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Molly Magarik, Secretary
Jill Fredel, Director of Communications
302-255-9047, Cell 302-357-7498
Email: DPHMedia@Delaware.gov
Date: October 2, 2020
DHSS-10-2020
DOVER (Oct. 2, 2020) - The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) is providing an update on the most recent statistics related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Delaware, as of 6 p.m. Thursday, October 1, 2020.
A total of 20,937 positive cases of COVID-19 among Delaware residents have been reported to DPH since March 11, 2020, including 10,678 individuals who are considered recovered. The seven-day average for the percentage of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 increased from 6.8% as of Sept. 24, to 7.9% as of Thursday, Oct. 1. The number of new daily cases each day this week has remained elevated with the seven-day average of new daily cases at 122.3, as of Thursday, Oct. 1. In addition, 83 individuals are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Delaware, which represents a 57% increase compared to 53 hospitalizations reported as of last Friday's update. Sixteen of the hospitalized persons are critically ill, up five from last week.
A total of 642 Delawareans have passed away due to complications from COVID-19. The state reported 11 additional deaths since last week's update. The total number of individuals who have died from COVID-19 ranges in age from 21 to 104 years old. Of those who have died, 332 were female and 310 were male. A total of 317 individuals were from New Castle County, 118 were from Kent County, and 207 were from Sussex County.
To protect personal health information, DPH will not confirm specific information about any individual case, even if other persons or entities disclose it independently.
Additional Updates
Updated Version of COVID Alert DE App Now Available: In an effort to continuously make enhancements to the recently launched COVID-19 exposure notification application, an updated version of COVID Alert DE is now available in the App Store or Google Play.
Updates in this version include setting end-of-quarantine date recommendations when a person receives an exposure alert, based on each person's estimated date of exposure calculation, and adding data on positive cases, hospitalizations, deaths and recoveries imbedded from the My Healthy Community COVID-19 data portal. Visit a href="https://myhealthycommunity.dhss.delaware.gov/locations/state">de.gov/covidalert for additional information about COVID Alert DE, or send questions to DPHCall@delaware.gov.
Update on COVID-19 Outbreaks in Long-term Care Facilities: The Division of Public Health continues to investigate COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities throughout the state. Facilities where significant ongoing outbreaks are occurring, as of Oct. 1, 2020: .
*Staff members may include health care and non-health care personnel, such as facility vendors or other individuals working in the long-term care facility who may not be full-time facility employees.
Some long-term care facilities are utilizing point-of-care antigen testing to test residents. DPH has become aware of occurrences of false positive results from some antigen tests, therefore DPH has provided guidance to these facilities, requesting that any patient (staff member or resident) from a long-term care facility who has a positive result with antigen testing have an additional specimen collected and sent for priority processing at the Delaware Public Health Laboratory. If confirmatory testing leads to a decrease in the total number of positive cases identified at facilities with significant outbreaks, DPH will provide an update on the above statistics. It is important to note, however, this does not change the fact that significant outbreaks are occurring in these facilities, nor does it change the additional infection control measures the facilities have implemented, after consultation with DPH, as part of the outbreak response.
New Venue Dashboard Added to My Healthy Community: The DPH COVID-19 data portal now includes a new dataset that shows the types of venues visited by individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 in the two weeks prior to their symptom onset (or if no symptoms, date of their test). These data are meant to offer insight into the types of activities individuals reported participating in prior to their diagnosis. While these data suggest potential exposure during these visits, it does not indicate whether virus transmission actually occurred at those locations. The venue dashboard can be found in the "Cases" section at de.gov/healthycommunity.
Delaware COVID-19 Data:
The latest Delaware COVID-19 case statistics* cumulatively since March 11, provided as of 6 p.m. Thursday, October 1, include:.
*Data are provisional and subject to change.
**Data on negative cases are preliminary, based on negative results reported to DPH by state and commercial laboratories performing analysis.
A data quality enhancement was put in place this week to determine the county of residence for cases in which the county was previously unknown. As a result, county totals have increased as part of this update, and the unknown county total has decreased. Statewide statistics have not been affected by this data improvement.
Generally, Delaware is now considering patients recovered after at least 24 hours have passed since the resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and/or improvement in symptoms, and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Individuals who tested positive who have not had any symptoms are considered recovered after at least 10 days have passed since the date of their first positive COVID-19 test with no subsequent illness.
Aggregate K-12 School-Related COVID-19 Statistics: The Division of Public Health is providing statewide aggregate data on the total number of COVID-19 positive cases among students and staff who were in-person at a school or child care facility while potentially infectious, reported to DPH since Sept. 1, 2020. To determine the start of the infectious period, or when others may have been exposed to someone infectious, DPH looks 48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms or 48 hours prior to testing for those individuals who had no symptoms. These data only indicate potential exposure to COVID-19 in these settings, not whether exposure actually occurred.
Cumulative number of COVID-19 positive students and staff, statewide, who were in-person at a school or child care facility while potentially infectious, reported to DPH between Sept. 1, 2020, and Oct. 1, 2020:
Long-term Care Statistics:
Information related to positive cases and deaths among residents at long-term care facilities will be updated weekly each Friday, using information reported as of 6 p.m. Thursday. There have been a total of 1,349 positive COVID-19 cases cumulatively involving long-term care residents, and 380 residents of Delaware long-term care facilities have died from complications related to COVID-19.
The locations and number of deaths involving residents of long-term care facilities are:
Additional demographic data on COVID-19 cases and deaths, including race/ethnicity, more age-specific data and rates information by ZIP code, and information on Delaware's contact tracing efforts can be found on the Division of Public Health's My Healthy Community data portal at de.gov/healthycommunity
If you are sick with any of the following symptoms, stay home: fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, chills, shaking with chills, loss of smell or taste, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, or headache or congestion or runny nose without a known cause such as allergies. Other symptoms such as abdominal pain or lack of appetite have been identified as potential symptoms related to COVID-19 and may prompt further screening, action or investigation by a primary care provider. If you are sick and need essential supplies, ask someone else to go to the grocery store or the pharmacy to get what you need.
If you believe you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, or have symptoms of illness, make sure to distance yourself from others, particularly vulnerable populations. Older adults and people of any age with serious underlying medical conditions - including serious heart conditions, chronic lung conditions, including moderate to severe asthma, severe obesity and those who are immunocompromised, including through cancer treatment - may have a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
Information about testing events, including community testing sites and free-standing sites operated by the health care systems and hospitals, will be listed on the testing section of the Delaware coronavirus website at: coronavirus.delaware.gov/testing/.
Individuals who have complaints about individuals violating public gathering restrictions should contact state or local law enforcement. Concerns that a business may be violating operating restrictions should be directed to: HSPContact@delaware.gov. Questions related to business re-openings or operations as businesses re-open should go to COVID19FAQ@delaware.gov.
Individuals with questions about COVID-19 should call Delaware 2-1-1, individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can text their ZIP code to 898-211, or email info@delaware211.org. Hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Medically related questions regarding testing, symptoms, and health-related guidance can be submitted by email at DPHCall@delaware.gov. Questions regarding unemployment claims should be emailed to:UIClaims@delaware.gov.
In addition, the Division of Public Health asks any Delaware health care, long-term care, residential, or other high-risk facility with questions or concerns to email: DPH_PAC@delaware.gov or call the DPH Call Center at 1-866-408-1899 and press ext. 2.
DPH will continue to update the public as more information becomes available. For the latest on Delaware's response, go to de.gov/coronavirus.
Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware's citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations.
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