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Coronavirus Update – Today, May 15, 2020
Photo: Playing it safe at Bradley Hospital, East Providence
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
Look for vending machines selling masks, face shields and gloves – particularly at airports
NASCAR race will be on Sunday – healthcare workers will serve as grand marshals – more races will be planned — the name of a healthcare worker will be on the doors of all 40 cars
China passes 1-month mark for no new virus deaths
$3 trillion aid package is passed by the House; expected to die in its current form
Residents of the Navajo Nation will be under the strictest weekend lockdown yet. Grocery stores, gas stations and other businesses will be closed starting Friday night. Essential workers also are being told to stay home until Monday around dawn.
Eligible California immigrant families to get up to emergency $1,000 per household
Sailors on sidelined USS Theodore Roosevelt get virus for second time
New York City police will no longer enforce mask-wearing by the public unless there is “serious danger,”
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will allow restaurants, retail stores and other businesses to reopen beginning Monday.
Connecticut will distribute 50,000 infrared thermometers for small businesses, nonprofits and places of worship
NYC buying 74,000 air conditioners for seniors
Catholic churches gradually reopen in Pittsburgh
Moscow health officials launched an ambitious antibody screening program Friday to evaluate the population’s immunity levels as coronavirus cases continue to grow across Russia, with more than 260,00 cases reported
Tourists enter reopened Grand Canyon despite virus concerns
Italy will begin testing 150,000 people next week across 2,000 areas in an attempt to better understand the extent of its COVID-19 epidemic.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware will open beaches the Friday before Memorial Day
Louisiana opens with restrictions – bars that serve food can open; churches can open.
China passes 1-month mark for no new virus deaths
Atwater CA is trending because they declared themselves a “sanctuary city” to businesses and refuse to follow stay-at-home
Iowa opens partially – very concerned about domestic violence, food insecurity
Oregon opening including summer camp, etc.
A priest in New Jersey has sued the Governor and state to open his church
Camp Harbor View that serves over 1,000 underserved children from Boston area will “most likely not run this year”.
Locations without social distancing policies that banned large events, had shelter-in-place orders, and closed gyms, bars, restaurants, and other businesses had 35 times more cases.
New York Stock Exchange will reopen on May 26, with temperature checks and masks for traders
Miami-Dade and Broward are allowing retailers and restaurants to open at 50% capacity with certain social distancing and hygiene requirements. Beaches in the counties will remain closed.
Amazon will start mass producing and selling its own face shields in the coming weeks, according to a statement by the retail giant. Some 20,000 shields will be limited to frontline workers during an initial launch and more will later be available to the public through Amazon.
The Vatican is planning to check the temperatures of the faithful before they enter its basilicas for Sunday Mass in new hygiene measures announced ahead of the resumption of liturgical celebrations.
New members of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force include Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Labor Secretary Gene Scalia, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins, Food and Drug Administration Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Dr. Peter Marks and Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration Thomas Engels.
Medical researchers are saying that what was learned with HIV is that no one drug works very well. But if you put three drugs together that are pretty good drugs, you can control the virus for life.
Feds announce plans to go from a 1-3-week stockpile of medical supplies – to a 3 months’ supply
In some of New York’s wealthiest neighborhoods, more than 35 percent of the residents fled the city in March and April. The citywide average, by contrast, was 5 percent.
Minnesota’s Mall of America will begin to reopen June 1
Disney is shutting down its Broadway show, “Frozen” for good, after 851 performances, saying it won’t return when Broadway opens – and government needs to step up to support the arts or they will be lost.
Mississippi casinos given OK to reopen May 21
The Navy hospital ship the USNS Mercy will leave Los Angeles on Friday, officials said, although some medical personnel will remain in the area to help amid the coronavirus epidemic
Farmers to Families Food Box program launched – program mentioned by Gov. Raimondo as a RI program.
Operation Warp Speed – to come up with a vaccine – similar to Manhattan Project – announced in afternoon press conference – develop, manufacture and distribute coronavirus vaccine by end of year.
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
RI Democratic Convention will be on ZOOM – will also elect a committeeperson
ACLU sues to release ICE detainees from Wyatt Detention Center
RI Girl Scouts will not open summer camps either.
RI Tennis Hall of Fame will not be held this year in Newport
Tanglewood has canceled their season
RI Training School has 3 youth, 8 staff test positive for coronavirus
RI Eviction Moratorium Extended to June 1
CumberlandFest is canceled for 2020
Bishop Tobin took to Twitter with two tweets Friday night: “I’m not an historian at all, but I wonder what our founder, Roger Williams, would have said about the power of the State to prevent religious folk from gathering for worship, even during difficult times”. – and – “Faith leaders, across the spectrum, have been very patient and cooperative with the State in responding to the crisis. But our churches must re-open, and they will, soon. Our people are demanding it. For people of faith, public worship is an “essential service.”
