PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The number people in Rhode Island who have died of coronavirus-related illness has surpassed the 1,000 mark, the state Department of Health announced Thursday.
The agency reported four new fatalities, bringing the statewide death toll from the disease to 1,001.
The state also has 76 new new confirmed cases of the disease, for a total of more than 18,100 known cases since the pandemic began, according to the latest information from the department.
The new confirmed cases were out of 3,572 tests administered, for a positive rate of about 2.1%.
The number of people in the hospital with the coronavirus was at 67 as of Tuesday, the latest day for which the information was available, roughly the same as the previous three days. Seven of the patients were in intensive care.
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HOSPITAL MASK-WEARING
Even hospitals in Rhode Island are having trouble getting all visitors to wear face coverings to stymie the spread of the coronavirus, according to people who work in the state’s health care industry.
Some people outright refuse to wear them even when they’re reminded, and security has had to be called to escort them from the building, Ray Sullivan, a spokesperson for a union that represents about 2,700 nurses and other professionals at Rhode Island Hospital told The Providence Journal.
Kathleen Hart, a spokeswoman for the hospital’s parent company Lifespan, acknowledged issues with some visitors.
“As much as we have communicated our visitation policy to guests, unfortunately there have been instances where visitors have not complied with this policy,” she said in an email.
Sullivan said often people enter the building wearing a mask, but at some point take them off or lower them once they’re on the floors of the hospital or in a room.
