The Associated Press
Outdoor classes under tents, designated seats on the school bus, and lunch in the classroom are just some of the changes Rhode Island children might notice when they return to school later this month, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Thursday.
Different schools will have different protocols, but all the changes are designed to avoid crowding and stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Democratic governor said at a news conference to describe a student’s typical school day.
“This is going to be hard to open school, no one can deny that, but I want us all to have a can-do attitude. We can do this,” she said.
As soon as a child wakes up in the morning, they or their parents should check to see if they have coronavirus symptoms, she said.
School buses will run with a limited capacity, with open windows and hand sanitizer on board.
Children will be required to wear a mask throughout the day and stay within a small group of other students. Classes in some schools will be held in rooms with open windows, at least while the weather cooperates.
Many schools will give students regular temperature checks.
She also reassured children that there will be recess, but it will look different.
Some schools are requiring children to immediately use hand sanitizer before and after recess, she said.
“Everything we’re doing is to prevent crowding,” she said. “We can’t have crowded dropoffs and pickups.”
Raimondo earlier this week said most public school districts have been cleared for full in-person learning on Sept. 14.
Dr. James McDonald of the state Department of Health recommended that students go to school with an extra mask and a personal bottle of hand sanitizer, even though schools will have them on hand.
He also urged kids to resist the urge to hug friends they have not seen in six months.
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LOW POSITIVE RATE
The Rhode Island Department of Health on Thursday reported a coronavirus test positive rate of just .7%, which earned praise from the governor.
There were 56 new confirmed cases out of almost 8,500 test results returned.
“It’s another good news day for the data,” Raimondo said.
The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Rhode Island fell over the past two weeks, going from 2.37% on Aug. 19 to 1.22% on Wednesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in Rhode Island dropped over the past two weeks, from 95.14 new cases per day on Aug. 19 to 89.14 on Wednesday, Johns Hopkins said.
The department also reported four more coronavirus-related fatalities, for totals of more than 22,100 known cases and 1,055 deaths.
The number of people in the state’s hospitals with the disease was 68 as of Tuesday, the latest day for which the information was available, down from 74 the previous day. Seven of those hospitalized patients were in intensive care.
