McKee Criticized by Left and Right After Announcing New COVID Policies as Hospitalizations Spike
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Governor Dan McKee on Wednesday brought together healthcare and business leaders and announced new policies to combat the increase of COVID in the state.
Rhode Island’s numbers are grim and have been elevating for more than a month.
In the past seven days, 30 Rhode Islanders have died; the transmission rate has jumped to nearly 700 cases per 100,000 over a seven-day period -- the state's action level is 100; and the number of COVID patients hospitalized is now at 280, the highest level in more than 10 months.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to Covid Act Now, Rhode Island as of Wednesday has the third-highest infection rate in the country.
Both Lifespan CEO Timothy Babineau and Care New England’s James Fanale endorsed McKee’s new plan.
SEE ALL THE PROVISIONS TO MCKEE’S PLAN BELOW
Criticism From Democrats and Republicans
Corporate Executive Helena Foulkes, who is challenging McKee in the Democratic primary, said, "Leadership during a crisis means listening to experts and taking decisive action at the right moment. I'm glad our governor made the right decision today, but for the sake of all Rhode Islanders, I wish he had done it sooner.”
She says that McKee did not go far enough. "Last week, I announced a series of actions I would take as governor, including: instituting an indoor mask mandate while cases and hospitalizations are increasing; building up our testing capacity statewide--especially in schools--and reduce delays in getting results; and setting up Monoclonal antibody treatment centers across the state to reduce hospitalizations," she said.
“Additionally, I would work with the Department of Health to ensure that the definition of 'fully vaccinated' the state uses is aligned with the consensus from public health experts that boosters provide critical protection against the omicron variant,” added Foulkes.
But while Foulkes was critiquing McKee for not instituting strict enough standards, the House Republicans were criticizing McKee for the Rhode Island Department of Health's mandate that requires healthcare workers to be vaccinated.
"The Governor’s new round of mandates seek to address the healthcare staffing crisis caused by his ill-advised Department of Health Regulation that led to the termination of hundreds of unvaccinated nurses and doctors --forced to leave their profession, despite successfully tending to the COVID-19 sick for over a year," said the House Republicans led by House Minority Leader Blake Filippi.
But the GOP refused to respond to questions. Specifically, that Lifespan, the larger healthcare organization, announced a mandate for staff to be vaccinated prior to RIDOH implementing its vaccination regulations.
The Republicans also refused to outline how they would address the spiking numbers and the increase in hospitalizations.
Rhode Island's New Policies
Indoor venues (including retail, restaurants, venues of assembly, and entertainment establishments) with a capacity of 250 persons or more:
Masking will be required of employees and patrons inside venues with a capacity of 250 or more regardless of vaccination status.
This will apply to all recreation and entertainment establishments, all historical and cultural establishments, all religious and faith-based organizations, and all retail or service businesses conducting operations in indoor venues.
Indoor venues (including retail, restaurants, venues of assembly, and entertainment establishments) with a capacity of fewer than 250 persons:
Masking or proof of vaccination will be required of employees and patrons inside venues with a capacity of fewer than 250 persons.
Establishments can adopt either:
An across the board indoor masking requirement,
An across the board vaccination requirement,
Or allow individuals to either be masked or show proof or vaccination.
This applies to recreation and entertainment establishments, historical and cultural establishments, religious and faith-based organizations, and retail or service businesses conducting operations in indoor venues.
The above policy also applies to catered events of fewer than 250 guests.
Office-based businesses, manufacturers, and other public or private employers
All office-based businesses, manufacturers, and other public or private employers with indoor operations shall require either masking or proof of vaccination for all persons on their premises.
Establishments can adopt either:
An across the board indoor masking requirement,
An across the board vaccination requirement,
Or allow individuals to either be masked or show proof or vaccination.
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