Slight Uptick In RI Coronavirus Cases As Hospitalizations Plummet

PROVIDENCE, RI — After more than a month of steady decline on all fronts, Rhode Island's coronavirus case numbers creeped up slightly over the past week, even as hospitalizations continue to fall dramatically.

That's not to say Rhode Island is in a bad place when it comes to the pandemic. Two of the three key indicators, percent positivity rate and new hospitalizations, are well below their respective thresholds of what is considered safe. The third, new cases per 100,000 people, remains relatively close to the safe threshold of 100 or fewer.

Over the past week, new hospitalizations saw a major drop-off, falling by about 50 to 125, compared to 176 the week prior. Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott and other top health officials have praised the decline in hospitalizations, saying the department's initial targeted vaccine rollout did its job of keeping vulnerable residents out of the public while protecting the health care system from becoming overwhelmed.

In a change from previous weeks, both the percent positivity rate and cases per 100,000 people increased slightly. The percent positivity rate went up just 0.1 percentage point to 2.1 percent — still less than half of the safe mark of 5 percent. Case numbers ticked up slightly as well, rising from 214 last week to 241.