Gov. John Carney provides update on COVID-19 in Delaware
DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to provide updates on coronavirus in the state.
Carney said he needs to make a set in stone testing plan as the first step to reopening the state. He also announced that the state has lost a substantial amount of money in revenue, however is he working hard to make sure this does not result in state employees being laid off. He said they want to exhaust all options before tapping into the state’s rainy day fund.
He also mentioned that mandatory mask wearing in public statewide is something they are looking into, but not making law just yet. Maryland mandated mask wearing in public beginning on April 18th.
Looking ahead, Carney said officials are expecting the state to reach more than 4,300 positive cases by this Saturday. He also said that data on how coronavirus effects each race should be coming within the week.
According to the Delaware Department of Labor, a total of 61,842 unemployment claims were received between March 15th and April 11th. That number is just under the total claims from the past 23 months. More than $30 in total benefits were paid last week.
Delawareans with questions about unemployment can reach out to officials in a number of ways:
- Text updates: Text “uifacts” to 555-888
- Phone: 302-761-8446
- Email: uiclaims@delaware.gov
- Web: ui.delawareworks.com
Carney emphasized that although several states are reopening without following CDC guidelines, that isn’t going to happen in Delaware.
