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  • Delaware Senate Republicans take issue with Governor’s mask mandate

    Delaware Senate Republicans take issue with Governor’s mask mandate

    Legislative Hall
    Legislative Hall – Dover, DE

    The Delaware State Senate Republican Caucus issued a statement Wednesday morning disagreeing with Governor John Carney’s mask mandate implemented earlier this week, requiring facial coverings in all public indoor spaces statewide.

    “We disagree with these measures. We are approaching the two-year anniversary of the first state of emergency’s installment and during these two years, the General Assembly has been left out of the decision-making process,” the statement read. “We feel strongly that the legislature has a responsibility to provide a balance to the executive branch of government, a balance that has not existed during the pandemic.

    “We are not against the use of face-coverings, vaccines, or any other preventative measure against COVID-19. What we are against is the government, specifically one of three supposedly equal branches of government, solely dictating how citizens should live their lives. Delawareans should be able to decide what is best for them and their families. It is imperative that the General Assembly be more involved when it comes to decisions like these and we must consider legislation that will enable the legislative branch – the branch that represents the people – to be a true balance to executive power in Delaware.”

    Governor John Carney on Monday signed a revision to the State of Emergency declaration, requiring masks in all indoor public settings, including convenience stores, grocery stores, gyms, restaurants, bars, hair salons, malls, and casinos.

    “Our hospital systems are facing a crisis-level situation with record numbers of Delawareans seeking emergency care. We need all Delawareans in the fight as we face this winter surge of COVID-19 to make sure our hospitals are not overrun,” said Governor Carney. “I know we’re all exhausted by this pandemic. But at the level of hospitalizations we’re seeing, Delawareans who need emergency care might not be able to get it. That’s just a fact. It’s time for everyone to pitch in and do what works. Wear your mask indoors. Avoid gatherings or expect to get and spread COVID. Get your vaccine and, if eligible, get boosted. That’s how we’ll get through this surge without endangering more lives.”

    Governor Carney also announced that the mask requirements in K-12 public and private schools and child care facilities, which had been set to expire in early February, will be extended.

    70 additional members of the Delaware National Guard have also been deployed to assist with non-clinical operations inside Delaware hospitals statewide, beginning Tuesday.

    In total, more than 300 members of the Delaware National Guard are assisting with COVID-19 response efforts – including support at vaccination and testing locations, help with PPE distribution, and hospital assistance. Roughly 110 members of the Guard – separate from the 70 members deployed on Monday – are training to serve as certified nursing assistants in health care settings statewide to take pressure off hospital systems.

    There’s no official word at this time on how long the mask mandate will remain in effect.

  • EXCLUSIVE | Delaware GOP demands transparency after last year’s COVID-19 data in schools was “destroyed”

    EXCLUSIVE | Delaware GOP demands transparency after last year’s COVID-19 data in schools was “destroyed”

    The Delaware Republican Party is demanding transparency from the Carney administration when it comes to last year’s COVID-19 data in schools.

    This comes after we brought you news last month that the Attorney General’s Office said last year’s data on COVID case counts in schools was destroyed.

    The following response from the AG’s office came after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting the data was denied, saying

    “DHSS notes that DPH contracts with an outside vendor who operates the coronavirus website known as “My Healthy Community.” DHSS asserts it checked with the vendor and confirmed that the vendor has destroyed any previous reports which would have been responsive to your request.”

    GOP Chairwoman Jane Brady called out Governor Carney directly, citing a lack of transparency on the part of his administration.

    “I think that the Governor long ago should have removed the mask mandate for kids in school,” Chairwoman Brady explained. “I also think that the Governor should be transparent with the public. If they were making these decisions based on no information, then they need to admit that. They need to acknowledge that.”

    It remains unclear whether the State failed to collect the information or if the information was collected and actually destroyed as the Attorney General’s Office has suggested.

    The Governor’s Communication’s Director Jonathan Starkey said that was a mistake of wording on the part of the Attorney General’s Office. He then directed us to the Department of Health’s website which shows two graphs, one of which has no data from last year, and the other provides no specific numbers, just a reporting threshold of less than 11.

    When we asked the Governor’s Office where the data was from last year….we were told that they did not start reporting the data until January of this year.

    Text conversation with Governor Carney’s communications director, Jonathan Starkey

    “We started reporting in school contagious cases in January. There’s no data you’re missing.”

    Well if that’s truly the case, then where is exactly is the data for 2020? When we asked if it was not being reported prior to January of this year, Starkey told us “not in that way.”

    Brady raised serious concerns over the handling of the data, or lack thereof, citing the convoluted response from the Governor’s Office and the fact that the Attorney General’s Office stated that the vendor “destroyed” the data that was requested in the initial FOIA request.

    “I don’t know what happened, the Attorney General’s Office said the vendor said it was destroyed, the Governor’s Office says we never collected it,” said Chairwoman Brady. “It’s kind of like the CDC saying, ‘well, we’re not looking at how natural immunity, and people who have had COVID and have protection against contracting it again or if fairing,’ we aren’t looking at that issue, why not? It’s a political decision, not a medical one. We should be not imposing on our public decisions that are based on politics and not science.”

    At least one state lawmaker has spoken out on this issue, State Rep. Rich Collins, who in an interview earlier this month called on the State to release what they have and acknowledge the lack of transparency surrounding the COVID-19 case count from last year in Delaware schools.

    “In my view, the purpose of these state agencies should be to give us the most information they can so that we can make intelligent decisions for ourselves, rather than them spoon-feeding us exactly what they do or don’t want us to see and telling us what we have to do,” Rep. Collins said. “I’m in the process of writing a letter to Health & Human Services to request information on this and a number of other facts that we are not being told.”

    As of this time there’s still no official word from the Governor as to why health officials were not reporting the data from last year.

    “I just feel the Governor owes everyone an explanation on whether they have the information, what scientific data they used to evaluate whether kids needed to wear masks in school, and what they intend to do now,” Chairwoman Brady concluded. “Looking forward, we’re not looking at a pandemic anymore.”