Ahead Of Labor Day, RI Officials Urge Caution

PROVIDENCE, RI — With Labor Day weekend fast approaching, Gov. Gina Raimondo and the Rhode Island Department of Health are encouraging residents to stay safe and avoid large gatherings and parties over the holiday weekend.

"Just follow the rules," Raimondo said. "If you are having a social gathering, 15 is the limit. Not 20. Not 25. It's 15. And we're enforcing it."

Approximately two weeks after July 4, Rhode Island saw an uptick in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Many of the cases were connected to social gatherings, Raimondo said, which rarely have mask-wearing or social distancing. Informal gatherings with friends or family often lead to a false sense of security, which can lead to coronavirus transmission.

Those who do have parties are strongly encouraged to gather outside, which has been proven to be safer than indoor events.

Overall, Rhode Island is in a good place when it comes to the coronavirus, Raimondo said, with a percent positive rate of 1.2 percent on Monday. The state is testing more people than ever before, she said, breaking the single day record last week with 9,500 tests in one day. Throughout the week, 45,000 total tests were conducted, another record. Rhode Island is conducted twice as many tests as Massachusetts and 50 percent more than Connecticut, she said.

"Here in Rhode Island, we're doing about as well as we can be," the governor said.

As Rhode Islanders continue to get back to work and schools reopen, the number of coronavirus cases will go up, Raimondo said, which makes it more important to focus on the overall percent positive rate, rather than the number of individual cases. As part of this focus, the state is "over-testing" in urban communities to get a better idea of the percent positive rate.