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School start delay ‘likely,’ governor says

RI at a 'turning point,' governor warns

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After saying Aug. 5 that Rhode Island is at a “turning point” in its fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus – and cautioning that “much more restrictive rules” could be on the way if the small but significant spikes seen in recent COVID-19 case counts are not controlled in short order – Gov. Gina Raimondo was expected to announce this week that the start of the school year will be delayed.

On Tuesday, ahead of the Herald’s press time, Raimondo told NBC 10 WJAR that the planned Aug. 31 start date will “pretty likely” be pushed back. Massachusetts has taken a similar approach.

“Here’s what I’ve told everybody – we’re not opening till we’re ready,” Raimondo said in a portion of her interview with WJAR.

She added: “We need a little more time. The planning to get this right … It’s just a lot of planning, and I’ve promised everybody we’re not going to do it until we’re ready.”

The governor was expected to make a formal announcement during her Aug. 12 weekly COVID-19 briefing, which occurred after this week’s edition went to press.

During her Aug. 5 briefing, Raimondo warned of possible new restrictions after several states in the region, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, imposed new travel restrictions on Rhode Islanders. Some of those restrictions have since been lifted.

She framed that development as a “wake-up call for the people of Rhode Island that we need to do better” rather than a cause for “panic,” but used stark, direct language in terms of what it is at stake in terms of school reopening plans and the state’s economy.

“I’m trying not to freak people out … For a while, we had a real emergency. Didn’t have enough ventilators, didn’t have enough hospital rooms. We’ll get there again if we don’t follow the rules,” she said while responding to a question from WPRI’s Kim Kalunian toward the end of her weekly coronavirus briefing.

She continued: “Right now, the problem that I worry more about is having to close restaurants and bars. Having to say all the kids are distance learning. Because that would, that’s terrible, it’s devastating. And it’s unnecessary … I keep saying, ‘What do I have to do to get Rhode Islanders to follow the most basic rules?’ Do you know how frustrating it is that there’s still so many pool parties and backyard barbecues and wedding showers and just community gatherings of 30 people? Go tell that to the guy on Block Island who’s about to lose his business. Like, come on, people. Be a little considerate. How hard is it to wear a mask? How hard is it to stick with 15 people so that those people can have their livelihood?”

Last week’s briefing brought several announcements, including new restrictions for out-of-state visitors, a new limit on operating hours for bars and plans for stepped-up enforcement of social gathering limits.

It also brought news of expanded asymptomatic testing availability for younger Rhode Islanders, as well as a new agreement with two laboratories that Raimondo said will significantly expand the state’s COVID-19 test processing capacity while reducing wait times for results.

Travel restrictions

Rhode Island garnered unwanted attention recently as a handful of states throughout the region placed new restrictions on travelers from the Ocean State.

For New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, that meant visitors from Rhode Island must quarantine for 14 days if they intend to spend more than 24 hours at their destination. The Connecticut and New York restrictions have since been lifted.

Massachusetts is also requiring a 14-day quarantine, or in lieu of that, a negative COVID-19 test from the 72 hours preceding their arrival.

Raimondo initially said she sees some benefits coming from the restrictions – “The less we’re all traveling, the better … Staying close to home is still the name of the game while we’re fighting the virus” – but in her remarks and while answering reporters’ questions, she was quick to acknowledge the economic toll of the Ocean State being seen as a potentially risky place to dine or vacation.

Raimondo and Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott did say the state views the test-positive rate for Rhode Island being used as the basis for the travel restrictions as an inaccurate representation of the state’s standing.

The discrepancy between the state’s internal figures and those compiled by outside media outlets, academic institutions and other organizations stems from a difference in methodology. In short, Rhode Island uses total tests to calculate its test-positive rate, while other entities exclude re-tests. Officials have also said Rhode Island is one of the few states to delineate new tests and re-tests in its reporting, which leads to unequal comparisons with other states.

“Our numbers are not being compared accurately,” Alexander-Scott said, and officials are working to address that situation.

Regardless, the test-positive rate has become a key consideration in policy decisions such as the new travel restrictions on Rhode Islanders.

Raimondo last week also announced a new requirement for out-of-state visitors coming to Rhode Island. She and Alexander-Scott said an analysis of the state’s data found roughly 12 percent of the recent positive cases are linked to travel to places like Florida, the Midwest and other parts of New England.

People arriving at local hotels or rental properties from states with a test-positive rate of 5 percent or higher are now being required to sign a “certificate of compliance” attesting that they will self-quarantine for 14 days or have produced a negative test from the 72 hours preceding their arrival. If they decline, those visitors will have to be turned away, the governor said.

Raimondo said the new requirement is based on a similar approach being utilized in Maine.

