RI COVID-19 Daily Press Conference: April 8, 2020

Testing

RI Gov. Gina Raimondo said, “We hear that a lot of people are going into CVS pharmacies requesting a test. You cannot do that. The only way to sign up for a test is to go on-line to CVS.COM [cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing].” The only CVS testing facility in RI is in the parking lot of Twin River in Lincoln, and patients must go there to be tested after making an appointment online. People who show symptoms and want to be tested endanger others by going into local pharmacies as a result of misunderstanding this: “It’s dangerous. If you have the virus, you’ll be spreading the virus. We don’t want anyone who’s sick to be leaving their house, period, unless you already have an appointment to get a test.” The testing process is drive-through so the patient never gets out of their vehicle, and the medical professionals who conduct the tests wear protective garb.

The CVS website currently only allows scheduling a test the same day, not in advance, but this functionality will be added by next week.

The CVS tests return results in 30 minutes. The governor asks that these rapid tests be reserved for people at least 60 years of age, healthcare professionals, people who have to go to work, essential workers: “people who need a rapid result.” This type of test is only available for RI residents at least 18 years old. For testing of children, or for testing of people with symptoms who are otherwise young and healthy, they should call their primary care provider (PCP).

Testing is most accurate for patients who have symptoms, and it is not recommended to test anyone without symptoms.

Racial and Ethnic Demographic Data

Racial and ethnic disparities highlight how much ZIP codes matter, something spoken often about for years, RI Department of Health (DoH) Director Dr Nicole Alexander-Scott said. There is not as yet definitive data for RI, but we understand why these disparities occur, and RI is still developing reporting and analysis to look at this in a more granular way, she said.

Alexander-Scott continued, “But we do know definitively that there are certain environmental, social and economic factors that make certain people more vulnerable. We talk often about making it so that your health should not depend upon the ZIP code that you are from. And knowing that, ZIP codes can lead to differences in outcomes. When we have stressed situations, such as this pandemic, those types of disparities are more evident. For example, if people don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their community on a regular basis, that contributes to underlying health issues like diabetes and other medical conditions. And while we know that quarantining and isolation are key guidances that we are giving and that they are challenging for everyone, we know that it can be even more challenging for people who live in communities with less access to good, stable job opportunities that pay a living wage. We also know it’s more challenging for people with unstable housing conditions. There’s also the challenge of exposing many of the other structural inequities that occur. There can be differences in policies or discriminatory approaches across the country based on race and ethnicity, and we know many communities deal with that. These are just some of the examples that highlight why you’re seeing certain communities now with higher rates of cases and, unfortunately, of deaths as well, associated with COVID-19. As we respond now and in the future, when we start to rebuild and repair, we need to be very conscious of these kinds of structural inequities, ones that we have been talking about for quite some time, and ones that the numbers that have been asked about clearly make evident.”

Court Closure Extended — Evictions, Foreclosures

All RI courts have extended their closure for other than emergencies through May 17. Of particular importance, this means eviction proceedings cannot be filed against anyone while the courts are closed.

“I hear from people all the time who are struggling to pay the rent, and so I want you to know, you won’t be evicted because you can’t pay the rent, and if anyone tells you otherwise, I want you to call my office because it isn’t true,” the governor said.

“I know people are struggling to pay their mortgage, and we’re working on ways to provide relief around that, and I hope to have an announcement in the next few days or next week to help you get some forgiveness, because I know it’s impossible to pay your mortgage if you and your family are out of work. So I want you to know I don’t have a good answer to that right now. I hear you, I’m working on it, and very soon I hope to be able to make an announcement around mortgage payments to give everybody some breathing room,” the governor said.

Food and Food Delivery

“This is an issue for so many people right now: so many kids who are used to getting at least two meals a day in school but schools are closed, elderly folks/seniors who are used to relying upon senior centers for their two or three meals a day, and of course people who are in quarantine and isolation. We need you to stay at home if you’re in isolation, in quarantine, but also we need you to be able to eat, and so we’re ramping up our food delivery,” the governor said.

Website RIdelivers.com is available if you’re confined to your home, if you’re sick and you can’t get out, if you’re in quarantine, the governor said. In the last week, over 40,000 have used this website for over 25,000 meals daily. Over 100,000 non-perishable meals have been distributed through partnership with food banks. Capacity continues to expand.

Web site NextDoor.com allows those who need help and those who can offer help to be matched as neighbors in the community.

If unable to use the website, telephone 211.

