COVID-19 COVERAGE

Gov unveils business aid, new beach restrictions

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New parking restrictions are being instituted at a pair of state beaches due to concerns over recent crowd sizes, while Gov. Raimondo’s administration has unveiled plans for the use of $100 million in federal CARES Act funding to provide assistance for small businesses affected by the pandemic.

Raimondo’s Wednesday press conference, the first held on a new once-weekly schedule, came after recent COVID-19 data showed what she called a “slight uptick” in new cases and hospitalizations in Rhode Island.

The governor and Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott said beaches and related settings – boats, bars and restaurants in particular – have become a renewed source of concern in terms of the spread of the coronavirus.

Raimondo noted, too, that while the statewide positive-test rate was just under 2 percent for Wednesday’s update, the rate was roughly 7 percent among people between the ages of 20 and 29 – a group she said has “got to do better” in terms of social distancing.

“If we let our guard down, we’re going to see a surge,” the governor said. “That’s not my opinion. That’s just a fact … It’s lurking with us and will be every day until we have a widely available vaccine.”

She added: “I am not panicked. We have excellent systems … But I am saying, do not let your guard down. We are not out of the woods, we’re not even halfway through this fight.”

New aid for businesses

Raimondo has for weeks faced criticism and calls for the use of some of the state’s $1.25 billion in federal COVID-19 stimulus funding to provide direct aid to small businesses, and on Wednesday she announced four separate initiatives – backed by a combined investment of $100 million – on that front.

The largest chunk of that funding, $50 million, will provide “direct cash assistance” to businesses with 20 or fewer employees that demonstrate significant revenue losses due to the crisis, the governor said. Twenty percent of the funding will be set aside for minority-owned businesses.

The grant awards will be for a maximum of $15,000 and may be used for reopening expenses – such as safety equipment and contact-free payment systems – as well as costs such as rent and utility payments.

Raimondo said additional details would be posted at commerceri.com later Wednesday. Applications for the program will be accepted “within the next couple of weeks,” she said.

Questioned over whether the timeframe for implementation of the program is too long and if its eligibility requirements are too narrow or cumbersome, Raimondo said the approach being taken is based on the experience of other states.

“It’s more important that we get it right, that we get it to the right businesses, that we have accountability … As I look around at other states, they’ve struggled,” she said.

Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor also said the state needs to meet federal accountability requirements as part of the use of the money for small business assistance. He said he expects funding would be available to businesses about a month after an application is filed.

The rest of the roughly $100 million in business aid outlined Wednesday includes $26 million for “critical small business support services,” such as technical assistance and a “repositioning” program for companies in need of a business-model overhaul; $20 million through the Small Business Development Fund; and $5 million that would go to support the state’s tourism industry specifically.

The programs are part of a broader, $200 million business assistance investment the governor plans as part of her “Rise Together” initiative, which she framed as focused on positioning the state competitively going forward while providing assistance for those who struggled under the “old normal,” including minority business owners and Rhode Islanders without advanced education.

“The economy’s really changing, and COVID has put that on full display … We have rebuilt this economy before together, and we’re going to do it again,” she said.

Crackdown planned around beaches 

Starting Thursday, July 16, the parking lots at Misquamicut and Scarborough state beaches will be open at just 25 percent capacity, Raimondo announced Wednesday, citing “particular issues with compliance” at and around those locations over the past weekend.

“I have to say, we are struggling to keep the crowds under control at the beaches … At this point, I feel like we have to make some changes,” she said.

Parking capacity at the state’s beaches had increased to 75 percent with the arrival of phase three of Rhode Island’s reopening plan earlier this month. But Raimondo said officials have grown concerned over the influx of visitors at the facilities – as well as the lack of social distancing and mask wearing that has been observed.

The governor said despite the parking limitations, the state’s figures show that 50,000 more cars have traveled to the state’s beaches in the past month that during the same time period in 2019. The same trend is being seen at town beaches, she said.

Raimondo said officials in communities like Narragansett and Westerly had a “really rough time” over the weekend as crowds descended on the beaches. Illegal parking in neighborhoods has been a major source of concern, she said, as has crowding seen at restaurants and bars near the beaches.

