NEWS

'Pause' extended one week

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Rhode Island’s “pause” has been extended through Dec. 20, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced last week, after which a handful of revised restrictions will be put in place through the year’s end as part of a “slow dial-up of the economy.”

The one-week extension came as the latest Department of Health data continue to paint what the governor called a “sobering picture” – and as the state drew unwelcome national, and even global, notoriety of the extent of its new COVID-19 surge.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this. It’s getting scary in Rhode Island, and don’t take it from me, just look at the facts. This is an alarming picture,” she said at the outset of her remarks.

Later, using a phrase she repeated multiple times during her weekly briefing, she added: “The name of the game, from now until the end of the year is, stick with your household. Protect your household.”

Raimondo said while there had been encouraging signs in mobility data – which she described as a leading indicator of COVID’s spread – and a slight downtick in positive rates that she attributed to the current “pause,” continued concern over hospitalizations and other trends led to the decision to extend the current regulations.

Most sectors of the state and its economy will not see significant changes under the rules that take effect after the planned new expiration of the “pause” on Dec. 21.

Schools will remain open for in-person instruction in grades pre-K through eight, with districts given the option to move high schools to limited in-person classes. Child care facilities, manufacturing and construction operations, and personal services businesses will all be allowed to remain open.

Retailers will still be asked to limit their number of customers to one per 100 square feet at a given time. That figure will be one customer per 150 square feet for big box stores.

Bar areas in various establishments will remain closed, although indoor dining capacity at restaurants will be increased from 33 percent to 50 percent.

“Venues of assembly” will be allowed to operate at 25 percent capacity with a maximum of 125 people, according to the outline the governor shared, while gyms and other indoor sports and recreation facilities will be allowed to reopen with a limit of one person per 150 square feet at a time.

Acknowledging the frustration, and likely pushback, from businesses in light of the extended restrictions, Raimondo said: “I can hear in my own mind the collective groan of businesses that are getting hurt by this. And I’m sorry.”

She announced that cash assistance for businesses affected by the “pause” would be expanded and extended to account for the third week, while an additional $200 weekly unemployment benefit for affected workers would also be extended for the length of the pause.

Raimondo said the extension of the “pause” relief – which will cost roughly $30 million – means she “will have essentially allocated all of the federal stimulus monies” provided through the CARES Act. She again urged Congress to pass a new stimulus bill.

Raimondo acknowledged the start of Hanukkah, and at point was asked how Rhode Islanders should approach Christmas.

“You should be planning a small, household Christmas” and refraining from travel, she said.

Urging Rhode Islanders to seek testing through portal.ri.gov whether they feel sick or not, the governor also said: “If you feel sick, go get a test. If you don’t feel sick, go get a test … I can’t say it enough. Go get tested, go get tested, go get tested.”

By the numbers

Tuesday’s data update from the Department of Health showed another 1,084 COVID-19 cases identified from among 12,229 tests, a positive test rate of 8.9 percent.

Fifteen more Rhode Islanders have died as a result of COVID-19, bringing the state’s toll to 1,570.

Hospitalization numbers, typically seen as a lagging indicator, a continue to paint a disturbing picture of the state’s current standing.

As of Tuesday, 455 Rhode Islanders were hospitalized due to the coronavirus. Raimondo last week said the state was seeing an average of more than 60 new hospitalizations each day, with a high of over 70 on one day.

“We can’t stay at this pace,” she said. “We cannot have 70 people going into the hospital every day … That’s what I have to prevent.”

Raimondo said she is not moving to halt elective, non-emergency procedures in hospitals at this point.

“We’re going to let them manage it,” she said, referring to hospitals and health care systems.

Weekly data released Tuesday showed some reason for encouragement. The positive test rate for last week was 7.8 percent, down from 9 percent the week prior, while new hospitalizations dropped slightly, from 448 to 440, over the same time period. The number of new cases per 100,000 residents also declined week-to-week, from 851 to 790.

Early in her briefing, Raimondo echoed was has become a common assertion when she is asked for the reasons behind the state’s current surge.

“It’s pretty simple why it’s happening. People continue to not follow the rules,” she said.

She softened that language when responding to a question later in the briefing, however, acknowledging that factors such as the density of the state’s population, its large number of multigenerational homes, its high percentage of older residents, and its location between the Boston and New York areas have played a role.

“Some of the stuff is out of our control … maybe I was wrong in saying, you know, it was rule following, although there’s plenty of that,” she said.

Vaccine update

Last week’s briefing occurred before the FDA granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and the arrival and administration of the first doses in Rhode Island. It also occurred before Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing Raimondo and others into quarantine.

Dr. Philip Chan, an infectious disease expert with the Department of Health, last week provided an update on the state’s plans and tentative schedule for the rollout of inoculations.

Striking a decidedly optimistic tone on this front, he said: “This to me is really the light at the end of the tunnel ... This to me is really the beginning of the end.”

In an assessment that proved correct, he added: “People could be receiving vaccine here in Rhode Island as soon as next week.”

Under the schedule Chan presented, the first phases of vaccine rollout – including high-risk health care workers, first responders, long-term care facility residents, people with “significant” health conditions and older adults in congregate living situations – is planned to occur between December and February.

The second phase – which would include the K-12 community, “critical workers in high-risk settings,” people with “moderate” underlying conditions, people who are homeless or incarcerated, and older adults – is set for February through April. Others would follow during the third and fourth phases of vaccination, planned for April through June.

“There are many, many variables that can affect this … But we are trying to work as fast as we can to get the vaccine out to people,” he said, acknowledging the schedule may change and asking Rhode Islanders to be “flexible and patient” in the months to come.

Chan also sought to reassure those who might harbor concerns over the relative speed with which vaccine candidates have been developed and reached the point of use. Ensuring vaccine safety, he said, is a “longstanding process … and it’s being followed to the letter.”

In terms of side effects from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Chan said researchers are “not seeing anything unexpected,” although moderate effects such as soreness and fatigue are being seen “at a little bit of a higher rate.” That, he said, is an indicator of their effectiveness as the immune response of those receiving the shots is activated.

The doctor also said health care providers, and not the state, will actually administer vaccines.

“It kind of makes sense to work off existing infrastructure,” he said.

pause, vaccine

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