RI's Coronavirus Rate At 7.5%, Hospitalizations Over Safe Range

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island's daily coronavirus data continues to trend in the wrong direction, with the daily percent positive rate exceeding 7 percent on Monday. The newest weekly data shows across-the-board increases, with new hospitalizations over the safe threshold for the first time.

The latest weekly data trends show 228 new hospitalizations, which exceeds the safe threshold of 210. Cases per 100,000 people remain well above the safe threshold of 100, rising by nearly 100 in the past week to 362.

While the weekly percent positive rate remains below five percent, it has steadily increased every week since the beginning of October, and day-to-day numbers are often much higher. On Monday, the percent positive rate reached 7.5 percent, the highest in recent months.

Last week, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced the second of two rounds of new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus in the state, which is mostly happening in unstructured settings where social distancing and mask-wearing are uncommon. The governor urged all residents to keep their close contacts as few as possible and stable, only seeing 10 people or fewer for at least two weeks.

With Thanksgiving fast-approaching, Raimondo asked all Rhode Islanders to keep their gatherings small ad local, ideally just with members of the immediate household. Further guidance specific to Thanksgiving is expected at the governor's weekly news conference on Thursday.

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