VIDEO: Raimondo Outlines Plan to Address Potential Coronavirus Outbreaks in RI Schools
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo on Wednesday addressed three scenarios of how the state will respond to coronavirus cases — or outbreaks — in schools once the academic year begins in the fall.
And while she recently pushed back the opening date of schools in the state by two weeks — from August 31 to September 14, whether that be online or in-person, Raimondo on Wednesday urged her preference for students to be in classrooms.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“[Dr. Anthony Fauci] said our position should be that we all try to the best of our ability to get kids back in school,” said Raimondo. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I’m saying I’ve learned over the past 6 months we’re capable of doing great things. We rise to the challenge. “
Raimondo outlined three scenarios in which the Rhode Island Department of Health would respond to — and assess — varying levels of cases emerging in schools
“We’re going to have teams, DOH teams, at the ready to parachute into schools when if necessary to guide the decisions around when we have cases,” said Raimondo. “We’re not alone in this.”
Raimondo is expected to make a comprehensive schools announcement now by the end of August.
More Below Chart
TESTING
Raimondo addressed testing in the state - including the state’s “SOS” approach.
The first “S”?
“Symptomatic,” said Raimondo. “The goal is if you get sick, we would love to have you tested within 24 hours — we’re not quite there — we are [at] 2 days.”
“The test turnaround time has been an area we have struggled,” said Raimondo.
“O — outbreak — any time there are multiple cases in a setting — workplace, nursing homes, daycare, summer camp — we call that an outbreak,” said Raimondo. “And we respond. I give the team an A+ in this regard.”
“S stands for surveillance,” said Raimondo. “Our early warning system to test as many asymptomatic people as possible. Last month we did 45,000 tests on congregate settings. We’ve been able to significantly bring down the rate of infection.”
“In May, nursing homes were 20% of cases,” said Raimondo. “In the first two weeks of August, they made up less than 5%.”
Raimondo addressed questions from Rhode Islanders about how to obtain testing.
“We’ve developed a one-pager,” said Raimondo. “If you wake up tomorrow and feel sick, stay home and call your doctor. If you say you have the fever/chills/cough/headache, your doctor can schedule you a test. We’d like you to be to get the test that day or the next day.”
“If you don’t have a doctor or are an undocumented immigrant, go to health.ri.gov for a whole list of community health clinics. Until you get your results, we need you to stay home,” said Raimondo.
Raimondo addressed the needs of asymptomatic people — who might need tests for traveling to Massachusetts, where there is still a quarantine rule in effect for people coming in and out of Rhode Island — or for workers in high contact industries.
“Go to portal.ri.gov. Let’s say you want to go to the Cape for vacation, need a test, or you’re a restaurant worker,” said Raimondo. “In the past couple of weeks, it might take you a few days. It’s getting better now. When we showed up overnight on the travel [quarantine] list, we were overwhelmed. It is definitely better now.”
“There’s a full list of the 34 states with a positive rate of 5%. Anyone coming to Rhode Island from these states has to get tested or quarantine for 14 days,” said Raimondo.
Raimondo said the “rapid” — immediate — testing apparatus will be shifted to schools and high-need areas.
“The tests that take 48 hours are generally more reliable than true rapid tests,” said Raimondo. “We are continuing to use our rapid test machines, but we’re deplying them strategically — in hospitals, at outbreaks, at schools, so they get immediate results. Right now we have 10 of these machines deployed, and we just purchased 5 machines, giiving us the capacity 1000 tests a day.”
Push for Outdoors
Raimondo announced the state’s new “Take It Outside” campaign, to encourage outdoor dining, working, and living.
“One thing we know we can do is to move our life outdoors,” said Raimondo. “For the next few months we can do a lot outside. We know this virus spreads much easier indoors. Experts say you’re as much as 19% more likely to get the virus indoors as opposed to outdoors.”
“We want everyone to get outside and do as much as they can,” said Raimondo. “We’re kicking off the ‘Take it Outside' campaign. We put together a team of folks, working with businesses and cities and towns to come up with creative ideas to move activities outside — heat lamps, certain accommodations to get things outside."
“The ‘Take it Outside” campaign — it is much safer,” she said.
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