An employee in their 50s, of Oak Hill Rehabilitation, in Pawtucket has died of Covid19
The RI Continuum of Care has adapted housing priorities to ensure people who are aged 60+ years old and/or who are medically compromised and at greater risk of COVID-19 are being housed with priority status. This amendment to our policy and procedure is in effect until June 15th.
Governor Baker of Massachusetts said: Baker also said that a number of the state’s largest employers have committed to letting large swaths of their employees work remotely for the time being, and he urged additional companies to do the same.
RI Data
11 Deaths: 1 in 60s, 4 in 70s, 2 in 80s, 4 in 90s
RI Governor’s Address:
Governor reviewed metrics for moving between Phase 1 and Phase 2 and what might cause a pullback such as a big uptick at hospitals. Will use it as a guide and use common sense. And overlay it with how our systems are working – testing, contact tracing, etc. Systems are strong right now.
Hopes for Phase 2 in June and Phase 3 in July. Governor is looking at 4 weeks from one phase to the next and acknowledged that she had originally said the time period would be 2 weeks. When asked about this by the media, she replied, “My bad…saying she had not remembered she had originally said 2 weeks.
Town Hall for older adults – next Thurs, 11am – on Facebook Live. In collaboration with Sect. Robertson, and several others – listen in. Tough time for older adults – you want to live your life but be careful.
Monday is form due date for businesses opening – go on reopeningri.com. Don’t have to submit your plan to state but have to keep it on file. If inspector comes you’ll have to submit it to that person.
Abbott ID Now Test – being used at Twin River. FDA is looking at the test due to concerns about false negatives and accuracy – swabs, transport media concerns. RIDOH validated Abbott test before using. Positivity rate is about 11% which is about the same for all tests at all sites.
Questions:
Phase times were 2 weeks – now they are 4? Hopefully she said a few weeks – “my bad” – we need the time to observe. Doesn’t know exactly the date of Phase 2 – last week in May, first in June? Opening beaches around Memorial Day – but maybe the weekend after that.
Graduation ceremonies: Hard to give guidance for what will be ok a month from now. Right now, 5 or fewer in social gatherings. Will hope to lift that at beginning of June. Best, safest course of action is to provide some certainty. Plan a virtual event in May. Maybe a follow-up event will be possible in the summer.
Shifting Goalposts for decision making on graduation: N. Smithfield HS – cars gathering, jumbotron, masks, “In what world does this make sense” that you have to have a mask on to walk across a stage for a photo – Governor says she was not aware, and Dr. Scott was not aware. Gov has call daily with mayors, etc. Govt does not seem to be providing a creative solution for grave situations.
Waiving MDs requirement for testing: No. We want to encourage everyone to have involvement of a medical person, and this is one way to assure that they will have someone, and we can connect them with a primary care provider.
Courts: Moratorium expires Monday. All courts closed until June 1st. Washington Co. and Newport will remain closed until Sept. 8, with cases being heard in Kent.
ACI – we are testing everyone – all workers, inmates, symptomatic and asymptomatic. PPE provided. Comprehensive plan. Not anticipating outbreak. Different than Wyatt.
Memorial Day – will not be moving to Phase 2 by then – need time to observe effect of changes you are making.
Narragansett – having a resolution on Monday to say they are open for business – beaches, churches, etc. – police will not enforce Executive Order. Gov says that is “so selfish” – that is a huge risk.
Phase one – contacts of 5 or fewer for all of this phase
Hair salons, barbershops, restaurants – not consensus in that community – but would like to open in beginning of phase two.
Positive testing – people can continue to test positive, even though not active in body.
The Governor laid out four different metrics, in addition to the state’s operational response, that officials are tracking as they consider moving between phases of reopening.
- Hospital capacity: If the state continues to see less than 70% of ICU and non-ICU beds filled by COVID-19 patients, that is an indicator that it is safe to continue moving forward. However, if 85% or more of these beds are filled, either in overall hospital capacity or specifically in the ICU, it may be time to scale back.
- Hospitalizations: Right now, Rhode Island is consistently seeing fewer than 30 new COVID-19 related hospitalizations per day. If that trend continues, that is an indicator that reopening can move forward. But if that number is consistently above 50, it may signal a need to go back.
- Rate of spread: This is measured using the “R value,” or the “effective reproduction rate.” This is how many people are infected by each infected person. If the R value continues to be around 1.1 or lower, then it will be safe to think about moving into the next phase. If the R value gets to 1.3 or higher Rhode Island may have to move back a phase. the average number of secondary cases per infectious case
- Doubling rate of current hospitalizations: Currently, hospitalizations are stable or declining. If the state starts seeing a doubling within twenty days or less, that will be an indicator that it may be time to put restrictions back in place.
The Governor also announced that she will be holding an Older Adults Facebook Town Hall on Thursday, May 21, at 11 a.m. with Secretary Robertson, the U.S. assistant secretary for Aging; Secretary Womazetta Jones of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services; Office of Healthy Aging Director Rose Jones; and several community advocates. Older adults and caregivers can submit questions through the Governor’s Facebook and Twitter pages or by writing to [email protected].
