Sussex Sees Increase in Infection, but Coronavirus Recovery is in our Future
Governor John Carney during his Friday coronavirus update talked about looking towards recovery. However currently the numbers are not showing any flattening of the curve in positive cases and hospitalizations. The numbers are showing an increase in infection in Sussex County, which Public Health Director, Dr Karyl Rattay says is mostly focused around the poultry processing plants in the Millsboro, Georgetown and Milford areas. Health Department officials are working with the employers for increased testing and tracking. Some of that will also include community outreach with DEMA – handing out care packages that include bandanas, hand sanitizer, soap, educational information to help keep themselves and their family members safe.
Recovery and restore the economy – those are the new buzzwords nationally, regionally and locally. However before that begins we need to hit that flattening on the curve. Governor John Carney during his update on Friday said that Delaware doesn’t have the needed testing ability for extensive testing that will be needed. We also need to see 14 days of declining symptoms and 14 days of declining hospitalizations to even think about starting the recovery phase. Gov. Carney added that to begin recovery too soon – and then rebound with additional infection would defeat the hard work that we’ve put into “stay at home” for the past 6 weeks.
Schools remain closed until May 18 while state officials investigate the option of closing for the remainder of the year. Governor Carney says there’s not enough information yet to make that decision. He and other state officials are in regular communication with the district superintendents as to what comes next. For now the schools remain focused on remote learning.
When recovery does begin – don’t expect a return to the way things were before coronavirus. There will still be widespread testing and contact tracing for any positive test results, social distancing and constant monitoring of the situation to mitigate new outbreaks.
