DOVER, Delaware (WPVI) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is once again recommending that Delawareans wear a mask in indoor public settings due to the increase in cases of COVID-19.
According to officials, the community level is now in the high “red” category since July 28.
As a result, health authorities recommend the following:
– Wear an appropriate mask in indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status.
– Stay home if you are sick and get tested if you have symptoms or are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
– Get vaccinated and recommended when eligible to provide greater protection against serious illness and hospitalization.
– If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk of serious illness, get a personal test before being around them and wear a mask when indoors with them.
Officials said in the past week that hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Delaware rose 22 percent, from 129 to 165. Twelve patients are in critical condition as of July 29. Sixteen children under the age of 5 required hospital admission, officials said.
The seven-day case average rose to a 20 percent positivity rate and 523 new positive cases on July 29, officials said.
The CDC believes the emergence of the dominant BA.5 variant in the United States has fueled the rapid increase in cases since June and suggests it spreads more easily than earlier variants.
“The data indicate that while current vaccines may not be as effective at protecting you from becoming infected with this potent variant, they are very effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death,” says DPH Acting Director , Dr. Rick Hong.
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