Application of state law in the public health emergency response to COVID-19: an example from Delaware in the United States

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic of 2019–2020 generated an equally unprecedented response from government institutions to control contagion. These legal responses included shelter in place orders, closure of non-essential businesses, limiting public gatherings, and mandatory mask wearing, among others. The State of Delaware in the United States experienced an outbreak later than most states but a particularly intense one that required a rapid and effective public health response. We describe the ways that Delaware responded through the interplay of public health, law, and government action, contrasting the state to others. We discuss how evolution of this state’s public heath legal response to the pandemic can inform future disease outbreak policies.