PROVIDENCE – Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island increased by 94, with no new deaths, the R.I. Department of Health reported on Tuesday.
The department said there have been 60.6 new cases per 100,000 Rhode Island residents in the previous seven days, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as “substantial transmission.”
“Substantial transmission” is the third threshold in the CDC’s community transmission tier system. The state, if it reaches more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents, would be put in the “high transmission” category.
The CDC was expected on Tuesday to recommend indoor mask wearing for vaccinated individuals living within certain areas of the country where virus spread is significant.
However, despite increased cases, hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in the state remain minimal. Hospitalizations currently total 24, a rise of two from Monday’s figures. Of those hospitalized, three are in intensive care units and three are on ventilators. By comparison, there were 67 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on July 28, 2020.
There have been 654,926 individuals fully vaccinated in the state to date, an increase of 601 from Monday, as well as 1.32 million total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered.
Confirmed cases of the virus in the state have totaled 153,802 to date, an increase of 105 from figures reported prior to the weekend, accounting for the day-to-day increase as well as data revisions for previous days.
Deaths due to the virus in Rhode Island total 2,739 to date. The state has seen no deaths since July 14, according to RIDOH data, and only four reported deaths so far this month. By comparison, there were 46 deaths due to the virus from July 1 through July 27, 2020.
There were 4,437 tests processed on Monday, with an overall positive rate of 2.1%. When excluding both repeat positive and repeat negative test results, the positive rate was 8.4%.
There have been 4.6 million tests administered in the state to 977,079 individuals.
The department also released its three weekly COVID-19 metrics Tuesday:
- The positive rate last week was 1.8%, a rise from 1% one week prior.
- New hospital admissions totaled 22 last week, a rise from 17 one week prior.
- New cases per 100,000 residents totaled 55, a rise from 29 one week prior.
