Delaware’s free saliva test for coronavirus is a snap — and nothing gets shoved up your nose
The state opened sites to offer quick, easy testing, even for those without symptoms. A WHYY reporter navigated the drive-thru gauntlet.
5 years ago
Soldiers from the National Guard tend to COVID-19 patients. (National Guard photo by Army Spc. Samuel D. Keenan)
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On Wednesday, Delaware reported 10,056 coronavirus cases and 413 related deaths. A total of 108 people are currently being treated in the state’s hospitals.
As Delaware continues reopening despite fluctuations in the number of new cases, Gov. John Carney and his top health officials keep focusing on one critical piece of the coronavirus puzzle: hospitalizations.
Both the number of people getting in-patient treatment and those in critical condition are on a steady decline.
As of Tuesday night, Delaware had 108 people in the hospital for COVID-19, a figure that includes an unspecified number of non-residents in a state bordered by Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. That’s less than half the 221 people in the hospital on May 21— less than three weeks ago.
There were 21 patients in critical condition Monday night — the latest date available — a figure that’s also less than half the total of 44 on May 21.
While many of those in critical condition are succumbing to COVID-related conditions — with 413 deaths so far — Carney is taking solace in the fact that fewer people are getting admitted.
He said the number of hospitalizations is “probably going to start flattening” because “the number is so low now it’s hard to imagine it continuing to go down but that’s our hope.”