All of Rhode Island Now Considered Medium-Risk Area

Providence, Bristol, Kent, Newport, and Washington Counties are now considered medium-risk areas according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 Community Levels risk assessment. CDC determines risk level using three metrics: new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days.

CDC determines risk level using three metrics: new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days.

If you are in a medium-risk area, RIDOH recommends taking additional precautions, including:

• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.

• If you are immunocompromised or high risk, have a plan for testing and talk to your healthcare provider about protecting yourself.

• If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk, consider self-testing and wearing a mask when indoors with them.

• When indoors in crowded settings, consider wearing a mask regardless of vaccination status. This is especially important for people who are immunocompromised.

• Get tested if you have symptoms or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.

If you test positive:

• Talk to your doctor about treatment

• Stay home and use this calculator to determine how long you need to quarantine or isolate

• Use the RIDOH COVID-19 Survey to let people you were with know you tested positive.

• If you test yourself for COVID-19 at home, report your result to RIDOH at portal.ri.gov/s/selftest.

CDC’s full set of recommendation is available online.

How You Can Help the Rhode Island COVID-19 Response

Rhode Island is doing all it can to keep Rhode Islanders safe and stop the spread of COVID-19. But we’re stronger if we all work together. Governor Raimondo continues to call on healthcare professionals and staff, schools of public health or medicine, and other willing individuals and volunteers to come forward to support the state’s response. It's going to be hard, it's going to be disruptive, but we will get through this together.

Other ways you can volunteer or help in the pandemic response are summarized below.

Alternate Hospital Site Opportunities

Rhode Island recently opened two alternate hospital sites to care for COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. If you are interested in working at one of them, visit these job postings:

Kent Hospital’s Alternate Hospital Site (Cranston)
- www.carenewengland.org/careers/results
- backtowork.skillsforri.com/job-board/for-job-seekers-field-hospital
Rhode Island Hospital's Alternate Hospital Site (Providence)
- www.lifespan.org/covid-community

Other Paid Opportunities in Healthcare

Nursing homes, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations are also in dire need of more healthcare workers and ancillary staff. For listings for these positions, visit www.SkillsforRI.com.

Healthcare Volunteers

If you have physical or mental healthcare experience but can’t commit to full-time work in our hospitals or nursing homes, or if you don’t have healthcare experience but want to volunteer to assist our statewide response in other ways, please visit www.RIResponds.org to sign up as a response volunteer.

RIDOH COVID-19 Volunteers

As part of the emergency response to the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the RI Department of Health has identified many areas in need of volunteers. Please visit www.RIResponds.org if you are interested in volunteering.

Medical Supply Donations

Due to the nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE, disinfectants, and hand sanitizer, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) created a process to manage medical supply donations to support the healthcare system in Rhode Island. After months of accepting donations of all sizes through this system, we have brought it to a close. The supply chain is still not back to pre-pandemic reliability and availability, but we remain cautiously optimistic with our ongoing procurements. We thank you all and can’t tell you how much we appreciate all offers of supplies we have received. We’re encouraged by the outpouring of support from the research community and the public.

Offers by Manufacturers and Suppliers

All those interested in doing business with the State of Rhode Island should visit www.ridop.ri.gov to see what bidding opportunities are available.

Help Promote Virtual Art Events

These uncertain times have affected so many parts of our lives, including the arts. The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) wants to help share information for our artists and audiences about virtual art offerings. Help us promote these events.