Contact Tracing

Testing and contact tracing will allow a pinpoint approach as opposed to the blunt approach of shutting down the economy. If a patient tests positive, DoH will enlist their help in getting all of the people they have been in contact with to be tested because they have been exposed and are at risk. This has been done for the past five weeks manually, but as the number of cases increases, it takes more work.

“If I’m going to open this economy, and I am going to as quickly as we can, we have to be more automated and more scalable, so we’ve been working hard to build a system… Today I’m proud to announce that we in RI have partnered with a company called SalesForce.com… a global software company, and we’re partnering with them to make our contact tracing process more efficient, more scalable, more reliable,” the governor said. After the press conference, Alexander-Scott confirmed to Motif that the data in the care of SalesForce is subject to confidentiality agreements with the state and will be treated as protected healthcare information under HIPAA.

The governor reminded everyone that they should be keeping a private daily log in a notebook of where they went and with whom they had physical contact. Update this throughout the day, but write it down at least once a day.

Parks and Recreational Facilities

State parks and beaches, the governor said, are open to pedestrians able to access them without cars, but the parking lots were closed. However, Mayor Jorge Elorza issued a stricter complete closure of Providence parks and boulevards, prohibiting even pedestrian usage. DoH was in discussions with the mayor to encourage the city to follow the more lenient state policy, but there seemed to be remaining unclarity or confusion about what exactly was agreed.

Free Face Covering Fabric

Ocean State Job Lot is making free fabric available to anybody so they can make their own cloth-based face covering. Every Job Lot store has a display set up, and the company has enough material for one million face coverings.

Everyone is asked to wear a face covering whenever leaving the house. Cloth-based face coverings protect others from the wearer, and are not intended to protect the wearer.

Daily Patient Census

Since yesterday (Tuesday) there were five new deaths, for a total so far of 35, and 220 new cases, for a total so far of 1,450, of which 143 are currently hospitalized. “The number of people in the hospital is what we are very focused on now, and tracking how quickly that number doubles and increases,” the governor said. “We’re at a good clip of increase, which means, again, we are in the rapid spread phase of the virus, and you should assume at this point that there is widespread community transmission.”

DoH Director Alexander-Scott said of the five new fatalities, three were in their 70s, one was in their 80s, and one was in their 90s; three were in nursing homes.

Passover

The Jewish holiday of Passover will begin at sunset, the governor noted, addressing the Jewish community, “a time when families all across the state and around the world come together to celebrate a very special, very important, very holy holiday, and of course this year it will be different because you have to obey the social distancing order. Social gatherings cannot be more than five people. I know that’s really tough… It is a time when you get together, your Passover Seder, it’s a time that the Jewish people retell and celebrate the story of triumph and freedom over an enemy. And I think that is more appropriate than ever this Passover as we all together maintain our sense of hope that we will triumph and have freedom against this common enemy. And so I know that you will not be able to celebrate with your families and friends and communities in close proximity in the way that you want to, and the way that you should be able to, but I want you to know we’re thinking of you, we’re deeply sympathetic, and I personally hope that message of hope and triumph over an enemy rings even truer this year for you and your families than ever before. And I will say ‘chag sameach’ [happy holiday] to all of our Jewish brothers and sisters, and a happy Passover to all.”

The governor thanked the RI Board of Rabbis for their leadership on this issue.

Holy Week

The governor repeated her apologies for asking Christian religious leaders to cancel the usual events of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter to protect against the virus and keep people safe. “Churches, unfortunately, will have to remain closed,” the governor said. “Continue to worship, continue to pray, continue to find hope in your faith and in your faith community, but do it in a safe way.”

Grocery Workers

The governor said, “It is the responsibility of every employer to do everything they can in order to protect the health and safety of their employees. First and foremost, it means any employee who is sick, even a little bit, has to be sent home, cannot be forced to work, period, at all, under any condition. And I want to remind everyone that by federal law you have a minimum of 10 days paid sick leave. That’s extremely important.”

Cause of Death

Alexander-Scott said that, while someone infected with COVID-19 who dies may not directly die as a result of this infection, it is classed as a “COVID-19 related” death, and this is consistent with the national public health standard.

Wyatt Detention Center

The governor said she was not aware of the hunger strike by detainees at the Wyatt Detention Center or the drive-by in-car protest planned for Friday, but she has no authority there because it is a federal facility. “Having said that, I do care deeply about what’s happening in my state, so I’ll have to look into it more.”

Domestic Violence Increase

After the press conference, the governor disclosed to Motif that there has been a 30% increase in reports of domestic violence, aggravated by the stay-at-home situation, and promised to provide further data. She has asked the State Police to develop a comprehensive plan to address this, she said.