PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo is pointing the blame at two universities who recently experienced outbreaks for the state’s high numbers of new cases.
“We’re all feeling the consequences,” said Raimondo on Wednesday during her weekly coronavirus briefing.
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Last week, there were 190 new positive coronavirus cases among Providence College and University of Rhode Island students. Out of the 190 cases, 150 were at PC and 40 were at URI. The governor said that without those additional cases, overall case numbers throughout Rhode Island were “declining slighting” last week.
Raimondo said that because of clusters at PC and URI, cases have gone above the 10 cases per 100,000 people per day, which is the threshold set for the joint travel advisory list set by public health officials in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
“It’s impacting the entire state,” said Raimondo, who said the PC students who tested positive were living off campus in triple-decker apartments on Eaton Street. She said there was not a party or social gathering with many people that lead to the outbreak, but that students were not wearing masks or properly social distancing.
About 120 PC students were set up at alternative housing to quarantine. The governor said it is still an active outbreak, but that the College now has a handle on it.
Raimondo said positive cases at URI were also not traced back to a large gathering or party, but to small gatherings that did not keep stable groups. Raimondo said that a campus-wide stay-at-home order was not necessary at URI because the outbreak was under control. She said students should not go home if they live out of state to prevent further transmission of COVID-19.
“I’m sure the administrators at PC are asking themselves ‘what should we have done,'” said Raimondo, and said the College did not have adequate systems in place before the outbreak. “I wish the college was more proactive.”
The governor said she previously considered not allowing students to come back to campus, but after conversations with local college presidents, Raimondo said these administrators promised they would have a handle on the situation, and consequences if necessary.
“I’ve said this to every college president: you must hold the students accountable for off-campus behavior,” said Raimondo.
When asked if she thinks PC should go to fully remote learning, the governor said she was “not there yet.”
“PC is doing a good job now,” said Raimondo.