“I’m sorry that we have to do this, but it’s necessary. It got out of control last weekend, and despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to control it,” she said.

Raimondo said the Department of Environmental Management and Rhode Island State Police are working with municipal police departments to step up enforcement, which will involve “seriously cracking down” on illegal parking. Increased fines, she said, may be in the offing for those who improperly leave their cars in neighborhoods and walk to beaches. Beach staff will also be distributing free masks to visitors.

The governor also raised the possibility that members of the Rhode Island National Guard will be deployed “in a friendly way” to help monitor crowds and enforce social distancing requirements.

She made note of reports that some small businesses in South County have closed their doors due to patrons harassing employees over mask-wearing and social distancing requirements, and asked Rhode Islanders to “ratchet back the anger and impatience, ratchet up the rule-following and kindness.”

Raimondo noted that the parking restrictions have not been tightened at other state beaches, and that the state’s parks remain open. She suggested Rhode Islanders planning trips to Misquamicut or Scarborough adjust their scheduling or find alternative plans.

By the numbers

Wednesday’s COVID-19 data update from the Rhode Island Department of Health provided a degree of relief after figures from earlier in the week gave cause for concern.

Fifty-two new cases have been identified from among 2,923 additional tests, according to Wednesday’s figures, a positive-test rate of roughly 1.8 percent.

Tuesday’s update had included 102 new cases, the first time that figure was more than 100 since mid-June. Tuesday’s positive-test rate was roughly 3.5 percent, the highest since the end of May.

“It’s not cause for panic, at all. Not even close,” Raimondo said. “But it’s cause to pause.”

Wednesday’s update also included two new COVID-related deaths, bringing the state’s cumulative toll to 987. Alexander-Scott said one of the new deaths was a person in their 60s, and the other was a person in their 80s.

Fifty-nine people were hospitalized in Rhode Island due to the coronavirus at the time of Wednesday’s update, a welcome drop from the 69 reported on Tuesday. The number of people being treated in ICUs or breathing through a ventilator remained low, at five and three, respectively, as of Wednesday.

Raimondo highlighted a hospitalization projection chart she first shared last week, noting that the Tuesday uptick brought Rhode Island closer to the high-end projections – represented by a yellow line – than the more favorable course.

Citing the experience in other states, where case counts and hospitalizations are doubling over a period of days, she said: “Our fortunes can change very quickly ... Rhode Island isn’t immune … and what’s happening in these other states could happen here.”

Elsewhere during Wednesday’s briefing:

* Raimondo said she and dozens of other governors from across the nation have jointly requested that President Donald Trump extend federal funding to allow for the use of the National Guard in the pandemic response through the end of the year.

At present, that authorization is due to expire at the end of August. Raimondo said she is “hopeful” that the president will approve the request.

“[The Rhode Island National Guard has] been absolutely vital to our state’s response … I could not be more grateful to Gen. Callahan and his team,” the governor said. * Alexander-Scott announced the state is launching a new round of serology testing, which is meant to detect the presence of COVID-19 antibodies and thus determine prior exposure to the virus. The testing is part of a CDC-backed effort in three areas nationwide, the other two being Detroit and New York City.

Alexander-Scott said the testing will be available to people in “high-contact professions” and those who have been involved in front-line response to the pandemic, including first responders, National Guard members, Department of Health staff, correctional officers and nursing home workers.

Tests will be “entirely voluntary… and confidential,” she said, and can be scheduled at firstserosurvey.com.

The first round of serology testing in May invited a random sampling of Rhode Islanders to receive the blood test at several Stop & Shop locations across the state. Alexander-Scott said a 2.2 percent antibody prevalence rate was found among those who responded to that survey. * Alexander-Scott also addressed the issue of test result turnaround times, which have risen as larger states see spikes in cases. She said the week-plus turnaround time some Rhode Islanders have experienced is not an aberration, and that officials remain “laser focused” on improving the situation. She listed the average turnaround time at several in-state laboratories – including private labs, hospital labs and the State Health Laboratories – which currently range from one to six days.

Covid, Raimondo

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  • perky4175

    the beaches should be for rhode islanders only and the local beaches should be for residents only

    Tuesday, July 21, 2020 Report this