The number of new coronavirus cases in Rhode Island continues to decrease. On Tuesday state officials announced 218 new cases and 6 new fatalities. The total number of cases in RI is now 7,926. The total number of deaths to date is 239.
At her daily briefing, Governor Gina Raimondo also announced that he has extended all deadlines for expirations at the DMV. Anyone will a license or registration which expires in March, April or May, will have an additional 90 days to renew.
Raimondo also announced a new executive order pertaining to health care. The order loosens regulations affecting the following :
- Prescription costs cannot increase
- No referrals will be needed for Tele-Health
- Prior authorization not needed for COVID-19 treatment
- Prior authorization not needed for mental health assessment
While Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced on Tuesday that he is extending the "stay at home" advisory for the Commonwealth, Gov. Raimondo says that she is hoping that she will not need to extend the order in RI beyond May 8th. On Monday Raimondo laid out a three phase plan for opening the state, projected to start on May 9th, providing certain benchmarks regarding the number of new cases and hospitalizations are met.
graphic/data: RIDOH