Editor’s note: This story has updated the number of current hospitalizations, following newly corrected information from the Division of Public Health.
Delaware will require masks be worn in most public indoor settings, as COVID-19 continues to surge and overwhelm hospitals.
This mandate, which goes into effect at 8 a.m. Tuesday, applies to convenience stores, grocery stores, gyms, restaurants, bars, hair salons, malls and casinos, according to a news release.
Gov. John Carney also announced he will extend mask requirements in schools and will deploy even more National Guard members to assist in hospitals. A majority of hospitals on Monday announced they were implementing “Crisis Standards of Care,” which allows them to reallocate resources and prioritize what patients receive care.
For the past month, Gov. John Carney declined to reinstate any statewide restrictions and mandates. He and top public health officials have urged Delawareans to get vaccinated and to voluntarily wear masks.
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The state has seen a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases since Thanksgiving and is now facing its worst stretch of the pandemic since it began. More than 25% of COVID-19 tests are positive.
Hospitalizations, a key indicator of the severity of spread, hit 714 as of Monday. Delaware has seen hospitalizations increase to new heights for 12 days in a row, bringing significant strain to the state’s hospitals.
Students and staff at Delaware public schools have been required to wear masks, which public health officials credited with the low spread of the virus in classrooms.
In an interview in late November, Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health, questioned if a mask mandate would even be effective. At the time, Delaware was seeing significantly lower positive tests and hospitalization rates.
“Quite frankly, I don’t think that the public is going to be accepting of indoor mask mandates at this point in time,” Rattay said at the time, “unless we see a significant increase in more severe consequences like hospitalizations and deaths.”
Under the new mandate, masks will not be required to be worn while outdoors or while eating and drinking in restaurants or bars, according to the announcement. This mandate does not apply to churches and other places of worship.
Businesses are being encouraged to provide masks to customers who are not wearing them indoors, as well as to post a sign about the requirement.
Delaware Online/The News Journal spoke to public health experts about the state’s approach to the pandemic, particularly the strategy of urging personal responsibility to get out of this surge. Some questioned its effectiveness because Americans are incredibly individualistic.
Sarah Bauerle Bass, director of the risk communication laboratory at Temple University, compared the effectiveness of a newly instated mask mandate to a horse being “already out of the gate.”
“This is such an infectious variant at this point the community spread is so wide that if everyone started wearing a mask tomorrow it wouldn’t matter that much.”
Bob Older, president of the Delaware Small Business Chamber, is pleased Carney’s mandate did not include closing businesses or imposing capacity restrictions, but he worries about the impact on small businesses should the current surge persist.
The mask mandate will compound other issues faced by small businesses such as increasing minimum wage and staffing shortages, he said.
“It’s one more thing after another that’s crushing small businesses,” he said.
Many businesses that Older represents already have their own mask policies that Carney’s new rules won’t alter. Older worries that if the surge isn’t brought under control more restrictive measures will be enacted.
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Carney also announced on Monday that he was easing state regulations in order to incentivize recently retired teachers to work as substitutes. Last week, some Delaware school districts faced staffing shortages due to COVID-19, forcing them to shift to virtual learning.
With Delaware hospitals facing unprecedented strain, Carney is also deploying 70 members of the Delaware National Guard to help hospitals with “nonclinical operations.”
The governor previously deployed about 110 members to train as certified nursing assistants, with the hopes they will help at hospitals and long-term care facilities.
“I know we’re all exhausted by this pandemic,” Carney said in a statement. “But at the level of hospitalizations we’re seeing, Delawareans who need emergency care might not be able to get it. That’s just a fact. It’s time for everyone to pitch in and do what works.”
Brandon Holveck contributed to this article.
Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 256-2466 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MereNewman.
