PROVIDENCE – Cases of COVID-19 identified in Rhode Island totaled 1,082 as of Monday afternoon, marking an increase of 160 from Sunday, according to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo.
The state currently has 109 hospitalizations due to the coronavirus. As of Sunday, the state had 93 hospitalizations due to COVID-19. There are currently 37 patients in intensive care units in the state, including 26 on ventilators.
There were two more deaths in the state due to COVID-19 as of Monday afternoon, bringing the total death toll to 27 in Rhode Island. The two latest deaths were a person in their 90s and another in their 80s. The older person was living at Golden Crest Nursing Centre in North Providence and is the 10th death there related to the new coronavirus.
Raimondo said the state now has “widespread,” community spread of the coronavirus.
“The increase [in positive cases] is not cause for panic,” Raimondo said. “It is consistent with what we have been planning for.”
She said the latest projection for when the state should expect to see a peak in the daily number of positive cases and related deaths is somewhere between mid-April and mid-May.
“It changes every day,” she said, and depends greatly on how well the state follows social-distancing guidelines and continues to ramp up testing.
Earlier on Monday, the governor announced that the state has partnered with CVS Health Corp. to set up a rapid drive-through testing site at the parking lot of Twin River Hotel Casino in Lincoln that can process 1,000 tests per day, doubling the state’s testing capacity.
Despite the continued spreading of the virus throughout the state, Raimondo called Monday “a good day” in the state’s battle against the new coronavirus, in part because of its increased testing capacity.
She said Rhode Island now has “some of the highest testing per capita in America.”
The site operated by CVS and the state is only for Rhode Islanders who are at least 18. Raimondo said it should be used only by those who have to leave their homes for work and have symptoms. In those cases, it does not require a doctor’s referral. People can register online at CVS.com and will get results in about 15 minutes.
The state also has testing for children at three local colleges. Those results take a few days to come back and the tests require a doctor’s referral.
There’s also testing at the state health department’s lab for those deemed critically ill and for other special cases.
All of the testing for the virus in the state is free.
Raimondo said she was also pleased to share that workers who in the past who have been unable to file for unemployment insurance can now do so and the state is ready to process the claims. Those workers include freelancers, hairdressers and other employees of small businesses.
She added that thanks to changes approved by Congress, all workers in the state laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic will receive an extra benefit of up to $600 per week through July 31.
She said it will take up to two weeks for most people to get unemployment checks once they have applied.
“We are crushed with demand,” she said. “We’re getting tens of thousands of requests a day.”
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