State health officials reported 143 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the current state total of confirmed cases to 593.
The increase represents the largest one-day jump in cases since officials began tracking the outbreak.
No new deaths have been attributed to the virus in Delaware; the death toll stands at 14. Ninety-five people remain hospitalized, of which 24 are critically ill. The Division of Public Health dashboard can be found here.
The state also announced on Saturday that the Division of Public Health (DPH) Lab received a shipment of 5,000 rapid test kits from Pinnacle BioLabs, a Nashville-based company making the tests.
The kits will be used primarily to test health care workers, first responders, and residents of long-term care facilities where outbreaks are suspected. Results can be provided in five to 15 minutes. DPH expects to begin using the rapid test kits early next week.
New state-by-state coronavirus hospitalization modeling released from Washington University this week indicated the earliest expected surge in Delaware to occur in one week — on April 11th. On that date, University of Washington estimates Delaware would need 777 beds for coronavirus patients.
UD epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Horney said coronavirus cases are increasing in Delaware at a faster rate than the nation.
“The number of days for cases to double is increasing, which is good. Now the number of cases is doubling every four or five days nationally. But in Delaware, we are doubling at about every three days. That could be because as we ramp up our ability to test more people, we are identifying more cases,” she said.
