What Rhode Island Needs to Do Now to Avoid Another Lockdown

What Rhode Island Needs to Do Now to Avoid Another Lockdown

It is getting late, but to avoid a complete shutdown Rhode Islanders need to take action.

Governor Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday that she would be announcing new restrictions on Friday.

Raimondo said, “The fact of the matter is that our COVID-19 numbers are not in a good place. We’re nearing our own metrics to move back an entire phase, and the projections for our hospitalizations are alarming. We know that hospitalizations tend to follow the same trends as cases a week or two later, and given the current case numbers, that’s a big concern.”

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She has said Rhode Island may have to resort to moving from Phase III and move back to Phase II -- a standard that is restrictive to businesses and likely to force more layoffs and business closures.

Rhode Island has been recording a record number of new cases nearly every day over the past week.

The Rhode Island Department of Health numbers continue understating the rate of spread of the virus. Unlike the spring, more than one-third of the daily testing is asymptomatic and that data is mixed with the symptomatic test data.

 

Largest Outbreak on the East Coast

And, on Wednesday, Covid Act Now found that Rhode Island is now at its highest level of new cases per 100,000 residents.

Rhode Island is now the worst performing state on the East Coast and is on the brink of a lockdown down to slow the spread of the disease.

If the rate of spread continues, Rhode Islands hospitals will be overrun and field hospitals will have to be utilized within a month according to Raimondo.

 

Critical Period - What Needs to Be Done 

In order to slow the record spread, protect local business and minimize the health impact, GoLocal has identified critical strategies necessary to minimize the implementation of restrictions and avoid the Rhode Island economy from being shutdown. Presnetly, there are more than 59,000 Rhode Islanders out of work.

 

1) Mask Wearing in the Most Effective Way to Limit Spread and Thus Keep Businesses Open

Mask wearing is the most effective way to limit spread. 

Dr. Megan Ranney, Director at Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health said, "Studies show that mask-wearing can prevent over 2/3 of COVID19 infections from happening - saving our national economy almost $1 trillion. If we all wore a mask whenever we were outside our house, we could help get our communities back to work, stores, schools, and restaurants."

 

2) Smart Companies Are Having Workers Work at Home

The companies with the greatest amount of data - Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, MasterCard and other top employers that are metric-driven are offering or mandating the vast majority of their workforce to work at home through to 2021.

Rhode Island companies that can shift, and transition back to working from home should do so voluntarily and immediately. 

 

3) Leaders Need to Lead

Police and other local law enforcement in Rhode Island need to lead by example and start wearing masks. There simply is not an excuse. In Providence, police rarely wear masks. Police need to help lead the fight against the virus. Public safety needs to be the frontline against the spread of the virus.

 

4) Public Education

There is a direct correlation between the spread of the virus and illness and death. The number of deaths as a percentage of overall cases has decreased over the past 8 months as hospitals have better strategies and treatments to save lives. "Most people who have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recover completely within a few weeks. But some people — even those who had mild versions of the disease — continue to experience symptoms after their initial recovery," reports the Mayo Clinic.

 

5) Enforcement

To date, the Rhode Island State Police have not issued a single violation for not-complying with the executive order requiring masks to be worn. Colonel James Manni confirmed that there have not been any citations issued. New York City is now is issuing $1,000 tickets for those refusing to wear masks. 

 

6) RI Department of Health Needs to Correct Its Data Reporting

Presently, the reported data is misleading as asymptomatic and asymptomatic testing and results are lumped together. That needs to be corrected. In addition, college and university reporting which is all asymptomatic testing needs to be separate out and reported separately as Massachusetts does. And, city and twon data needs to be updated daily. It has not been updated in 20 days. Businesses and municipal leaders need updated reliable data to make decisions.