Hello friend,
GINA RAIMONDO
There’s a lot going on these days, and it’s easy to miss things. That’s why I wanted to put together a quick recap for you of the highlights from this past week:
PHASE 3
We aren’t ready to start Phase 3 of our reopening yet, but I want to give you an idea of what the rules will look like when we get there, particularly around social gatherings. In Phase 3, indoor social gatherings should be no more than 50 to 75 people. Outdoor social gatherings should be no more than 75 to 150 people. Please understand that these ranges still represent a wide spread of risk; you should try to hold your event to the lower limit in order to keep yourself and your guests safe.
You can see more of our Phase 3 guidance on
SCHOOLS
In order to put the health and safety of our children first, we’re asking schools to prepare for three reopening scenarios that will range from limited in-person learning to full in-person learning. Each option will have two different sets of requirements—one for elementary and middle schools and one for high schools.
Full in-person learning, which is what we’re aiming for on August 31, is going to require elementary and middle schools to keep kids in stable groups of 30 or fewer and maintaining six feet of distance whenever possible. For our high schools, we’re recommending that students stay in stable groups whenever possible, but we recognize that this will be harder to accomplish. In high schools, students and teachers will need to either keep 6 feet of distance or wear cloth face masks whenever they cannot maintain stable groups.
If we start to see concerning trends and need to scale back, we’ll move to partial in-person learning, reducing the amount of students in the building at one time. If we need to restrict in-person learning even more, we’ll transition to limited-in person learning. This is where we’ll prioritize the populations that benefit the most from in-person learning, like our students with differing abilities and multilingual learners. Our full guidance for schools is now available on
EQUITY
When it comes to beating COVID-19, every community is different. What works in Exeter may not work in Central Falls. What works in Central Falls may not work in Providence. What works in one neighborhood in Providence may not work in another neighborhood in Providence. In order to effectively fight this virus, we have to be on the ground in every single community.
To keep fighting COVID-19 in every community, we are adding new asymptomatic testing sites. Eligible Rhode Islanders without symptoms will be able to make an appointment at portal.ri.gov and get tested at four Stop & Shop locations across the state. The locations are:
Manton Ave. in Providence
West River St. in Providence
Cottage St. in Pawtucket
Warwick Ave. in Cranston
I hope you find this recap helpful. It’s so important that everyone stay engaged and informed so that we can all stay safe and healthy. I’ll be back on TV with more updates this week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1 pm.
We’re all in this together.
-Gina Raimondo
Governor
P.S.: Information is our greatest weapon in the fight against COVID-19, If you or someone you know wants to sign up to receive these emails, you can use this link