COVID cases in RI show sharp decline

PROVIDENCE – Calling it “confidence-inspiring,” an optimistic Gov. Gina M. Raimondo Monday said the state’s latest COVID-19 data is showing a marked decline in the number of positive coronavirus cases in Rhode Island.

“We’ve seen a pretty significant decrease in our percent-positive rate even in the last few days,” Raimondo said at her COVID-19 briefing yesterday. “That is great news because we’ve been in Phase I for a few weeks and we’re seeing a continued decline in the percent-positive rate, which is what we want to see.”

On Saturday, nearly 4,000 Rhode Islanders were tested, showing a positivity rate of 2.5 percent. On Sunday, 2,000 were tested with a positivity rate of 3 percent. The CDC recommends a percent-positive rate of below 10 percent before states can consider reopening.

“Considering a month ago we were in the high teens to 20 percent, those are very encouraging statistics,” Raimondo said. “Less than five percent of the thousands of people we tested the last few days were positive and that’s encouraging. It should give us confidence as we go into Phase II.”

Monday’s data on new cases and fatalities showed a positive downward trend. There were just 67 new cases and only two new coronavirus-related deaths in Rhode Island yesterday. Hospitalizations were down as well with 195 patients currently hospitalized.

Raimondo compared those numbers to Saturday when there were 171 new cases and 219 hospitalizations reported, and Sunday, which had 106 new cases and 206 hospitalizations

Rhode Island now has a total of 14,991 cases to day and its virus-related death toll stands at 720.

Despite the good news on