RI Leads COVID-19 Case Jump in Northeast

In March, Rhode Island transitioned to the CDC’s new framework for measuring community level risk for COVID-19, incorporating hospitalizations and hospital capacity with case counts.

“This is in line with the national shift toward managing COVID-19 like an endemic disease. Our focus is on preventing serious illness and hospitalizations,” RIDOH noted in a statement  Friday.

RIDOH reports the CDC updates their data at the county level on Thursday evenings. As a result of the more contagious BA.2 Omicron variant, states throughout the country have seen a moderate increase in cases. Bristol, Kent, Newport, and Washington Counties have moved from the “low” tier to the “medium” tier in the CDC’s data update this week.

These counties are “medium” because more than 200 new cases per 100,000 people were identified there in the last seven days. RI hospitalization numbers and hospital capacity numbers are still considered low throughout the state. (For example, RI has 57 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized, compared to more than 600 at prior points during the pandemic.) However, having more than 200 new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days automatically puts a county into “medium.”

:For people in counties in the “medium” tier, CDC recommends

If you are immunocompromised or high risk:

• • Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you should wear a mask
  • Have a plan for testing if needed
  • Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you are a candidate for treatment

If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease

• • consider self-testing before contact
  • consider wearing a mask when indoors with them

Get vaccinated