“It’s working very well there … We’re going to learn from a successful strategy and we’re going to put that in place here,” she said.

Raimondo also said members of the National Guard and Department of Health staffers will be deployed at T.F. Green Airport and the train station in Providence to help inform visitors of the quarantine or negative test requirement.

In an effort to assist people who have already made travel plans for the coming weeks, Raimondo also said that an expedited testing option will be now available for out-of-state travelers through the portal.ri.gov website. That testing will be conducted at the Rhode Island Convention Center site, she said, and results will be available within 24 to 48 hours.

Bars and social gatherings

Raimondo again zeroed in on bars as a source of concern for health officials, and she announced a new restriction requiring such establishments to close after 11 p.m. Restaurants with bar areas are allowed to remain open past that time but must close the bar section at that point.

“We continue to see that bars are a problem … You see it clearly in the data,” she said, adding that state inspectors found 20 percent of bars visited over the weekend found a lack of adequate separation between staff and customers.

Raimondo said she “won’t hesitate” to order bars close if needed but that she wanted to first pursue a “middle of the road” approach.”

“We have been bending over backwards to keep the bars open,” she said.

As part of her continuation of the third phase of the state’s reopening plan, Raimondo recently announced a reduction of the social gathering limit from 25 to 15 people. Last week, she said the state is still “struggling to keep social gatherings under control.”

She and Alexander-Scott said municipal leaders and community volunteers are being asked to assist in the enforcement of distancing and gathering rules. She announced a new hotline, 764-5554, that residents can use to notify Rhode Island State Police of large gatherings. And she warned that people found at a gathering of more than 15 could face fines of up to $500 each.

“Figure out who your 15 people are going to be … Stick to that group, please,” she said.

Alexander-Scott said people in the 20 to 39 age range “continue to be a challenge in terms of the cases that we are seeing.” She urged members of that group to “take responsibility for their actions” and engage more fully in mask wearing.

Testing announcements

As part of the focus on younger Rhode Islanders as drivers of COVID-19’s spread, Raimondo announced that people between the ages of 18 and 39 who are asymptomatic can now schedule tests at portal.ri.gov.

Alexander-Scott cautioned that a negative test represents “just one point in time,” but she said repeat testing is being promoted.

“We encourage people to go frequently. You can go as often as you want to go and get tested,” she said.

Most significant on the testing front, however, was Raimondo’s announcement of a new agreement the state has reached with Accu Reference Medical Lab and Dominion Diagnostics.

As the coronavirus has surged in other parts of the country, reports have increasingly emerged of Rhode Islanders waiting up to a week or more for test results. Raimondo called that “totally unacceptable,” even in the face of a “fierce fight for [testing] resources all around the country.”

Under the agreement announced last week, Raimondo said, both Accu Reference and Dominion will process 1,000 tests per day with a guaranteed turnaround time of 48 hours starting this week. Next month, Dominion will expand its capacity to 7,000 with the same turnaround time.

“[This will] massively expand our testing capacity … They have guaranteed it. It’s in the contract. This is a big win,” the governor said.

She added: “Testing within 48 hours is a key piece of the puzzle if we’re going to get kids back to school safely … It’ll help us I think really keep a lid on the virus.”

Focus on schools

Raimondo last week said the state has determined that one of the key metrics that will be used in school reopening decisions – the spread of the virus at the city and town level – will utilize 100 new cases per 100,000 cases as a threshold.

Based on that, she said, Central Falls (186 cases per 100,000 residents, based on last week’s data), Pawtucket (135) and Providence (103) would not be allowed to open their school buildings if the academic year began this week.

“The rest of the state would be cleared for full in-person,” she said.

Raimondo said the Department of Education continues to work with local leaders to develop “robust in-person plans and robust distance learning plans” for each school and district.

The governor praised several districts, including Tiverton, Smithfield, Scituate and Smithfield, for development “excellent plans for full, in-person learning in a way that’s safe.”

“They’ve really leaned into surmounting all of the many challenges,” she said.

Education Commission Angelica Infante-Green also said “a lot of creativity” has been seen during the planning process.

“This is about getting it right … I think the name of the game as we move forward is flexibility,” she said.

Alexander-Scott said her department is working in “extremely close partnership” with RIDE.

“The best support for our economy, for our society, for our children, is getting our schools back and going,” she said.

Full district-by-district school reopening plans can be found at www.backtoschoolri.com.

By the numbers

The Aug. 11 Department of Health data update showed 99 new cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island, a positive-test rate of 2.5 percent based on 4,020 tests. The state’s total case count now stands at 20,053.

One additional COVID-related death was reported, bringing Rhode Island’s overall toll to 1,016. Eighty-eight Rhode Islanders were hospitalized as a result of the virus on Wednesday, with 9 being treated in ICUs.

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