Pawtucket and Central Falls launch BEAT COVID-19

The Pawtucket and Central Falls delegations have announced their support of the BEAT COVID-19 initiative through a joint statement. The team, under the direction of Mayor Donald R. Grebien and Mayor James A. Diossa, and Dr. Michael Fine, is focusing on grassroots communication and assistance with the goal of reaching out to every single household in the two cities, including identifying residents who become symptomatic as soon as they get sick and move them to effective isolation immediately.

The Pawtucket and Central Falls State Delegations are proud to represent all of our residents at the State level to ensure that our communities receive the resources that they need and deserve. With the rapid spread of the Coronavirus, our number one priority is the health and safety of everyone in our cities.

We fully support the BEAT COVID-19 initiative as it is an out of the box approach to reach every resident and get them tested. We thank Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien, Central Falls Mayor James A. Diossa, and Dr. Michael Fine for their leadership and grassroots response to this pandemic in our communities despite minimal resources. We also want to thank all of the organizations involved including Collette, Care New England, Blackstone Valley Community Health Care, both the Pawtucket and Central Falls School Departments, Cape Verdean American Community Development, LISC, Fuerza Laboral, and Progreso Latino among a host of other organizations for their willingness to step up to protect our residents.

These are challenging times for our communities and the state. We live in extremely diverse and dense communities where the number of positive coronavirus cases continues to grow. However, the residents of Pawtucket and Central Falls have always been a resilient people, and together we will get through this.

We ask that everyone who experiences symptoms isolate immediately by staying home and get tested. Let’s beat Covid-19 together.

A coronavirus testing site will be staffed by CNE medical professionals Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. Symptomatic patients should call their primary care provider or call 401-CareNOW (401-227-3669) to make an appointment.

A list of all Representatives and Senators who signed onto the statement is below.

Rep. Joshua J. Giraldo (CF)

Rep. James N. McLaughlin (CF)

Rep. Carlos E. Tobon (Pawt)

Rep. Jean Philippe Barros (Pawt)

Rep. Karen Alzate (Pawt)

Rep. Raymond Johnston (Pawt)

Rep. Mary Messier (Pawt)

Rep. John Lyle (Pawt)

Sen. Sandra Cano (Pawt)

Sen. Donna Nesselbush (Pawt)

Sen. Elizabeth Crowley (Pawt/CF)

Sen. William Conley, Jr. (Pawt)