PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — From your company’s break room being closed, to new regulations for Halloween, Gov. Gina Raimondo is taking new steps to try and curb the rise of coronavirus cases in Rhode Island.
In her second briefing of the week, the governor said it’s the small gatherings when guards are down that is at the root of the recent uptick in the state.
For that reason, Raimondo is urging asymptomatic people to go to portal.ri.gov to sign up for testing. In particular, those with close contact jobs, adults between the age of 18 to 39, travelers, and those who have attended a large gathering or protest are urged to get tested.
The governor says testing is key to the state’s overall strategy, and it is especially important now.
She says it allows Rhode Island to better understand where the problem areas are and take a more targeted approach as well as better protect people you may not even know you have exposed.
Raimondo’s goal is to run 4,000 asymptomatic tests over the next week and is asking employers to encourage their employees to get tested.
“I’d ask you to please encourage your employees to get tested even if they are asymptomatic,” she said. “It would be awesome if a lot of hairdressers, waiters, waitresses, barbers could get out in the next week and get tested even if you feel great. We need to increase our testing of people without symptoms.”
Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott will be discussing this new guidance further in a Facebook Live with Dr. Philip Chan Friday at 2:30 p.m.
