PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The COVID-19 data in Rhode Island has been trending downward in recent weeks, but numbers released Thursday by the R.I. Department of Health showed slight upticks in certain metrics.
The Health Department reported 11 new deaths among Rhode Islanders who tested positive for the virus along with 102 new positive cases — the first time in five days that figure has been over 100.
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The daily positivity rate — the share of all tests done the previous day that came back positive — also saw an increase to 3.5% from Wednesday’s 2.7%. And while the total number of hospitalizations fell slightly versus Wednesday, the number of new admissions rose.
Of the 146 patients currently in the hospital, 26 are in the ICU and 16 are on ventilators, according to health officials.
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Rhode Island entered Phase 2 on June 1, allowing more businesses and services to reopen including child care centers, gyms, hair salons and barbershops. Officials caution against reading too much into a single day’s data, saying the key is to examine longer-term trends.
Earlier this week, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced plans to begin testing people not showing COVID-19 symptoms, putting a focus on employees of those businesses as well as people who attended any of the large rallies held in the state recently.
She set a goal of testing up to 900 asymptomatic people per day.
On Wednesday, Raimondo committed to getting Rhode Island students back to the classroom in the fall and released a new statewide school calendar.
