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Rhode Island now has the capacity to test more than 1,000 people per day for COVID-19. The state is now asking all residents with symptoms to seek testing, a change from previous messaging. However, you still need an appointment. You can make an appointment by calling your primary care doctor, an urgent care center, or the state COVID-19 Hotline at (401) 222-8022.
Previously, testing was reserved for particularly vulnerable groups, including the elderly and frontline healthcare workers. State Health Department director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, says the expanded testing is still mainly reserved for those displaying symptoms of COVID-19.
“The test works best, in terms of accuracy, on people who actively have symptoms that are present,” said Alexander-Scott.
This week, the state opened three new testing sites in Providence, South County, and Warwick, at the main campuses of Rhode Island’s public colleges. Governor Gina Raimondo says the state is expecting more referrals from primary care doctors.
“We’re behind, so we need to be testing more to catch up,” Raimondo said Saturday.
Now the state is working to establish some 2,000 field hospital beds. It’s likely the state could need all of them. The rate of coronavirus-related hospitalizations more than doubled in the last week in Rhode Island, and that trend could continue, Raimondo said. Three field hospitals will be located in Providence, Quonset and Cranston. Rhode Island has about 180 ICU beds, of which 47 were available Saturday.
Even as the state increases testing capacity and builds out space for medical care, supplying and running these sites remains a challenge. Raimondo says she will sign executive orders making it easier for retired healthcare workers to volunteer or staff the field hospitals. The state has also put out a request for people with medical or healthcare training to join state efforts to care for the expected increase in residents with coronavirus.
The state also has five million medical masks on order. Raimondo says masks are coming from China, U.S.-based manufacturers and through the federal government from FEMA.
The statehouse dome will be illuminated red this weekend, to honor health professionals and other frontline workers in essential businesses risking their safety for the public.
“That’s a big thank you from every Rhode Islander for doing what you’re doing to keep us safe,” Raimondo said.
