a declining number of cases.

A link to the streamed press conference is available below, with a recording available after it ends.

Delaware and other states have seen a sharp increase in cases and hospitalizations among unvaccinated residents, although the uptick in no way compares to major outbreaks in Florida and Texas, Carney stated.

The pace of vaccinations in Delaware has picked up modestly as case numbers increase.

 

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