Quarantine Infrastructure Improving: Coronavirus In RI

PROVIDENCE, RI — As Rhode Island continues to battle the coronavirus crisis and looks forward to the re-opening of the state's economy, the system for quarantining and isolation confirmed cases of the virus is improving, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Wednesday. There are 87 new cases in the state and seven additional deaths.

The new cases and deaths bring the totals to 3,529 and 87, respectively. At this time, 229 people are in the hospital, and, of those, 54 are in an intensive care unit, and 44 need a ventilator to breathe. To date, 168 people have been discharged from the hospital. Six of the seven reported deaths were nursing homes residents.

"It's still a critical time. These next couple of weeks. I know it's brutal," Raimondo said. "I have spent the last 24 hours, meeting after meeting, focused solely on how to get folks back to work, child care open. It's not going to happen in the next couple of weeks. ... But we can do it. If we all stay together, we can safely do it."

In order for the economy to safely reopen, the system to quickly identify positive coronavirus cases and get them into quarantine must be efficient and scaled, Raimondo said. This would mark the switch to a more targeted approach, rather than the "blunt instrument" of closing everything down that is currently in use. This includes providing meals or groceries to those who cannot leave their homes and making spaces available to quarantine for those who are unable to do so in their homes.

"Once we get to the business of getting people back to work, we need to have more of these quarantine services up and running. That is our goal," Raimondo said.

At this time, approximately 6,000 people are in quarantine, the vast majority of whom are at home, Raimondo said. Because those in quarantine must not leave their homes, even to get groceries, the state is working to improve delivery services to meet this demand. Meals on Wheels Rhode Island has delivered more than 32,000 meals over the past weeks, while schools and community groups distribute more than 20,000 meals each day across the state. In addition, the state is working with ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft to increase delivery capacity.

For those who are homeless or housing insecure, there are 200 beds available at the Wyndham Hotel in Warwick, near T.F. Green Airport. At this time, approximately 50 beds are in use, Raimondo said.

Health care and other front line workers who do not feel safe returning to their homes have options available, as well, the governor continued. At this time, these employees can find an available hotel room using RI Havens, a portal which provides access to deeply discounted hotel rooms, as low as $25 per night. In the future, Raimondo said she hopes to make college dorm rooms available for this purpose, free of charge.

Although there is enough at present, maintaining an adequate supply of personal protective equipment remains a concern, Raimondo said. To avoid major shortages, health care workers have been forced to reuse PPE, which the governor said is not acceptable.

"We are trying to get our hands on as many N95s as we can. It's a fight. It's a continual, global fight," Raimondo said.

Each day, several hundred appointments will be made available to nursing home workers at CVS's rapid test site at Twin River Casino in Lincoln.

To date, there have been 10 deaths at Orchard View, 17 at Oak Hill, 23 at Golden Crest and four at Oakland Grove nursing homes. In total, there have been 66 nursing home deaths, 75 percent of the state's total fatalities.

Although the executive order mandating employees at customer-facing businesses wear face coverings does not cover all Rhode Island residents, everyone is strongly urged to wear a face covering when outside of their homes, especially when around other people. However, businesses should not turn away customers for not wearing a mask, Raimondo said.

"Customers shouldn't be turned away [for not wearing a face mask]," she said. "But customers shouldn't be doing that. Customers should be wearing a cloth face mask. It could be a sock. It could be anything."

Related: Fabric Face Masks: What You Need To Know | Coronavirus In RI

Clarifying a previous comment about residents of towns that border Massachusetts, Raimondo said to "use common sense," and that it's ok to go grocery shopping right over the border if that's the closest option, but to stay at home as much as possible. The stay-at-home order remains in effect until May 8.

"The less you leave your house, the safer we'll all be," she said.

Looking ahead to the summer, Raimondo said that although restrictions will still be in place, she has "a dream" that parks and beaches will be open to enjoy.

"We should be able to using our parks and beaches, somehow. I will leave it at that," she said. "There will be restrictions all summer long, all fall, and, frankly, until we have an effective treatment or vaccines. ... There will still be restrictions around crowds, and our ability to congregate."

Patch Editor Scott Souza contributed to this report.

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