Coronavirus Update, Today, May 5, 2020

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

France goes to a travel lockdown until July

Vegas plans underway include: Chairs must be removed so people at gaming machines don’t sit next to each other, and blackjack tables should be limited to three players, craps to six and roulette and poker to four. Casinos must submit plans on spacing as well as sanitation and other measures. Those must include how things like dice, cards and chips will be disinfected. There will be a 50% occupancy limit

Los Angeles clinic puts poor community at greater risk of contracting coronavirus, but now encouraging patients to come in for medical visits, a departure from establishing telehealth as a safer alternative for as many as possible.

Tyson has been forced to close several plants and slow production as hundreds of workers test positive for the virus.

Carnival to resume some cruises on August 1 from Florida and Texas

South Korea readying for second wave by setting up 1,000 clinics

Fever, fatigue, fear: For some recovering COVID-19 patients, weeks of illness, uncertainty – several people are wondering if this is their new normal, fevers every day, etc.

Churches open in Munich

Kroger to offer free COVID-19 testing to workers

Americans bought roughly 4.2 million firearms in April

RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY

Roger Williams University has announced it will open in the fall and is working on new safety procedures.

Mayors of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Providence, Cranston, Woonsocket, and others have expressed concern over the Governor’s plans to reopen the state as early as Saturday – Mayor Elorza of Providence said they may not follow the statewide plan – concerns raised about testing numbers and education were raised at the Latino Policy Institute event yesterday held at Roger Williams University.

URI’s graduation will be online – Gov. Raimondo will be a speaker.

Governor Charlie Baker warned restarting the Massachusetts economy will come in fits and starts for quite some time, and urges safety in the process. There were significant demonstrations yesterday in Massachusetts.

54 residents have died at Medford, MA nursing home

RI Data

21 fatalities – 40s to 90s – 1 in 40s, 2 in 60s, 1 in 70s, 8 in 80s, 9 in 90s.

17 from nursing homes; 2 from group homes – 90%

Data shows example of the work we are doing to level off.

An updated Nursing Home/Group Home Chart of incidences and deaths was promised by day end yesterday – but was not done.

Coronavirus crisis has been two months, and RI has risen to the challenge. So many leaders, first responders, front line workers, etc. Proud to be a Rhode Islander.

This weekend, by and large, Rhode Islanders were very compliant. If this continues it’s going to be increasingly safe to open the economy. 300 businesses were “inspected”, with a 99% compliance rate of customers wearing masks and 100% compliance for keeping 6 feet distances in stores.

Phase 1 of opening: intention to lift stay at home order May 8^th. Sooner than some other neighboring states. In RI, we’re going in the right direction. Not going to look radically different. Keep network small, stay close to home. We are focused on getting people back to work. Retailers have suffered. Non-critical retail stores can open for in-person operations, with capacity restrictions. Encourage pre-ordering and in-store pickup. Limited in person browsing. Number of customers will vary depending on size of store. 1 person browsing for every 300 feet of space. All staff and customer will need to wear masks. Set up a barrier between customer and cashier. Pay in advance or contactless payment system in store.

Restaurants – not opening in phase one. Time to think to be ready for Phase two opening. Phase 1, still remain closed, except for curbside pickup and delivery. With outdoor dining, phase 1 – seating by reservations only – no menu, staff wearing masks – some restaurants may skip phase 1. Think about converting parking lot that satisfies requirements. Indoor dining, phase two. Phase one, 14 days.

Offices – 521-HELP for ecommerce help, technology, and remote working. Phase 1 – if you can work from home, work from home. Some who can’t can start to come back to work in your office. What’s not fine is returning to normal right away. No congregating. Wearing masks. New safety standards, so start adapting now. Set up staggered work teams. Work with same people. Every employer will screen every employee every day – make sure they aren’t sick – require them to stay home. 6 feet apart in seating. More frequent cleaning. Supplies. More details to come on which are guidelines, and which are enforceable.

Healthcare workers – Phase one – deferred medical needs, call your doctor, set up appointments. Tele-Health increasingly used and a great option – continue to use that – can’t get an x-ray or immunizations, so we are starting to relax requirements so you can get this care. Specialty providers are open, and we’re going to encourage seeing them. Hospitals – open to ER, elective procedures, elective surgeries.  

Visitation to nursing homes – not allowing in phase one. Not on Mother’s Day. This virus is not kind to elderly, frail and those with underlying conditions.

Powerpoint will be online.

Stop and Shop sites – offering PCR test to workers, voluntary. Employees only.

Questions: – more guidance coming on mask wearing – new Executive Order coming.

Providence Slow Streets was amended by Mayor Elorza after complaints from some residents and businesses about closed off roads. Changes include removing of barriers to close off Oxford Street, between Elmwood Avenue and Prairie Avenue; Parade Street between Wood Street and Cranston Street; Camp Street between Doyle and Stenton Avenue; and Pleasant Valley Parkway. Green spaces and off-road trails will remain open. The remaining road closures have a 10mph speed limit which is “monitoring by community volunteers”.

A group of protestors are again asking for an independent investigation into the incident at the ICE Detention Facility in New Bedford on Friday.

Frontier Airlines is telling passengers that if they want the middle seat blocked they can pay for it. Customers will be able to select a “more room” option, beginning at $39, to ensure that the middle seat is reserved without a passenger, while some airlines such as Delta and EasyJet have already started to block off the middle seat, where possible, to allow for social distancing.

Fraud investigation into DUI claims – FBI, US Attorney involved. Situation has more to do with “bad actors” than systems and checks and balances.

Monitoring of Phase 1 restrictions – increased enforcement, more inspections, more police surveillance. Will rely on industry to help police themselves.

Small business loans – some who could not get loans can still get loans – [email protected] – CommerceRI will help un-banked businesses to get loans. Going forward…may be more money from stimulus dollars.

Out of state issues – CT and MA – later this week, detailed guidelines. At the end of the day it’s all about the distance rules that will keep us safe.

Chief Medical Examiner position – continuing to attract this position which is key in RI.

Long term hospitalizations – will deaths bring up our totals – how long are people staying in ICU/hospital? – lingering of illness – many get better, some don’t. Hospitalizations can be a lagging indicator. Amt of time varies from less than 2 weeks to many weeks.

Keep our loved ones in nursing homes and group homes in our prayers… as 90% of those who died in the last RI dataset were from this group – with 8 in their 80s and 9 in their 90s – we remember you.