State reports high daily increase of COVID cases

PROVIDENCE (AP) — The Rhode Island Department of Health on Wednesday reported more than 560 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and a daily positivity rate from the previous day of about 2.5%.

The state also reported two more virus-related deaths, for a total of 2,619 reported fatalities during the pandemic.

Of the new cases, 500 were people who tested positive for the first time on Tuesday, the highest one-day total since early February. The remainder tested positive for the first time on previous days.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Rhode Island declined over the past two weeks, going from about 353 on March 15 to 347 on Tuesday, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins.

There have now been more than 137,000 known cases in the state.

There were 125 COVID-19 patients in Rhode Island’s hospitals as of Monday, the latest day for which the information was available, up slightly from the previous day.

With more than 10,000 additional vaccines administered, more than 339,000 people have received at least one vaccine dose, while more than 221,000 people have been fully vaccinated, the state Department of Health reported.

The state also reported almost 300 coronavirus cases among in-person students and another 90 among remote learners in the state’s schools for the week that ended March 27, including almost 20 in Westerly, WJAR-TV reported.

Westerly High School in response moved to all-distance learning this week, according to The Sun of Westerly.