Beginning Saturday April 18th, all employees of public facing companies in Rhode Island will be required to wear cloth face coverings. In announcing her latest executive order, Governor Gina Raimondo said on Tuesday that the business types include grocery stores and pharmacies. The order also includes offices, manufacturers and non-profits. Raimondo says that all customers of such businesses should also wear masks, and that the state Department of Business Regulation will be doing spot checks and enforcing the new order. Penalties, the governor said, may be added if lack of compliance becomes an issue. Raimondo describes the wearing of masks as part of the new "normal" which is expected to last for months, until treatment of a vaccine is developed. Any business that is not able to follow the face mask order must assure that all employees are maintaining at least six feet of social distancing from others.
When asked about when the economy may open up again, Raimondo said that any actions will be incremental and that restaurants and hospitality businesses will take longer than most industries to reopen.
The Governor also announced on Tuesday that public health insurance marketplace Health Source RI has extended its enrollment period through April 30th.
Rhode Island has recorded 275 new cases of coronavirus since Monday, bringing the statewide total to 3,251 cases. There were seven recent deaths,raising the total to 80. Three out of the of the deaths were nursing home related.
photo: WJAR NBC10 video