Health & Fitness

COVID-19 Transmission 'High' In Rhode Island: CDC

A week after the state moved from "moderate" to "substantial" transmission, Rhode Island moved to the highest level.

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Rachel Nunes, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
Over the past seven days, there were 103.4 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in Rhode Island, putting the state over the 100 or higher threshold needed to reach "high" community spread.
Over the past seven days, there were 103.4 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in Rhode Island, putting the state over the 100 or higher threshold needed to reach "high" community spread. (Rachel Nunes/Patch)

PROVIDENCE, RI — COVID-19 is making a comeback in Rhode Island. On Monday, the state was declared to have "high" community transmission rates, the highest tier of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's indicator.

Over the past seven days, there were 103.4 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in Rhode Island, putting the state over the 100 or higher threshold needed to reach "high" community spread. That's nearly double the seven-day number reported last Monday, when the state was moved from "moderate" to "substantial" transmission with 57.4 cases per 100,000 people.

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(Rhode Island Department of Health)
At this time, neither the Rhode Island Department of Health nor Gov. Dan McKee have called for vaccinated people to wear masks in public settings. However, the latest guidance from the CDC calls for mask-wearing even among those who are fully vaccinated in crowded public settings, in an effort to slow the spread of the deadly, more transmissible delta variant.

Read more: Should Fully Vaccinated Rhode Islanders Wear A Mask? Probably.

The new designation comes as coronavirus case numbers once again climb in the Ocean State. Last week's weekly data showed the percent positive rate nearly doubling from 1 percent to 1 .8 percent, while the weekly case numbers rose from 29 to 55 per 100,000 people as of July 24. The latest weekly data will be published Tuesday.

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