On Tuesday, the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) announced two additional fatalities related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and provided an update on the number of positive cases and recovered individuals.
In total, 43 Delawareans have passed away due to complications from COVID-19. Individuals who have died from COVID-19 ranged in age from 33 to 96 years old.
The most recent deaths involve individuals with underlying conditions:
83-year-old female from Sussex County, long-term care facility
70-year-old female from Kent County, hospitalized
Officials did not indicate if the two patients tested positive for COVID-19 or if they were considered “Probable” positive. Last week DPH began adding “Probable” COVID-19 deaths to the Delaware COVID-19 death toll.
On Tuesday, Delaware Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay laid out what the department considers a “probable” COVID-19 death. She indicated that a death can be listed as a COVID-19 death when you have a cluster of cases in any setting, “You get to a point where it’s not really necessary to test everyone that has the same symptoms to know what you’re dealing with.”, said Rattay.
“And so there were some deaths that were clearly COVID-19 that weren’t tested”, added Rattay.
The latest Delaware COVID-19 case statistics, cumulatively since March 11, include:
1,926 total laboratory-confirmed cases
New Castle County cases: 947
Kent County cases: 329
Sussex County cases: 639
Cases unknown location: 11
Males: 867; Females: 1,058; Unknown: 1
Age range: 1 to 97
Currently hospitalized: 217; Critically ill: 45 (This data represents individuals currently hospitalized in a Delaware hospital regardless of residence, and is not cumulative.)
Delawareans recovered: 319
10,943 negative cases*
*Data on negative cases are preliminary, based on negative results reported to DPH by state and commercial laboratories performing analysis.