May 12 DPH updates COVID-19 numbers for Tuesday, May 12 The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) announced 176 new positive cases have been confirmed and that 12 more Delawareans — 237 in all — have passed away due to complications from COVID-19. The deceased range in age from 22 to 103 years old. As of May 12, the state's COVID-19 case statistics cumulatively since March 11 include 6,741 total laboratory-confirmed cases — 2,440 of them in New Castle County, 1,060 in Kent County and 3,205 in Sussex County. The state said preliminary data based on reporting by state and commercial laboratories, indicate there have been 26,550 negative cases. There are 276 Delawareans who are currently hospitalized. To date, 2,802 Delawareans who have tested positive have recovered.

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Governor Carney Announces Statewide Contact Tracing Plan for COVID-19 Gov. Carney today announced that the State of Delaware has entered into an agreement with NORC at the University of Chicago, a nonpartisan research institution,  to build the state's contact tracing program to contain COVID-19. NORC also has partnered with the State of Maryland to perform contact tracing. Delaware and Maryland will share information to more effectively monitor COVID-19’s spread across state lines. Over the next week – as the State of Delaware scales up its contact tracing operation – 100 members of the Delaware National Guard will embed with the Division of Public Health to begin wide-scale, statewide contact tracing. Under Delaware’s contact tracing program, Delawareans who have tested positive for COVID-19 should expect a phone call from a case investigator asking for information which includes a list of the person’s known contacts. Contact tracers will then reach out to each of those contacts to help them safely quarantine, to find alternate arrangements as necessary, and to help them get tested for COVID-19, if needed. The Delaware Department of Technology and Information will work with NORC’s technology partner, Enovational, and the Delaware Health Information Network to build a technology platform that allows the Division of Public Health to efficiently share data with contact tracers.

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HUD allocates third wave of CARES Act funding, issues $3.2M to Delaware organizations U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Joe DeFelice announced the agency will allocate $3,228,336 in COVID-19 relief funding to help Delawareans. “The Delaware State Housing Authority is pleased to be receiving this latest funding allocation from HUD to assist with our response to the COVID-19 health crisis through the Community Development Block Grant program,” said DSHA Director Anas Ben Addi in a statement. “Over the last several weeks, we have worked closely with the Delaware Continuum of Care, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Delaware Emergency Management Agency and our local government partners to determine the most immediate housing needs for homeless and vulnerable populations in our state. Along with these and other partners, DSHA plans to put these funds to use as quickly as possible to assist homeless and other vulnerable populations who are being impacted by COVID-19.” Grantees may select from more than 25 eligible CDBG activities to shape their local programs to meet their needs, including:

• A wide range of public services to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, such as providing food and health services for low-income elderly persons and children,
• Small business assistance or emergency housing payments for entities and families impacted by economic and housing market disruptions, or
• Acquisition and rehabilitation of structures for health facilities, food banks, or public improvements needed to support community coronavirus response, preparation, or prevention. For example, grants may assist improvements to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in a local grocery store to protect employees and shoppers, or alterations to neighborhood business district sidewalks and facades to enable curbside pick-up or social distancing.

Every U.S. State and Insular Area will receive a portion of these relief funds. A list of allocations can be found here.

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May 11 DPH updates COVID-19 numbers for Monday, May 11 Over the weekend the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) announced 454 new positive cases have been confirmed and that 12 more Delawareans — 225 in all — have passed away due to complications from COVID-19. The deceased range in age from 26 to 103 years old. As of May 11, the state's COVID-19 case statistics cumulatively since March 11 include 6,565 total laboratory-confirmed cases — 2,390 of them in New Castle County, 1,044 in Kent County and 3,091 in Sussex County. The state said preliminary data based on reporting by state and commercial laboratories, indicate there have been 25,363 negative cases. There are 275 Delawareans who are currently hospitalized. To date, 2,619 Delawareans who have tested positive have recovered.

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 Delaware farmers’ markets to open under new COVID-19 protocols The Delaware Department of Agriculture, DDA, is issuing protocols to help farmers’ markets safely begin opening May 15. The protocols issued by DDA will be in place until further notice and are solely intended to allow farmers to sell produce, specialty crops, and other value-added food items that have been directly grown or raised on a farm or prepared in a permitted on-farm kitchen or cottage-food kitchen. To create a safer environment for all involved in farmers’ markets, they will no longer be considered a social venue. This means there will be no social gatherings, no entertainment shows or activities, no food trucks or prepared food for consumption on site, no on-site food preparation or sampling, no demonstrations, and no pets allowed, except for service animals. All customers will be required to wear face coverings, or they will be denied entrance. A maximum of two people per household will be allowed to enter the market to shop. Upon arrival, customers will check in at the entrance with market staff. If the market is at capacity, the customer will be given instructions on how they will be notified when they can go into shop. Progress through the farmers’ market will only be in one direction, there will be no doubling back to shop at a vendor. Market staff, vendors, and customers will need to social distance, maintaining six feet distance from all others while inside the market area. In order to reduce shopping time, vendors will not have their product available where people can touch or handle product. Customers will need to request items that they want to purchase, and the farmer will package for purchase.

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Rite Aid Opens Free Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Site Free COVID-19 tests are now being offered at four Rite Aid locations across the state.  Tests are available by appointment at 200 Pharmacy Drive in Smyrna, 1999 Pulaski Highway in Bear, 24892 John Williams Hwy. in Millsboro and 3801 N. Market Street in Wilmington. The tests are being conducted as a drive up service in the pharmacy’s parking lot. The Rite Aid tests utilize self-swab nasal tests overseen by Rite Aid pharmacists. Results are available between two and seven days. Rite Aid says they can perform approximately 400 tests a day. Testing hours are 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., seven days a week. Complete a pre-screening questionnaire and schedule an appointment, here.