Raimondo: R.I. bars to close at 11 p.m. starting Aug. 7 following noncompliance

Updated at 2 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2020.

CASES OF COVID-19 in Rhode Island increased by 84 on Tuesday. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
CASES OF COVID-19 in Rhode Island increased by 84 on Tuesday. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

PROVIDENCE – Bars in Rhode Island will not be able to remain open past 11:00 p.m. starting on Aug. 7, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said during her coronavirus briefing on Wednesday.

Restaurants can stay open past 11:00 p.m., but the bar area must be closed or roped off to avoid congregations. Raimondo said that during inspections during the past week, 20% of bars inspected are still not separating bartenders from customers.

The governor said that inspections will “ramp up” once again this weekend and won’t hesitate to close bars if there is no improvement. She said many have been “skirting around” the rules laid out by R.I. Commerce Corp.

“We will be out in force,” said Raimondo.

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In addition, the governor echoed the same message that she has discussed during her briefings for the last several weeks, which is that many Rhode Islanders are not adhering to the state’s new social gathering limit. On July 29, due to an increase in new cases and noncompliance around social gatherings, the governor decreased the social gathering limit from 25 to 15 people.

Raimondo said that those who violate the limit could be subject to a $500 fine.

Raimondo’s press conference comes as cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island increased by 84, according to the R.I. Department of Health said on Wednesday.

“That’s certainly better than the triple-digits days that we’ve been having recently,” said Raimondo.

Cases of the virus in the state have totaled 19,481 to date, an increase of 91 from figures reported on Tuesday, accounting for both the day-to-day increase, as well as data revisions for previous days. 

The state also reported one new fatality due to the virus, bringing the state total to 1,012. 

There were 79 hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in Rhode Island, a decline of one day to day. The three-day average of hospitalizations was 81. Of those hospitalized, 14 were in intensive care units and five were on ventilators. 

There were 3,123 tests conducted for COVID-19 in Rhode Island on Tuesday, with an overall positive rate of 2.7%. When excluding both repeat negative and repeat positive results, the positive rate for the day was 6%. There have been 384,902 tests administered in the state to date. 

Starting Wednesday night, in an expanded testing effort, Rhode Islanders between the ages of 18 to 39 will be able to sign up for asymptomatic tests at portal.ri.gov.

This story has been updated to include information from the governor’s press conference. 

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