Summer Camps to Open Next Month: Summary of the governor’s May 14 press conference

Governor Gina Raimondo and Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott gave the daily COVID-19 presser briefing today at 1pm at The Vets.

Rhode Island has 181 new cases today. The state has officially tested more than 101,000 people, testing almost 3,700 since yesterday. The Ocean State now has gotten more than 12,000 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus. Two-hundred seventy-one people are hospitalized and 65 are in the ICU. The governor and Dr. Alexander-Scott today stressed that the data shows hospitalizations and ICU beds on a declining trajectory. The state saw six new deaths since yesterday, bringing our total fatalities to 468. One person was in their 70s, two were in their 80s and three were in their 90s.

The governor today, for the foreseeable future, is cancelling summer sports. She based her decision on CDC guidelines, which recommended cancelling summer sports competitions. A scenario where teams are playing against each other, a new team every other time, would be untenable to public health. If the CDC revises or reverses its guidelines, the governor would reverse her decision. Public libraries are currently still closed for the duration of phase 1, but curbside pickup is available.

Summer camps can expect to reopen around June 29. Raimondo said the date is tentative based on the number of COVID-19 cases in a month. Camps will have new regulations, be required to have deep cleaning and regular cleaning of publicly shared services. Kids will be required to stay in stable groups of the same people. More guidance will be available for summer camps next week at reopeningri.com. 

Graduating high school seniors will be honored by a special state-wide graduation ceremony. The ceremony will be broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on June 15. Students who want to submit videos have until May 22. Interested students can submit videos and find more information at ripbs.org/youryear2020. If a student needs to make up coursework or a class, summer school and summer learning will still be happening. Details are still being ironed out, but the governor said it would mostly be online.

Today during questions, Motif asked the governor and Dr. Alexander-Scott if they were testing as aggressively in congregate settings like the Wyatt Detention Center and ACI as they were state nursing homes. Dr. Alexander Scott explained the responsibilities for such facilities differed from the federal government to the private entities that own it. She said the state’s congregate setting support team is pulling together resources to enforce infection control policy. Within the past 24 hours via proactive surveillance, the number of cases at the ACI went from 0 to “fewer than five.”

The last press conference of the week is tomorrow at 1pm.