DELAWARE- Delaware Tech campuses are the sites for the National Guard certified nurse assistant training.
One hundred servicemen and women are spread out up and down the state with 23 of them in Dover.
In just two weeks, they will learn what it takes to be a nurse assistant, which the community college's Associate Vice President For Workforce Development Paul Morris says is intensive compared to the normal class timeframe.
"Typically it’s about a six to ten week program," Morris said. "We are doing two weeks now. Obviously, it’s a state of emergency so we are trying to support their needs. So it’s really depending on the students. We’re trying to create a schedule that meets their needs but also gets them into the facilities in a timely manner."
The members understand that the COVID surge is serious and their efforts are needed. First Lieutenant Antwan Miller says when he joined he never expected to take something like this on but is looking to make the most of these two weeks.
"For this training, I’m hoping that myself as well as all of the soldiers get some medical expertise and translate this to their civilian lifestyles and to improve as time goes on," Lieutenant Miller said.
On the same day the State of Emergency was declared, the city of Rehoboth Beach put in a mandate for city employees. They either need to be fully vaccinated with a booster or if they are not going to get vaccinated they must provide a weekly negative test in order to come to work.
City Manager Sharon Lynn says safety is of utmost importance for employees and community members in which 73 of them are fully vaccinated.
"My only objective here is the keep employees safe and the public safe," Lynn said. "We haven’t closed city hall yet but it is a consideration in the future if we have to go that way."
The city is teaming up with Aspira Health to vaccinate people including its employees at a clinic Wednesday night at the convention center.
Governor Carney has said time and time again how much vaccinations are determining how severe the surge is. Yesterday he reported that 71 percent of hospitalizations are unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people and until they get the shots, the increase in cases isn’t going away.