The Associated Press
Restaurants and gyms can welcome more customers and funeral homes can host more mourners starting Friday as numbers used to measure the spread of the coronavirus in Rhode Island head in the right direction, authorities announced Thursday.
“We’re pleased to be able to offer more flexibility to the businesses of this state as our public health conditions improve,” state Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor said at a news conference with Gov. Daniel McKee. “These changes are incremental, but for the businesses involved, are very important.”
Restaurants can seat at 66% capacity, up from the current 50%, while gyms and fitness centers can have one customer per 100 square feet, up from the current limit of one per 125 square feet, he said.
Funeral homes will be allowed to host 30 mourners at wakes and indoor events, while outdoor funerals can have up to 50 people, doubling current limits.
The state is also hoping to up the capacity at catered events, including weddings, by early April, he said. Details are still being worked out.
The state is also working on a plan to start vaccinating teachers and school support staff by the end of the month when residents age 60 to 64 and anyone 18 or older with an underlying health condition will be eligible for a shot, McKee said.
The announcement came two days after President Joe Biden said vaccinating teachers should be the nation’s priority.
“It’s nice to know that he agrees with the state of Rhode Island and the new governor,” McKee said.
He said more details would be announced next week.
The news was welcomed by state Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green, who called it a “breath of relief.”
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VIRUS STATISTICS
The Rhode Island Department of Health on Thursday reported nearly 450 new confirmed coronavirus cases and five more virus-related deaths.
Of the new cases, 375 were people who tested positive for the first time on Wednesday, and 67 were people who tested positive for the first time on previous days.
There have now been nearly 128,000 confirmed cases and 2,539 fatalities in the state.
The latest seven-day average positivity rate in Rhode Island is 2.15%. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Rhode Island the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test encounters using data from The COVID Tracking Project.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Rhode Island has risen slightly over the past two weeks from about 364 on Feb. 17 to about 367 on Wednesday, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
The state has administered an average of 8,000 vaccines per day over the past week, Director Nicole Alexander-Scott said, and has now administered nearly 207,000 first doses. Almost 83,000 people have been fully vaccinated. The state has also received its first shipment of more than 9,000 of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, she said.
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NATIONAL GUARD VIDEO
The Rhode Island National Guard has produced a 10-minute video to guide people through the process of getting a coronavirus vaccine at one of two state-run mass vaccination sites.
Rhode Island National Guard Capt. Amanda Ramirez of the medical detachment first guides viewers in the video posted Thursday through the process of finding and booking an appointment. She then walks viewers in step-by-step detail through the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence and Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston.
Ramirez, who remains masked throughout the video, says there are people at both sites to answer any questions and notes that the Guard has golf carts available to shuttle people with mobility issues to and from the parking lots. Wheelchairs are also available, she says in the video.
The National Guard is staffing the state-run sites.
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TIVERTON DPW
The Department of Public Works in Tiverton is struggling through a severe worker shortage with much of the staff out after testing positive for COVID-19 or quarantining because of possible exposure.
Town Administrator Christopher Cotta told The Newport Daily News that four of the department’s 10 workers have tested positive. Just three staff members, the clerk, a landfill worker and Director Richard Rogers, have been working since Feb. 23. A former employee has been brought out of retirement.
Cotta said many workers were in a break room together sharing a meal during a recent snowstorm.
