Delaware leaders predict number of positive COVID-19 cases will quadruple by next week

DELAWARE – Governor John Carney and other state leaders say they’re expecting the number of positive COVID-19 cases to almost quadruple in the next five days.

Experts believe there will be more than 3-thousand confirmed cases in the state by April 12th. They’re using that information to make sure hospitals are prepared with the right amount of resources like beds, equipment and staff. They also have plans in place with Kent and Sussex County hospitals to set up a mobile hospital to add another 50 or 60 beds if needed.

“We are using about 25 percent growth rate of cases day over day, 20 percent of hospitalization. We don’t have the historical foundation to say we know what it’s going to be or when that’s going to potentially end because of the stay at home models,” says A.J. Schall, the director of Delaware Emergency Management Agency.

State leaders say things should start to improve, numbers wise, around April 13th. That’s when the state will hit day 21 of quarantine orders and they’ll be able to tell how effective those measure have been in flattening the curve.