Weekly Covid update: Thursday’s new case figure highest since January as Delta variant remains widespread

Delaware reported. 665 new daily Covid-19  cases on Thursday, the highest number since January, according to the Delaware Division of Public Health.

A total of 123,958 positive cases of Covid-19 among Delaware residents have been reported to DPH since March 11, 2020. The seven-day average of new positive cases decreased to 389 as of Thursday.

Separately, the University of Delaware’s Covid-19 dashboard reported more than 350 new cases during the past week, a likely contributor to the higher numbers. (See graphic below).

The seven-day average for the percentage of total positive tests in Delaware was 8.6%, an increase from 7.4%.

A total of 252 individuals are hospitalized due to Covid-19 in Delaware, an increase of 19 from last week. Thirty-eight of the hospitalized persons are critically ill, a decrease of 10 from last week.   

A total of 1,900 Delawareans have died due to complications from Covid-19. Twelve deaths were reported in the past week, six of which were from a review of vital statistics. The total number of individuals who have died from Covid-19 range from younger than 5 to 104 years old.

Vaccinations 

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 76.8% of Delawareans ages 18 or over have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

A total of 1,133,779 administered doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been reported to the state’s immunization information system, DelVAX.

Among Delawareans 12 and older, 563,547 or about 56% of the total population, have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 505,790 Delawareans are fully vaccinated. Delaware’s latest vaccination statistics can be found under the Vaccine Tracker dashboard at de.gov/healthycommunity.   

The following report captures a weekly breakdown of vaccination status for cases, deaths, and hospitalizations for the time frame for August 30 – September 5. The report highlights the significant percentage of cases and hospitalized individuals in Delaware who are unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated. Vaccination continues to be the most important factor in reducing deaths and hospitalizations from Covid-19. 

Breakthrough Cases:  

To date, 505,790 Delawareans have been fully vaccinated. Of that number, 2,307 breakthrough cases of  Covid-19 occurred in approximately five-tenths of 1 percent of vaccinated individuals, up from one-tenth of one percent earlier in the year.

Fifty of the reported breakthrough cases identified since vaccinations began involved hospitalizations, and 25 individuals passed away, although it does not mean Covid-19 was the cause of death.

Breakthrough cases continue to be rare, given the total number of persons who are fully vaccinated. 

A breakthrough case is defined as testing positive for Covid-19 after an individual has been fully vaccinated for two weeks or more – although it does not mean that the infection actually occurred after vaccination. 

Variant cases in Delaware:  

As of Friday, Sept. 10, the Division of Public Health has identified the following Covid-19 variants in Delaware through routine surveillance of test specimens.

These variants are based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list of Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest. The below table represents cumulative totals.

Ninety-three percent of the 148 variant positive samples this week were identified as the Delta variant strain. The Delaware Public Health Laboratory has sequenced 4,275 specimens for COVID-19 variant strains to date.

 DPH is carefully tracking the Mu variant, technically known as B.1.621, which is not currently on the CDC list for a variant of interest or concern. To date, Delaware has detected 18 cases of the Mu variant.

Click here for the state’s Covid-19 dashboard, which includes cases by county and zip code.