Amid lingering optimism around the lifting of mask mandates and states of emergency, signs could be pointing to the return of some COVID-19 precautions as Delaware residents march into spring.
Delaware recognized growing vaccination rates and dropping cases earlier this year by removing mask mandates in indoor public places in February and then taking the final step to eliminate mask requirements in public schools as of March 1.
While pediatric vaccination rates have lagged behind adults throughout the last several months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 94.3% of Delawareans who are 18 years old or older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Hospitalizations and the percent of positive tests have also stayed low as restrictions loosened.
While recent days have shown a slight uptick in cases, Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Division of Public Health, said in a statement that DPH is closely monitoring the situation, and “cases are not yet rising at the same level as we saw with the Omicron (BA.1) variant.”
But even as it’s starting to become more common to see unmasked people in grocery stores, restaurants and offices, some public health departments and local governments in the region are raising flags of caution as they note an increase in cases.
As nearby Philadelphia reinstates its indoor mask mandate this week, what does that mean for Delaware and its COVID-19 outlook?
Here’s what we know and what you might be able to expect in the coming weeks.
Are COVID-19 cases on the rise in Delaware?
The good news first: Delaware’s COVID-19 cases are still staying much lower than what was reported earlier this year during the omicron surge.
Cases have declined so much that state public health officials are now only releasing their COVID-19 data report monthly rather than weekly, and the state has closed four of its standing vaccination sites.
The average percent of tests that came back positive was 5% on Monday. That’s a slight increase from three weeks ago when the average was hovering around 3%.
BACKGROUND:Delaware drops school mask mandate one month earlier than expected
For reference, three months prior on January 11, the state was reporting more than 3,000 positive cases and more than 30% of tests coming back positive.
Still, the most recent numbers show a clear, yet subtle, rise in cases. The average positive cases was 116 this week, which is more than a 50% increase from 10 days prior.
Hospitalizations, which public health officials often point to as a measure of the severity of the spread, also continue to trend downward from 759 current hospitalizations on Jan. 12 to 34 on April 11.
MASKS:Delaware moves into a ‘new phase’ as hospitalizations continue to plummet, mask mandate lifted
What’s happening locally?
Philadelphia saw a similar increase in COVID-19 cases over the past 10 days, increasing by more than 50% to 142 average daily cases, according to Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole.
In response, Philly was one of the first major cities to reinstate its indoor mask mandate on Monday.
While hospitalizations remained low, the growing number of positive cases was enough to prompt the city’s mask precautions, Bettigole said.
“This looks like we may be at the start of a new COVID wave,” she said. “We have reached the threshold for moving out of all clear and into mask precautions.”
In Delaware, Rattay said people should “be cautious but not panic” when it comes to the new omicron subvariant.
“While other states are seeing greater increases, Delaware is not yet,” she said. “That doesn’t mean that we couldn’t, but we are hopeful that the impact will be less than with the original Omicron variant.”
Rattay also emphasized that not all of the monoclonal antibody treatments are effective against this subvariant, and the FDA had rescinded its authorization of at least one treatment.
“People should continue to do the things that we know work: stay up to date with vaccines, stay home if sick, get tested if you have COVID symptoms and wear a face covering if you are immunocompromised or around others who are,” she said.
MANDATES:Delaware restaurants still struggling, but lifting mask mandate could help bring back patrons
The mask mandate in Philadelphia begins immediately but will only be enforced starting April 18. This does apply to public schools, which had already decided to require masks for at least a week after students and staff returned from spring break, according to reporting from The Bucks County Courier Times.
In Delaware, school districts have been left to make their own decisions about mask mandates since March.
Are any mask mandates coming back to Delaware?
Delaware is not considering a return to a mask mandate at this time, according to Rattay.
“Delawareans have the tools in the toolbox that they need to protect themselves and we are nowhere close to the level of severity that we were in January when our hospitals were over capacity,” she said.
When Gov. John Carney eliminated the indoor mask mandate, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were much higher than they are today – nearly eight times as many more people were in the hospital when Carney dropped the mask requirement than there are now.
At that time, Carney told the public that “we’re in a much better place than we were several weeks ago in the middle of the omicron surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.”
Emily Lytle covers Sussex County from the inland towns to the beaches. Got a story she should tell? Contact her at elytle@delmarvanow.com or 302-332-0370. Follow her on Twitter at @emily3lytle.
