Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - April 10, 2020
Analysis
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - April 10, 2020
Making the list this week -- Raimondo's press limits, mask-makers, and no racial data.
Now, we are expanding the list, the political perspectives, and we are going to a GoLocal team approach while encouraging readers to suggest nominees for who is "HOT" and who is "NOT."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTEmail GoLocal by midday on Thursday about anyone you think should be tapped as "HOT" or "NOT." Email us HERE.
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - April 10, 2020
HOT
Testing
After weeks of delays and missteps, CVS came to the rescue and established a comprehensive testing program to augment the National Guard's efforts.
Rhode Island went from second to last in New England to second in per capita testing.
CVS and the National Guard have completed nearly twice as many tests in the past 6 days as were completed by the Raimondo administration in the first 31 days.
HOT
RBG-lite
This week, Governor Gina Raimondo participated in the push-up challenge. The Governor did 10 push-ups.
According to Fortune, Ruth Bader Ginsburg does 20 push-ups and 30-second planks. She said, “I do 10, and then I breathe, and then I do 10 more.”
HOT
J. Mack Studios
One Westerly small business is stepping up with recognition and dollars to support local frontline healthcare workers.
J. Mack Studios whose name derives from the initials of the founding family (Jack, Mary, Annette, Clare, Kevin) has been in business for 18-years.
The company announced:
COVID-19 Superheroes! THANK YOU! Thank you to all of you on the front line. You are true heroes! We came up with this t-shirt design in an effort to do our part. We are donating $5.00 for every item we sell to the Westerly Hospital COVID-19 Fund*. Every purchase will also come with a free face mask made right here in Westerly by Keala's Sewing. All orders will be shipped through USPS to the hero of your choice to show your appreciation for all they are doing OR purchase one to wear as a walking thank you to the heroes in your community, OR both!
HOT
Rhode Island Manufacturers
One industry is stepping up.
Rhode Island Manufacturers Association Executive Director David Chenevert appeared on GoLocal LIVE where he discussed the state of the state's manufacturing industry during the coronavirus crisis -- and what he sees moving forward.
"I’m very proud of the manufacturers. They’re nimble organizations," said Chenevert. "Most of them are able to pivot very quickly to adhere to some of the requests that are coming forth from the state government, and the federal side."
"I don’t think manufacturing in Rhode Island ever went away. I think it evolved into more advanced tech manufacturing," he added. "What I’m seeing, and I said this to the Governor and [RI Commerce Secretary] Stefan Pryor, is that in my opinion, the silver lining that’s going to come out of this situation, is the rezoning of a lot more component parts and products being shifted back to the United States."
"I’m not saying we’re going to have all of it, but I think the major corporations in the U.S. are going to say, ‘Hey, maybe we should be 20/80, 30/70, or 60/40 relative to outsourcing' — I see a lot more reshoring coming back," he said.
HOT
RI's Epivax
Rhode Island’s EpiVax, Inc., announced it is using advanced computational tools to accelerate a COVID-19 vaccine candidate (EPV-CoV19) for healthcare workers (HCW) and is pushing to get this into clinical trials in 6 months.
EpiVax has been one of Rhode Island's star biotech firms.
According to EpiVax, EPV-CoV19 is a peptide-based, epitope-driven vaccine that can be rapidly and safely produced in most countries.
Once the company has raised $1.75 million the company will enter clinical trials -- the company has pledged to make a free license available to developing countries if the vaccine is successful.
To raise the funds EpiVax has partnered with GAIA Vaccine Foundation (“GVF”) to crowd-source funds.
HOT
Rhode Island Chinese-American Anti-COVID-19 Task Force
The Rhode Island Chinese-American Anti-COVID-19 Task Force has donated 208,000 face masks from Rhode Island’s Chinese-American Community to the Rhode Island Department of Health and several municipalities to support local COVID-19 response efforts.
Blackstone Valley businessmen Louis Yip and Sunny Ng of Tai-O Group facilitated the donation at the request of Lt. Governor Dan McKee, with the Task Force raising the funds to purchase the masks from China.
“Sunny Ng and I are glad to partner with the Lt. Governor’s Office and the State of Rhode Island to coordinate this donation with our local Chinese-American community. It was a true team effort,” said Yip. “Right now, we must all stand together and work collaboratively to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
HOT
Designer Masks
Marc Streisand is the CEO of Providence's Marc Allen, Inc. -- one of the state's premier men's clothiers -- and he is not waiting for the end of the lockdown. He has shifted to making masks, really nice masks.
"As many of you know, we’ve been waiting on the Governor’s office to give us permission to make our masks, and we’ve finally gotten it, so we are finally in production!!," said Streisand.
For Steisand, his shop is known for custom-tailored suits upwards of $45,000 (See Slides Below).
"Big shout out to Guy Milinazzo and @gladsonltd for your generous donation of shirt fabric and another shout out to Frank Mattos and Christopher Gagnon of SERVPRO of Providence for helping me find Hepa filters for the interior of our masks. Together, we can help save lives!!" he added.
NOT
Raimondo - Public Can't Hear Press Ask Questions
Gina Raimondo won't allow the public to hear press questions.
Some questions can be submitted and then read by a General Assembly PR person with no follow-up questions.
Many never get responded to. Then there is a non-broadcasted Q&A controlled by Raimondo's PR staff.
Donald Trump allows the public to hear press questions and follow-ups.
Andrew Cuomo the same, but not Raimondo.
NOT
Outside Elorza's Window
On Monday, dozens of men and women could be seen gathering in groups directly outside the second-floor office window of Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s office in Kennedy Plaza.
“Staff and public safety officials have been closely monitoring and dispersing folks found in non-compliance. We continue to secure city property that has been closed recently with additional signage and security measures,” said Elorza’s spokeswoman Emily Crowell.
On Monday, GoLocal showed multiple photos of groups of people playing basketball and more than a dozen individuals playing soccer in one Providence park.
NOT
Racial Breakdown of Coronavirus
While much of the country is talking about the racial inequities of the impact of the coronavirus, Rhode Island officials -- despite repeated requests -- are still "working" to provide data by race.
There is a saying—“When America catches a cold, Black people get the flu.” Well, in 2020, when America catches coronavirus, Black people die. Blacks in about every state with racial data available have higher contraction rates and higher death rates of COVID-19.
In Michigan, Blacks make up 15% of the state population but represent 35% of people diagnosed with COVID-19. This means that Blacks in Michigan are 133% more likely to contract the novel coronavirus relative to their percentage of the state.
