RI Governor Gina Raimondo made the announcement Thursday at the RI State House.
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo is instituting a new order giving the Department of Health (DOH) more powers to enforce quarantine and isolation orders -- including penalties and fines.
Raimondo announced on Thursday 8 more COVID-19 deaths in the state for a total of 43; 277 new cases for a total of 1727; and 160 hospitalizations.
"As we move forward, the quarantine and isolation rules are going to be more important than ever," said Raimondo. "If you are ordered into quarantine — we’re going to get more serious about enforcing the quarantine. In some ways that’s a good thing. This is about to get harder and not easier. More of us are going to be stuck inside for 14 days."
New Enforcement
"I signed an Executive Order to make our rules clearer and enable the DOH to have more tools," said Raimondo. "f you have been diagnosed with coronavirus — you must isolate until you no longer have symptoms."
"What does quarantine mean? You cannot leave your house. If you are ordered into quarantine you cannot leave your house. If you’re sick you have to isolate within your house. If you don’t have coronavirus but if the Department of Health has determined you’ve come in close contact with someone who has — or you have traveled to Rhode Island by any means of transportation — you are also ordered into quarantine," she said.
"The DOH has a very rigorous contact system — if you take out your journal they’ll determine who you came into close contact to," said Raimondo, who said Tuesday the state has partnered with salesforce.com to track Rhode Islanders.
"I am enabling and directing the Department of Health to enforce this with civil penalties including a series of fines," she said.
On Thursday, Raimondo said the state was up over 1,800 COVID-19 tests on Wednesday.
"We don’t want to punish anyone — our goal is to make it easier to stay in quarantine with food, medicine delivery. But we’re also very serious. If you are found to be deliberately violating you will be punished — this is just as necessary as any other law," she said.
Related Slideshow: 8 Major Coronavirus Developments—March 25, 2020
Rhode Island Borrowing $300M -- Getting Hundreds of Millions From Feds
Leaders from the Rhode Island House of Representatives and Senate will meet on Thursday to consider a proposal by Governor Gina Raimondo to borrow $300 million in emergency funding as part of the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Raimondo writes in a letter to legislative leaders, "I have determined that since the demands placed upon funds regularly appropriated to state and local agencies in coping with the Disaster Emergency are too great, it is necessary and appropriate that the state borrow for a term not to exceed two years from the United States government or any other private source an amount not to exceed $300,000,000."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 11%, its biggest one-day gain since 1933, on signs that lawmakers were nearing a deal on a giant stimulus package to ease the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Major indexes opened sharply higher after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) emerged from late-night negotiations saying they were within striking distance of a deal.
Stocks continued climbing throughout the day and closed near session highs. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) voiced hope Tuesday that a deal would get done later in the day. The stimulus package is expected to be worth at least $1.6 trillion.
“Markets are definitely reacting to the prospects of a stimulus deal,” said Jason Pride, chief investment officer for private wealth at Glenmede.
Newport, South Kingstown, Little Compton, Narragansett, and other Rhode Island communities are getting an influx of New York summer homeowners.
Block Island has ordered seasonal residents into self-quarantine.
"Any person crossing over to Block Island must immediately self-quarantine for fourteen days upon arrival on Block Island, and thereafter must shelter-in-place," said the Block Island Tourism Council.
"A mad scramble for masks, gowns and ventilators is pitting states against each other and driving up prices. Some hard-hit parts of the country are receiving fresh supplies of N95 masks, but others are still out of stock. Hospitals are requesting donations of masks and gloves from construction companies, nail salons and tattoo parlors, and considering using ventilators designed for large animals because they cannot find the kind made for people.
The market for medical supplies has descended into chaos, according to state officials and health-care leaders. They are begging the federal government to use a wartime law to bring order and ensure the United States has the gear it needs to battle the coronavirus. So far, the Trump administration has declined."
R.I. Republican Party Chairman Sue Cienki criticized the process.
“The Disaster Emergency Funding Board cannot ignore the state constitution’s restrictions on debt. In general, under Article 6, Section 16, debt cannot be incurred without voter approval except in time of war. If Rhode Island needs to issue a tax anticipation notes, it can follow Article 6, Section 17 of the State Constitution. If Rhode Island needs to use its Rainy-Day Fund, which is approximately $200 million, it can follow Article 9, Section 17 of the State Constitution. Under our form of government, it is the voters not a handful of State House politicians who decide Rhode Island needs hundreds of millions in debt. There are constitutional ways to get through this crisis," said Cienki.
House Minority Leader Blake Filippi has raised concerns about the process by which legislative leaders will make fiscal decisions that would typically be made by the full House and Senate.
“If we would have passed our House Bill 7757 setting up emergency remote meetings of the General Assembly, there wouldn’t be a need for the board to exercise these extraordinary powers. Rather, the full House and Senate would be making these critical decisions - as they should be,” said Filippi. “Absent remote meetings, the DEFB laws need to be updated to have bi-partisan representation - likely by adding the House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders. In the meantime, we will stay in contact with our colleagues in government, and closely monitor the decisions of the Board, as they could have long-lasting implications for Rhode Island.”
