Dewey Beach mayor says DC mayor 'made a mistake' by putting Delaware on its ‘high-risk’ list

Delaware on DC’s list of states considered high risk

If you happen to be in Delaware and then travel into Washington D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that you must quarantine for 14 days.

DEWEY BEACH, Del. (FOX 5 DC) - If you happen to be in Delaware and then travel into Washington D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that you must quarantine for 14 days.

Delaware was put on D.C.’s list of 27 states considered high-risk for coronavirus transmission.

“I think that she’s made a mistake on this,” said Dewey Beach Mayor Dale Cooke. “The latest numbers that I got were on the positive range of 4.5 and that’s well within the range of normalcy. It’s going to hurt Dewey beach a lot and I’m sorry that to hear that she decided to do that. “

Cooke said that the beaches are safe and provide plenty of opportunity for social distancing.

He said that it’s unfair because just recently, Delaware was on a similar list in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey but wad taken off after a few days.

Cooke did not have a concrete number but he guessed that about 50 percent of their visitors are from the DC area.

According to the District’s coronavirus site, high-risk areas are locations where the seven-day moving average of daily new COVID-19 cases is 10 or more per 100,000 people.

Cooke said that Mayor Bowser is giving the wrong advice.

Maryland and Virginia are exempted from the order.

“I think that to have just states specific quarantine is wrong,” said Diane Sweeney of Maryland. “Because a lot of us own houses in these places and rent houses in these places and we see people from other states and these states are very close to one another.”

“I think it’s to each their own,” said John Schumer of Maryland. “I mean I think you social distancing at a beach will be pretty safe and I don’t think you can tell them that they can’t do that.”

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In a statement to FOX 5, the office of Mayor Paul Kuhns of the City of Rehoboth Beach wrote:

“We are disappointed along with Governor Carney of Delaware being placed on states’ quarantine lists. We are hopeful these restrictions will be lifted soon. Our small businesses are really taking a hit this summer. We know if people do the right thing, practice social distancing and wear a face covering, our community along with Delaware’s beach towns, are safe and welcoming to visitors.”

Based on a six percent response (72 businesses) out of the 1,200 chamber members, the total loss of revenue reported between Jan. 1, 2019 to July 6, 2019 when compared to the same timeframe for 2020 amounts to $205,745,277, according to Carol Everhart, President and CEO of Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce.