RI Coronavirus Update – Today, September 3, 2020

Photo: A post-coronavirus preparedness classroom in Providence

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

The CDC has issued official alert to Governors of states to be prepared to distribute vaccines in their states as early as November.

US govt has put a ban on evictions through end of 2020 – applies only to tenants who have had trouble paying rents because of coronavirus.

Lego sales have risen 7% since coronavirus began.

The White House will resume public tours, with protective measures in place.

Cheap, widely available steroid drugs reduced the number of deaths in the sickest patients with COVID-19, show a trio of newly published clinical trials.

Thailand noted its 100th day without a case of coronavirus.

Vermont will begin testing guests of the Summit Lodge in Killington as more than a dozen people test positive.

Tom Seaver, pro baseball player, died of a variety of conditions, including COVID19.

Former Italian Prime Minister, Berlusconi, has tested positive at 83.

FEMA has said it will stop paying for masks for schools as of 9-15-2020

NYC gyms have opened.

Colorado College said Tuesday that it is moving to online classes for the rest of the fall semester after hundreds of students went into quarantine because at least 10 had tested positive for the coronavirus.

At least 3,000 college students in North Carolina have tested positive, primarily from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and East Carolina University.

In Arizona, 25% of calls to the COVID19 complaint line for citizens to complain about businesses not complying with guidelines – are about government agencies and officials.

A Utah charter school closed its elementary campus after 15 students and staffers tested positive.

Amtrak sent a letter to employees that 1,950 union workers would be furloughed, and1 00 management jobs would be cut. Combined, the jobs make up about 10% of Amtrak’s workforce. Starting Oct. 1, the railroad is reducing trains, including sidelining its Acela, across its long-distance network from daily to three days a week.

Coronavirus infections from off-campus gatherings at the University of Wyoming have led the school to quarantine dozens of students.

Some researchers are advising people to close the toilet seats at home and in public facilities, if there is an ability to do so, prior to flushing, to eliminate spreading coronavirus.

16,000 United Airlines employees will be furloughed shortly.

Drs. Birx and Fauci have taped TV spots pleading with people to wear the masks and socially distance this weekend – Labor Day.

First man, in his 60s, to die from the So. Dakota motorcycle gathering.

Dwayne Johnson, his wife, and daughters are all positive for coronavirus. All have recovered.

Interim results from the NIH-sponsored Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT-1) showed that patients with severe COVID-19 had a significantly shorter time to recovery with up to 10 days of remdesivir versus placebo, but no significant difference in mortality.

Passengers who rode on a bus with someone who had COVID-19 had a higher risk of contracting the virus versus passengers who rode on a different bus to the same event, researchers in China found.

HHS is canceling its ventilator contracts, as its supply is overly full.

Queens restaurant suing for the right to have indoor dining

Old Navy, led by Gap Inc. CEO Sonia Syngal, will pay store employees their usual rate to work the polls rather than clock in at their normal retail location on Election Day. The initiative is meant to meet a shortage of poll workers due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic lockdown has killed the work commute. And as the number of miles people travel every day has collapsed, commuters have saved themselves billions of dollars. The savings comprise gas, car maintenance and repairs, as well as the costs that driving imposes on society, such as congestion and polluting. But the biggest factor in this calculation is time. It’s hard to put a number on the literal value of your time, but the Department of Transportation provides an estimate, Ozimek noted: Every hour of commuting by car costs Americans $12.50.

Dr. Fauci:  On whether colleges should keep COVID+ students in quarantine, Dr. Fauci: “We don’t want to see college students who get infected get sent home to essentially seed the infection in the community where they live.”

RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY

The CDC has issued official alert to Governors of states to be prepared to distribute vaccines in their states as early as November.

Cranston School Committee held a ZOOM presentation to present a hybrid proposal that will take the community through October – over a thousand people listened in on a maxxed out ZOOM meeting and on Facebook Live. Public comment was given, and a final plan will be announced. The proposal was said to have changed from a full return to school after a four hour walk through with the state’s team.

School committee person who went with inspection team summarized their advice to Cranston: Full person learning is not the best for Cranston because of the infection rate in the community and building issues – size of classes, etc. Only way to reduce the risk is to cut the population in half – the student body numbers. This after touring with the infectious disease expert for four hours. “There’s no way we can safely bring in the whole student body”. Things could change. If infection rate goes up in Cranston, all this won’t happen. If it goes down, we could change things.

Cranston back-to-school plan in in 3 phases. Phase 1 through 9-25 has pre-K, K and Grade 1 full time, 5 days week, as well as MLL and CTE. All others, virtual. Phase 2 goes from 9-29 to 10-9 and continues Phase 1 plus grades 2, 3, 6, and 9 with A-L last names going Tues/Thurs and M-Z last names going Wed/Fri – Monday will be virtual for all. Phase 3 goes from Oct. 13th, forward and continues with grades 4, 5, 7, 8, 10-12 with same alphabetically sorting.

All Massachusetts students entering school this fall must have a flu shot by December 31. New state requirement applies to childcare, pre-school, K-12, and college students.

Seven weeks after announcing a program to help small businesses ailing from the effects of the pandemic, the state has awarded just $5 million of the $50 million in federal aid that Gov. Gina Raimondo pledged to make available. Only 35 percent of the applicants have received funding, with an average grant of $9,200. The maximum allowed under the state’s program is $15,000. https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200902/after-7-weeks-ri-small-business-relief-program-has-given-out-just-tenth-of-its-50-million

CAV Restaurant reopens in Providence

Members of the Rhode Island House Republican Caucus will hold a media event today (Thursday, September 3, 2020) at 11:30 am in the State House Rotunda, to discuss legislative actions filed to address the immediate education challenges brought on by COVID-19.

RI state beaches will stay open for 2 weeks after Labor Day – free parking, no admission but no lifeguards. Visitors are encouraged to follow distancing, mask wearing.

RI remains on the Massachusetts travel list for quarantining and test requirements

.28% interest has been paid on the RICARES billions received by RI. That amounts to approx.. $1.1 million from April through August. (per Tara Granahan, WPRO)

RI’s performing arts and arts groups urged Congress to pass the Save Our Stages Act, which would authorize the Small Business Administration to issue grants of up to $12 million to live-venue operators and other representatives of the entertainment industry, as well as the RESTART Act, which would extend the Paycheck Protection Program that guarantees loans to small businesses to help pay their employees.

The RI Dept. of Health says that 10% of deaths in RI attributable to COVID19 “had COVID-19 but it was not considered a “contributing factor” in their death”.

A Burlingame camp ground maintenance person has tested positive and the entire facility is now being cleaned.

Governor’s press event: 1pm – Facebook Live event on back to school: 3pm

Governor’s Presentation:

Primary conversation happened around a disagreement that the “walk-throughs” of schools by the interdisciplinary team from the state of RI are not “inspections” and that the media have “continued to mischaracterize them” according to the Governor. Note: The checklist form was changed after the press conference to say “walk-through” as opposed to the word “inspection” which is also what the Governor has been using to refer to the actions.

RI Data:

53 cases; 1 death (in 90s)

Testing & Tracing

Separate system for testing K-12

Separate system for tracing K-12

Testing, tracing for individual cases. If broader transmission, then decision to close classroom, section, or school – but this will not happen for isolated positives.

Refer to: https://www.back2schoolri.com/ for details on plan

Every parent still has a choice for in-person education or not. If you feel, as a parent, to do virtual learning at home, no one will force you to send your child to school.

Ramp up between 9/14 and 10/13.

What happens when student/staff tests positive? Contact tracing kicks in. That’s why it is important to have seating charts for classrooms, buses, where they eat, etc. Case investigation is when RIDOH and team works with positive testing person to help them remember who they have been in contact with. Importance of contact tracing notebooks. Get them for your kids and family. Dedicated 50 members of “team” to K-12 contact tracing. Investigator will ask where you have been and who you have been with in last 2 weeks. Investigator will connect directly with school contact person to assist with investigation. Close contacts for 15 minutes or more. Close contacts quarantine for 14 days. Even if you test negative and never get sick, you must quarantine.

What if my child is in a class with someone who tests positive? Same for teachers? Quarantine? No, only unless you are a “close contact”, and you will be told that, if you are. Refer to the www.back2schoolri.com site for details.

Comm. Green:

Reopening –

Prov & CF are partial reopening only. Based on data, they will prioritize elementary and transition grades, 6, 9, etc. Still have option for virtual education.

75 extra offerings will continue through October that you can sign up for.

Dr. Scott:

Covid19 & Children

Generally much milder disease in children; hospitalizations much lower.

All RI hospitalizations, 1% were infant to 9; 1% were 10 to 18 years old.

Very little secondary spread in RI’s organized, structured setting

Fewer than 5 cases associated with summer camps in RI – all were isolated and no spread

Over 700 child care sites. Seen about 45 cases w/children and adults in 25 facilities.

Questions:

Q: Reporter requested to go on walk-throughs & were denied – can media attend?

A:  Dr. Scott said these are working sessions, but we can “talk about that”.

Q: Why not a public process?

A: Dr. Scott: it decreases our ability to do this effectively – it’s a working session.

Q: Some have said RIDOH not at inspections? Has RIDOH been with them on the team? Air quality inspection not done?

A:  These are collaborative walk-throughs. Our team has trained and they include RIDOH, RIDBR, National Guard, RIDE. To cover 300+ buildings, we need team to go in different directions at the same time.

Q: Schools don’t believe it is sufficient – checklists are not adequate

A: Checklists are reflective of the guidance the schools have given us – their plan. We hold the school fully accountable to have a plan that meets the guidelines. We want to be focused on the key components.

Q: How many team members in place? How will they do 300 schools in a few weeks.

A: Gov. Raimondo: 14 teams of people – each team has multiple people. Not inspections – “You guys insist on calling them inspections – they were never intended to be inspections”. Primary goal of each system to put their plan in place. As “belt and suspenders” wouldn’t it be nice if the state could have a checklist to see that what was on the city/town paperwork is what is happening in the schools. Larry Perlow, NEA, had this suggestion. Yesterday, there were 50 inspections – “I don’t know if anyone failed or passed”.

Example: School said they will have fans in the windows – ok, are they there?

Warwick should work a little harder. “It is the job of the schools to get ready, to provide schools for the kids to get back”. It requires a willingness to make this happen.

Note: Gov. Raimondo: When there was TB in 1908 – they taught kids outside in the middle of the winter – where there is a will there is a way.

Q: In absence of data, how can parents make a decision?

A: Gov. Raimondo – on the website, every city/town has published their plan – we are now seeing if they did what they said they were going to do.  All this will be transparent.

Comment: In RI in absence of municipalities’ efforts, especially for parents with kids with IEPs, etc. – I have sympathy with parents who say the state green lighted schools to open, but they didn’t.

Q: NEA that suggested the walk-throughs is saying they are criticizing the walkthroughs

A: They are not inspections – the group says they are not inspiring confidence. Skipping rooms, etc. We are resource constrained. This is not the only thing that we are doing. This is the icing on the cake of plans. “I don’t think they are perfunctory”.

Q: Bus drivers: will they be part of rapid testing?

A: Yes.

Q: If child tests positive and they ride the bus, what happens?

A: Same thing – contact tracing, etc. They need to have a seating plan for bus.

Q: $50 million out the door for businesses but only $5 million is out the door – are you satisfied with what is going out the door?

A: No, not satisfied, nor am I critical of “Commerce”. “We could up the amount of money, we have required paperwork, checks and balances, a lot of businesses struggle to work with the system, so we are trying to simplify the system”. 

Q: Company in Minnesota is complicated, not welcoming, skeptics say state is saving the money for other things? State is failing them.

A: Demand is not as great as we thought. We don’t want to save it. Thinking of expanding to sole proprietors. Strike balance between necessary paperwork and getting the money out.

Q: Is demand not great because the state has too many barriers?

A: I don’t know – maybe. If you are talking to people who tell you what is hanging up the applications, help us fix the system.

Q: Can’t get through to CommerceRI

A: Gov says they are “incredibly  responsive – answers within a day”.

Q: Walk-through uses term inspection. People expect more. You are lessening what it is but saying it is NOT an inspection.

A: I don’t know what to say – we’re engaging with them. When I think of an inspection, it’s more of a “grade” walk-through – this is more of a working session.