PROVIDENCE – The number of identified cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island reached 1,450 by Wednesday afternoon, an increase from 1,229 on Tuesday, Gina M. Raimondo said at her daily coronavirus briefing.
The governor said that five more people died from the virus since Tuesday afternoon, bringing the state’s death toll to 35.
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 totaled 143 on Wednesday afternoon, an increase from 123 one day prior.
Three people who died were nursing home residents, said R.I. Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott. One person, in their 90s, lived at Golden Crest Nursing Centre in North Providence, and another two people, one in their 80s and the other in their 70s, lived at Oak Hill Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Pawtucket.
The two facilities have been hard-hit by the virus, with more than 60 cases reported in residents and staff at each site.
The other two people who died were in their 70s, Alexander-Scott said.
RIDOH is now partnering with Salesforce.com Inc., to develop a platform to help health officials with contact tracing, or or re-tracing a person’s steps after they’ve tested positive for the virus, Raimondo said.
For the past five weeks, the process has been done manually but must be made more efficient in order to re-open the economy, she said.
“This is essentially to get everybody back to work,” the governor said, adding that she wants to see a system that allows people to track symptoms, set up testing appointments online and to monitor those in quarantine.
Earlier in the day, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said that filings for unemployment insurance due to COVID-19 passed 100,000. The DLT also said that on the first day of accepting applications for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, the state received over 10,000 applications. The PUA program, part of the federal COVID-19 stimulus response, covers those typically not eligible for unemployment benefits, such as contractors, gig workers and the self-employed.
Raimondo also announced that Rhode Island courts will now be closed for nonessential business through May 17, extending the date by a month.
“What this means is that you cannot be evicted at any time for any reason between now and May 17,” she said.
Help is also on the way for people who are struggling to make mortgage payments, Raimondo said.
As doctors, nurses and other providers are being strongly discouraged from reporting to work with symptoms of any kind, the state continues to urge health care workers who are retired or currently not working to sign up to volunteer at RI Responds.
About a quarter of Rhode Island’s COVID-19 cases are health care workers, Alexander-Scott said earlier this week.
This story has been updated to include more details from the governor’s press conference.
