NEW: Study Says 9 States Ready to Reopen - and Rhode Island Is Not One

NEW: Study Says 9 States Ready to Reopen - and Rhode Island Is Not One

A new study is saying that only nine states are running enough coronavirus tests to contain outbreaks and reopen by May 15 — and Rhode Island is not one of them. 

The Harvard-NPR analysis released Thursday says that states meeting the criteria are Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

According to the analysis, Rhode Island is testing "far fewer" than the estimated minimum needed. 

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“Originally, the Harvard team projected the U.S. would need to do between 500,000 and 600,000 tests daily to safely reopen. The team said they revised their projection upwards, to 900,000, because the latest data shows the outbreak is worse than earlier models showed,” reported Forbes. 

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On Thursday, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced she will be lifting the stay at home order on Saturday, letting the current Executive Order expire. 

The Rhode Island Department of Health released its latest data on Thursday showing 18 new deaths — but has not updated city and town data in days. 

According to the Harvard research released Thursday:

Outbreak: In Rhode Island, the COVID-19 outbreak has been moderate relative to the state's population size.
Testing vs. Target: Rhode Island currently averages 2,744 tests per day — far fewer than the estimated minimum needed by May 15.
Positive Test Ratio: In the past week, 10.2% of tests have come back positive. This exceeds the recommended rate of 10% or lower.