Governor Gina Raimondo announced an additional two deaths and 54 new cases of the coronavirus in Rhode Island on Friday, noting that the state is now in the "rapid spread" stage of the pandemic. The total number of cases in state is now 711, with 14 deaths. There are 12 nursing homes with at least one case, the most of which have been found at the Golden Crest and Oak Hill facilities, which each have sixty or more cases.
The governor began to lay out the plan for dealing with a potential surge of cases in the state, saying that Rhode Island will set up fully equipped field hospitals at three sites: The R.I. Convention Center in Providence, the former Citizen's Bank building in Cranston and the former Lowe's building at Quonset Point in North Kingstown. The three makeshift hospitals will provide a combined 1,000 additional hospital beds.
While equipment and beds continue to be obtained, Raimondo says the biggest need going forward will be staffing. "We need people. If you are a retired [healthcare worker]... with any experience...or a recent graduate who is not yet employed..." you are encouraged to sign up to help reinforce the health care system. Anyone qualified may sign up on the web site www.RIresponds.org .
Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the RI Dept. of Health reminded Rhode Islanders that the state is now completely capable of testing anyone who needs it, with capacity at 1,000 tests per day. Anyone with symptoms is asked to call their health care provider, who can refer them to a testing site. Dr. Alexander Scott also encouraged the wearing of face coverings whenever in public, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. She says that a face covering may be made of any cloth covering and does not need to be a manufactured N-95 type mask. However, Dr. Alexander-Scott says that anyone with coronavirus symptoms should still stay at home and should not consider face covering a preventive measure.
Governor Raimondo was as forceful as she has been in asking residents to adhere to social distancing guidelines and reminded Rhode Islanders of her "stay at home" order, which includes not leaving the home, except to procure needed groceries, or to go to work. The governor said data shows that RI is "less compliant" of social distancing standards than other states, with data showing that travel in RI has reduced by 36% while the national average is 41%. "I don't want to scare you, but I want to level with you. We don't have enough respirators... or hospital beds," to deal with a surge in cases. Raimondo says that following social distancing guidelines is essential to avoiding an overwhelming surge, adding that the biggest variance in models that project the number of coronavirus cases is the amount of social distancing being practiced. She expects to share future projections of case numbers and deaths based on mathematical models by Monday.
On the business front, Governor Raimondo announced the the suspension of child care licenses through the month of April. She also announced that the Small Business Association loan package backed by the federal stimulus package, designed to help with payroll shortfalls, is now up and running.
photo: NBC10 video