• Indoor gatherings in homes must be capped at no more than 10 people.
• Indoor gatherings outside of homes must be limited to 30 percent of the venue’s stated fire capacity, up to a cap of 50 people. This includes all events, such as weddings, funerals, services in houses of worship, performances, political gatherings, and events in public spaces including fire halls.
• Outdoor public gatherings are limited to 50 people. Up to 250 may be allowed with a plan approved by the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH).
• Restaurants must operate at no more than 30 percent of fire capacity indoors, with allowances for additional outdoor seating.
• Governor Carney’s order will also prohibit Delaware youth sports organizations, teams and venues from hosting or participating in tournaments with out-of-state teams, effective at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, December 1. The order includes a provision prohibiting Delaware teams from traveling across states lines for tournaments.

• “The actions we are taking today are ones I’d rather we not have to take. … We have objectives to increase economic activity and business operations as well as improving the health of the community ... so what we are doing today is an attempt to strike a balance.”

• Current COVID-19 stats: 

• Current Delaware testing totals thus far this year: 385,476 total people tested; 634,013 tests administered (some people being tested more than once). Thus far in November, there have been 58,421 tests administered (as per DEMA Director AJ Schall).

• On COVID-19 and Hospital Capacity: “We estimate that the total critical care capacity statewide in hospitals is in the 400 to 450 [bed] range, depending on the day.” (According to the American Hospital Directory, total permanent hospital beds in Delaware number more than 2,000, with availability varying.)

• “We are seeing a surge. Cases are spreading most often during gatherings with others who don’t live with them.” (primarily indoors)

• “We need to do what it takes to push down this spread and get on the other side of this surge.”

• On limiting indoor, private gatherings to no more than 10 people staring on Monday: “We rely primarily, on most of this, on voluntary compliance. … We’re not going to be knocking on people’s doors to see how many are at dinner for Thanksgiving.”

• “Clearly we’ve seen an acceleration of our cases, a pretty rapid increase, over the past few weeks and we are all concerned about the impact that this will have.”

• “I’m really astonished at how many Halloween parties took place in our state and I do think that that’s part of what drove our acceleration.”

• On COVID-19 and Schools: Says there is broad evidence – in Delaware, other U.S. states, and European counties – that COVID-19 is not being spread in schools. “Schools are safe because our educators and our staff are really doing a great job with putting these mitigation protocols in place, so they end up being very controlled environments for the staff and the students."

• The percentage of people who tested positive for COVID-19 after having attended gatherings/events (e.g. - house parties, religious services, sporting events, restaurants, etc.) reportedly jumped from 18% in August to 28% in October.

• Called restaurants “a very risky setting” due to the dinners being in close proximity, with their masks off, often indoors. “It’s not the fault of the restaurants. The restaurant [operators] are doing a lot of hard work … keeping things clean, but the reality is [COVID-19] is spread through respiratory droplets and it’s hard to control that in a restaurant setting.”

• On cutting restaurant capacity to from 60% of rated occupancy to 30%: “We truly acknowledge the painful impact that this has on restaurants and the people who work there ... and we would not make this recommendation if it were not important in decreasing the spread [of the virus].” 

• Thanksgiving Day Guidelines: Limit social gatherings to household members. College students returning home for the holidays should get tested, wear face coverings, limit contact before and after arriving.