R.I. reports 18 coronavirus deaths, 189 new cases; Raimondo lays out rules for summer camp
PROVIDENCE — Gov. Gina Raimondo on Thursday reiterated her desire to open summer camps in Rhode Island on June 29.
She said campers would be limited to stable groups of no more than 15, and that they will have to be screened for illness at the start of each day.
Adults will be required to wear masks, and children will be expected to wear masks “if and as appropriate.” Raimondo acknowledged this might not be practical for sports camps, or with very young children.
All camps will be expected to draft a coronavirus plan that includes sanitization protocols and submit the plan to the Department of Human Services.
The governor said the full list of guidelines would be posted later Thursday on reopeningri.com.
She also said that as of 1 p.m. Thursday, 25,000 Rhode Islanders had downloaded the CRUSH COVID RI app that debuted Tuesday.
“I’m so pleased,” she said. “That’s blown away all of our expectations.”
Addressing concerns about the app’s privacy, state Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott said that the app does not have access to the contacts that are stored on a phone.
“Privacy is of the ultimate priority with this app, so no information gets transferred indirectly or inadvertently or by mistake unless it is approved and determined by the person using the phone,” she said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island raised concerns after the app’s release about whether its use would be truly voluntary and whether any guarantees would be put in place to make sure information is protected and not shared with law-enforcement agencies.
Once enabled, the app tracks the user’s location and logs the address of any place where the user spends more than 10 minutes. Users can disable and enable the tracking feature at any time.
“I have a lot going on in my phone, and I’m doing it,” Raimondo said. “And I’m encouraging Rhode Islanders to do it, so that should give you a sense of my confidence level.”
Ultimately, the more information public-health officials have and the more quickly they’re able to track down those people who have come into contact with a COVID-19-positive person, the better they’ll be able to control future outbreaks, she said.
“Try it for a week. Get yourself comfortable,” she said. ”If you’re still squeamish, fine, shut it off. But I’m just saying, give it a try, because information is king in this, and preventing an outbreak is king, so if we have a quick log of your contacts and we can move fast, it’ll help us.”
Speaking a day after Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos announced plans to reopen June 1, Raimondo said Twin River casinos are unlikely to reopen until mid-June into early July.
“At the end of the day, that is a big risk,” she said. “Opening up a casino, man, you better get that right, and if that takes us a couple more weeks to get it right, I would much rather be safe than sorry for all kinds of reasons.”
The Department of Health on Thursday reported 18 additional coronavirus-related deaths and said that 189 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
That brings the total toll in the state to 556 deaths and 13,571 known cases. Nine of the 18 deaths occurred Wednesday, and the other nine on previous days.
Alexander-Scott said the recently announced fatalities include two people in their 50s, two in their 60s, six in their 70s, six in their 80s and two in their 90s.
There were 254 patients with coronavirus in Rhode Island hospitals on Monday, the most recent date for which data was available, down from 257 the day before. Fifty-six patients were in intensive case, down from 58 the day before.
In addition to the 189 positive test results, there were 2,548 negative results Wednesday, for a 6.9% positive rate.
Raimondo said the state would continue its focus on nursing homes, which are linked to most of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.
A specialized unit of the Rhode Island National Guard is available to deploy to nursing homes that request assistance to provide training on how to use personal protective equipment, she said. The Guard can also connect nursing-home residents and employees with grief- and trauma-support services.
As of Monday, the state had offered testing to all residents and staff members of every Rhode Island nursing home, Raimondo said, and the state is committed to testing every nursing home employee every seven to 10 days.
“The data is crystal clear,” she said. “The hardest-hit populations are the older folks, the sickest, the frail and most particularly nursing homes. That is the reality of it. So we have to work overtime in order to help nursing homes do their jobs to keep their residents safe.”
By the numbers
Positive cases in R.I.: 13,571 (189 reported Thursday)
Negative tests in R.I.: 109,796 (2,548 reported Thursday, 6.9% positive rate)
R.I. coronavirus-related deaths: 556 (18 reported Thursday)
Rhode Islanders hospitalized with coronavirus: 254 (56 in intensive care)
Positive cases in Massachusetts: 90,084
Massachusetts coronavirus-related deaths: 6,148
Positive cases in U.S.: 1,575,064
U.S. coronavirus-related deaths: 94,591
