Too close for her liking
Raimondo stresses importance of social distancing; headcounts at big box, retail stores
PROVIDENCE — Gov. Gina Raimondo Wednesday said new guidelines will go into effect today requiring bigbox stores and other large retailers to keep shoppers at a safe social distance, including actively counting customers to reduce the number of people who can be in a store at the same time.
The new guidelines issued by the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation yesterday are necessary to avoid closing all non-essential businesses, the governor said.
“We’re getting way too many reports of big box retail operations that have too many cars in the parking lot, too many people in the stores, and too many people in close proximity inside the stores,”
Raimondo said at her daily press briefing on the coronavirus outbreak.
During yesterday’s briefing, Health Department Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott reported eight new COVID-19 patients in Rhode Island, including five males and three females ranging in age from their 30s to their 60s. The state’s total number of cases now stands at 132.
Raimondo said she is hoping the new guidelines aimed at large retailers will avert her from having to make the same decision Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker made Monday when he issued a statewide stay-at-home advisory and ordered all non-essential businesses in that state to
“The only way I can continue to keep these big stores open is if we all try a little bit harder to avoid crowds and avoid being closer to one another.”
—Gov. Gina Raimondo
close until April 7.
“I have decided unlike some other governors to keep (non-essential businesses) open,” she said. “Grocery stores we have to keep open because everyone needs to eat, but some of these other big box retail stores I’ve kept open because I want to maintain some semblance of an economy. We want as many people working safely as possible at all times. The only way I can continue to keep these big stores open is if we all try a little bit harder to avoid crowds and avoid being closer to one another.”
The new guidelines include reducing the number of people who can be in a store at the same time, which means retailers must actively count the number of people inside to enforce the limit. Customers will also have to be spaced out from one another, particularly in a checkout line. The new guidelines also require retailers to clean more thoroughly and more often, and to do everything possible to make it easier for people to shop online and have them come to the store to pick up what they purchased without having to go into the store.
“We’ve already been in touch with a lot of the large retailers and chains so they know it’s coming,” the governor said. “We’re going to monitor it and I hope it works because I want to keep our large retailers open. I don’t expect this will be a flawless operation in the first few days, but I do expect that we’re going to work hard at it and that we will get there as quickly as possible.”
Raimondo said the new guidelines to be posted on the Department of Business Regulation’s webpage will be strictly enforced.
“The State Police are fully aware and are in constant contact with local police departments,” she said. “We’re going to be doing spot checks of big retailers and we’re going to make sure that the lines aren’t too long and there aren’t too many people in the store at any one time. If we find that that you’re not complying then I’m going to have to do something more extreme, including emergency regulations, greater penalties and closing more stores. And we really don’t want to go there.”
Raimondo said Rhode Island shoppers and consumers must also play a role.
“If you go to the deli counter and there’s a line, come back later. If you go to the grocery store and there’s a line, come back later or sit in your car and wait a little while,” the governor said. “The grocery store’s supply chains are working better now than they were a week ago so they will continue to be able to restock food faster. Nobody should be hoarding or worried about that. Just go to the store and buy what you need for the week or a few days.”
“I have said many many times, and I will continue to say it until we all get it, is that the best thing we can do to keep each other safe and healthy, and frankly, alive, is to keep ourselves away from other people,” Raimondo added. “This is not natural. It’s not they way we’re used to living and it’s not the way we want to live, but it’s going to keep us alive.”
Raimondo also talked about the massive $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package of spending and tax breaks to bolster the hobbled U.S. economy and fund a nationwide effort to contain the coronavirus.
A total $1.25 billion out of that will go to Rhode Island. The aid will provide direct support to local businesses and hospitals; cash payments to middle- and lower-income Rhode Islanders; and more expansive unemployment benefits.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get that money on the street and in the pocketbooks of Rhode Islanders as fast as we can,” she said. “We all know someone who is struggling right now. That’s not lost on me. The economic consequences of this are truly devastating.”
Said Raimondo: “I know there’s a link between the economy and health and that’s why every minute of the day I’m thinking about how to get people back to work. Our economy is on pause right now. I’m going to do everything I know how to do to open up our economy as quickly as I can and as safely as I can. This stimulus is going to help us to bridge the gap between where we are today and when we’re fully open again for business.”