PROVIDENCE – Sounding determined and even optimistic at times, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo on Monday afternoon laid out six factors that she says state leaders will need to address before Rhode Island’s economy can begin to reopen.
Still, she warned, the process will be a long one, and may include reversals if cases of COVID-19 start to surge again.
“We’re going to do this; no one’s ever done this before,” Raimondo said during her daily press briefing. “We had to shut down the economy together, and we’re going to stand it up together.”
A decrease in the spread of the virus is the first thing that must happen before the economy reopens, the governor said.
With 339 new cases reported Monday, along with five more deaths, numbers from the virus are still on the incline, she acknowledged.
There have been a total of 155 deaths related to the new coronavirus in the state as of Sunday, and 5,090 positive cases.
The number of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 is 272, up from 244 the previous day. There are 62 people in intensive care units, including 45 on ventilators.
Once the cases begin to decrease, five other factors will come into play to get the economy back up and running, Raimondo said.
They are:
- Health officials must be able to head off potential large outbreaks by developing a framework to quickly identify and contain community spread.
- Health systems must have the capacity and enough protective gear to handle a surge of cases.
- Supports must be in place for vulnerable populations and those in quarantine.
- Organizations such as schools, child care facilities and churches must create long term plans for social distancing.
- Businesses must be willing to accept the possibility of restrictions or closures if another outbreak of the virus occurs.
“My goal will always be to get as many people back to work as fast as safely possible,” Raimondo said, pointing out that the state’s testing capabilities have been among the highest per capita in the nation.
“Four, six or nine months from now, when we are back to work a bit more and living our lives a bit more, you’ll be able to see Rhode Island has stayed at the cutting edge of what we’re doing,” she said.
So far, 37,080 people have been tested for COVID-19, with 31,990 tests coming back negative, according to the R.I. Department of Health.
Of the people whose deaths were announced Monday, one person was in their 60s, one was in their 80s and three were in their 90s, said the state’s Health Director, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott.
New health department data on ethnicity and race shows that Latinos and African-American in particular have been hard-hit by the virus in the Ocean State.
Latinos, who make up just 15% of the state’s population, account for 45% of Rhode Island’s COVID-19 cases, while 12% of virus cases are in African-Americans, who represent about 6% of the state’s overall population, Alexander-Scott said.
The health department continues to identify the people most at-risk for the virus, and how best to reach them and those they’ve been in contact with, she added.
(ADDS third bullet point, with supports for vulnerable populations, identified by governor. Updates throughout.)
