PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Coronavirus cases in Delaware are up nearly 4% in the last week alone.
Gov. John Carney believes "undisciplined activity" may be to blame — in particular, St. Patrick's Day celebrations. He does not expect restrictions to ease until this is resolved.
"It is still our hope," Carney said during his weekly coronavirus briefing on Tuesday. "I'm a little hesitant now given the numbers that we've seen over the last week. We're still working on it. There may be something this week. It depends on how these numbers trend."
Philadelphia also announced restrictions at city restaurants and indoor events probably won't be eased for another month, on the condition that COVID-19 rates decline. On Monday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he doesn't expect restrictions to be loosened again for awhile.
Carney said he's been watching what his neighbors are up to.
"In New Jersey, I did listen to the statement of Gov. Murphy about just being a little bit cautious and slowing things down," he said. "I am keeping my eye on what they're doing in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. We're kind of right in the middle there when you talk about capacity, particularly hospitality, there's a lot of attention on that."
As of Tuesday morning, people 50 and older in Delaware can now sign up on the state's vaccine waitlist. Carney said about 7,500 newly eligible Delawareans signed up in just the first few hours — himself included.
About 25% of all Delawareans have now received at least one shot.
