Personnel at Naval Station Newport are being discouraged from shaking hands or hugging because COVID levels in Newport County have increased. They’re also being told to avoid unnecessary travel and make sure they have enough food and medication to last 14 days.
The naval station has raised its health protection condition level to BRAVO, or moderate, after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted last week that the COVID-19 level in Newport County has increased to high. The new classification means three Rhode Island counties – Providence, Kent and Newport – are at high levels, while the other two, Bristol and Washington, are at moderate levels.
How many COVID cases does RI have?
Overall, Rhode Island has seen roughly a doubling of COVID cases since Nov. 19, according to data on the Rhode Island Department of Health’s website. Last week, Rhode Island had 2,152 new COVID cases, a rate of just under 204 new COVID cases per 100,000 residents, while on Nov. 19 the rate was about 100 new cases per 100,000 residents.
Seven people with COVID-19 died last week, bringing the state’s total to 3,789, and 154 people were hospitalized. Last January, hospitalizations for COVID peaked at about 600.
The recent increase in cases is attributed to the holidays, with their increased travel and get-togethers.
“The relatively small increase in COVID-19 activity that Rhode Island is currently seeing is not expected to last long,” said Annemarie Beardsworth, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health. “Local and national health officials anticipated an increase in respiratory virus activity, including COVID-19 activity, around the holidays.”
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Is the new omicron subvariant showing up in RI?
The number of cases from the new omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, believed to be highly contagious, is “starting to increase,” according to Beardsworth, but omicron subvariant BQ.1 “still makes up the largest proportion of clinical strains collected through mid-December.”
“The State Health Laboratory receives only a small proportion of clinical samples for genetic sequencing surveillance, and sequencing results are typically available about three weeks after the date of collection,” Beardsworth said.
The CDC’s COVID Tracker shows XBB.1.5 as the leading subvariant in New England and the second, behind BQ.1.1, across the United States through Jan. 7. It does not break down the data to state level.
With the increase in cases, the state Department of Health announced that it started hosting mobile pop-up COVID-19 testing stations on Friday. It has scheduled 20 testing stations in Providence and West Warwick through the end of this week and plans more. A schedule is available via the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Lifespan is opening an urgent care center, its fourth, at 11 Commerce Way, Unit 5, in Johnston, which can treat people for COVID, as well as other common medical conditions and injuries.
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“The community should know urgent care centers across the state can treat COVID and can help Rhode Islanders avoid long wait times at emergency rooms,” said Dr. Olivier Gherardi, medical director of Lifespan Urgent Care.
“It’s coincidence that the Lifespan Urgent Care center in Johnston is opening at a time when Providence County is at ‘high’ level,” Gherardi said, “But we are ready to serve everyone who comes through our doors. We want them to know we’re here.”
What precautions against COVID are recommended?
Here are CDC recommendations for people in medium or high COVID-incidence counties:
- Wear high-quality masks or respirators while in crowded public settings indoors.
- If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick, consider self-testing to detect infection before contact, and consider wearing a high-quality mask when indoors with them.
- Additionally, for those living in counties with high COVID-incidence levels, if you are at high risk of getting sick, you should consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public, where exposure is possible, the CDC says.
The CDC provides these precautions for everyone, regardless of the community COVID level:
- Stay up to date on vaccinations, including recommended booster doses.
- Ventilate indoor spaces as well as possible.
- Avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
- Follow recommendations for isolation if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
- Follow the recommendations for what to do if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
- If you are at high risk of getting very sick, talk with a health care provider about additional prevention actions.
