COVID-19 CRISIS

THE LATEST: RI to partner with nearby states on PPE purchasing

24 new COVID-19 deaths bring state's toll to 320

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Editor's note: This story appears on our websites as part of a partnership between Beacon Communications and East Bay Newspapers to share coverage of the COVID-19 crisis. 

There were 188 additional cases and 24 new fatalities as a result of COVID-19 – marking the highest single-day death tally in Rhode Island since the onset of the pandemic, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced during her daily briefing Sunday afternoon.

“It’s obviously a sad day,” she said, encouraging Rhode Islanders to take a moment to honor the lives that have been lost.

Of those who died since Saturday, Dr. James McDonald  of the Rhode Island Department of Health said that one person was in their 30s, three were in their 40s, one each were in their 50s and 60s, two were in their 70s and eight each were in their 80s and 90s. Eighteen of these people were from nursing homes.

“These are moms, these are dads, these are brothers, these are sisters,” McDonald said. “These are loved ones.”

The latest updates bring the state’s coronavirus death toll up to 320, with 9,477 total cases. Currently, 330 people are hospitalized as a result of the disease – 83 of whom are in intensive care and 59 are on ventilators.

McDonald said that they are continuing to work with nursing homes, noting that Oakland Grove Health Care Center in Woonsocket had agreed to become the second COVID-19 Specialty Nursing Home, joining Oak Hill Center in Pawtucket. It allows patients who have tested positive to go back to a nursing home, he said, and still receive “the highest level of care possible.”

“These two nursing homes have specialized resources and abilities to help take care of those folks,” McDonald said. 

He also reserved thanks for Dr. Phil Chan, a consulting medical director for the Rhode Island Department of Health, who has been working with nursing home medical directors, and the National Guard for offering their aid throughout the crisis.

PPE and other medical supplies

On Sunday, Raimondo announced that she would be collaborating as needed with neighboring states Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania to purchase PPE and other medical supplies.

Though Rhode Island has been in “relatively good shape,” Raimondo said it has been challenging and time-consuming to secure supplies for the state – something that will be very important as they move into the next phase of reopening the economy.

“President Trump has been crystal clear that governors are on the front line of this,” Raimondo said.

Part of the problem, she said, is that governors have all been competing against one another to secure enough PPE for their own states. Now, the goal will be to identify their region’s needs and do more bulk purchasing – keeping prices down and stabilizing the supply chain – in order to have two-to-four weeks of supplies on hand moving forward.

Raimondo added during the question-and-answer period that having that 30-day supply – along with providing transparent information, adequate testing and the ability for people to quarantine and isolate when needed – can hopefully help employees feel safer when it is finally time to return to work.

“It’s valid to be anxious, it’s valid to be afraid,” Raimondo said. “Having said that, we have to be courageous and brave.”

Mother’s Day

With next Sunday being both Mother’s Day and – hopefully – the first day she will have lifted the stay-at-home order, Raimondo said she is “a little worried.” She encouraged Rhode Islanders to begin thinking now about what they can do to celebrate their mothers without gathering in large groups or – in the cases of those with mothers in nursing homes or assisted living places – being physically with them.

“I want you to think about it now so we can enjoy Mother’s Day, but do it in a safe way,” she said.

April Reading Challenge

Raimondo ended her round of announcements Sunday on a “light note,” sharing that kids “knocked it out of the park” when it came to April’s Reading Challenge. She said 21,000 students logged more than one million reading minutes throughout the month, and urged them to keep at it as they moved into May.

“Just because April’s over, don’t stop reading,” she said.

As part of the competition, schools with the highest participation will receive a new set of books donated from Barnes and Noble – with the winners announced by Gov. Raimondo:  Westerly Inclusion Preschool, Paul Cuffee Lower School, Portsmouth Middle School and Highlander Secondary Charter School in Providence.

Raimondo also thanked the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, whose $10,000 donation went toward purchasing more than 7,000 books for families in high-need communities. And, with this week being National Teacher Appreciation Week, Raimondo took a moment to thank the state’s teachers for everything they are doing, encouraging Rhode Islanders to think of ways to do the same.

“I cannot think of a better time for each and every one of us to express our appreciation for our teachers out there,” she said.

Tomorrow’s briefing

Raimondo noted that tomorrow’s briefing will occur instead at 3 pm; the rest of the week will continue at the 1 p.m. time slot.

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  • bendover

    GREAT...Other than 3M, where are you going to buy masks that are not defective? Are you going to buy them for 35 cents and sell them to hospitals for $5.00 bucks a piece? If you State House clowns can't account for every penny of the $1.2B dollars in federal aid money that comes into this State you should all be hung.

    Monday, May 4, 2020 Report this

  • perky4175

    by doing this it makes it easier to skim money from the fund she stated a whil back that she purchased this stuff so whats she doing

    Tuesday, May 12, 2020 Report this