Teens contract coronavirus after partying at Delaware beach

Health officials in Delaware are urging teens who participated in senior week activities at the state’s beaches to get tested for the coronavirus after several participants tested positive for COVID-19.

The state Division of Public Health said Saturday that at least three teens staying at a rental unit in Dewey Beach tested positive. More than a dozen teens were staying there at the time.

The health department says that while the teens were there, they attended large parties in nearby Rehoboth that may have exposed more than 100 partygoers to the virus.

Health officials did not specify the time of their stay in Dewey. They say they are trying to trace the infected teens’ potential contacts.

The health department is also recommending that any seniors who were at the beach postpone any planned graduation parties for at least 14 days.

Senior week is a longstanding tradition for graduating high-schoolers in Delaware and Maryland to spend an early summer week at the beaches in those states, usually unchaperoned, despite concerns about excessive partying and intoxication that are exacerbated this year by fears of spreading the coronavirus.