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Law360 (April 10, 2020, 7:03 PM EDT) -- Delaware's governor on Friday extended the state's COVID-19 emergency order for up to 30 more days, keeping in effect stay-at-home and commerce restrictions, quarantines for those arriving from out of state and potential criminal sanctions for violations.
Gov. John Carney said Delaware law limits emergency declarations to 30 days, obliging him to extend his initial March 12 finding as well as the 10 modifications that followed or risk seeing them expire on Saturday.
The most recent modification, on April 6, banned short-term rentals and ordered additional business closings — a particularly painful blow to the state's coastal resort area. Earlier measures banned routine gatherings of 10 or more people, limited childcare services to officially designated emergency sites and directed out-of-state visitors to self-quarantine for 14 days, making ordinary day trips to and from Delaware's nationally important courtrooms impossible.
"This is a difficult weekend as we continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 in Delaware," Carney said in an announcement that also urged residents to remain at home. "I know that so many Delaware families across our state — including mine — traditionally celebrate Easter and Passover surrounded by family. This year will be much different for all of us."
Delaware, which has just under 1 million residents, had recorded 1,326 COVID-19 cases as of Friday, with 181 hospitalizations and 32 deaths, according to the state health department.
The state's courts remain closed to most public access, meanwhile, until at least April 15, with the state Supreme Court already having suspended in-court arguments through May. Legal procedures and practices have been relaxed, modified or shelved in various ways across the system to protect court staff, the public and practitioners.
Delaware Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. ordered all state court facilities closed to the public on March 23, with additional measures announced to maintain required and urgent services and proceedings, including by telephone and videoconferencing. Steps taken have included drastic limits on in-person appearances, suspension or extensions of statutes of limitations, filing deadlines and other restrictions, as well as sharp limits on use of paper filings.
Both state and federal courts have grappled with provisions for remote appearances at hearings, including uses of traditional teleconferences and call-in services managed by commercial providers.
In Delaware, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein said in a letter Friday that she had scheduled a time-sensitive evidentiary hearing for next week, allowing witnesses to testify and answer attorney questions via Skype, with participation also possible through CourtCall.
--Editing by Alanna Weissman.
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