Hello friend,
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 new announcements from the past week.
If you know someone who wants to stay up-to-date on the latest measures Rhode Island is taking to stop the spread of COVID-19, send them this link: lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/eYMG9tf . The better we all stay informed, the better we’ll be able to keep ourselves, our families, and our friends safe from COVID-19.
CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH
Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve heard from parents and pediatricians about the toll this crisis has taken on our kids. There’s no question that distance learning has been incredibly hard on our kids’ mental health. Sadly, we’ve seen big increases in anxiety and suicidal ideations since this pandemic started.
If a child in your life is experiencing mental health issues, Kids’ Link is available to you and your family 24/7 at 1-855-KID-LINK (1-855-543-5465).
Kids’ Link is a hotline that families can call when their child is feeling excessive anger or sadness, lashing out, having severe worries, or hurting themselves or others. You are not alone, and we are here to help you get through this.
To learn more about how we can support kids as they go back to school, RIDE Commissioner Infante-Green and I spoke with Dr. Jennifer Jencks and Barbara Austin, licensed social workers and children’s mental health experts at Bradley Hospital, during this week’s Back to School forum. You can watch that here
SCHOOL PLANS
We know there will be positive cases in each district as the year goes on, just like we know there will be positive cases among adults. We can’t completely eliminate the virus, but we can stop it from spreading by planning thoroughly for every possibility. This will allow us to be smart and targeted in how we manage those cases while preventing an outbreak and limiting the disruption in learning, just like we’ve done with child care.
TESTING
One of the best defenses against COVID-19 is providing accurate and widely available testing to Rhode Islanders. It’s important to have different options because what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another.
If you have symptoms, you can schedule a test by calling your primary care provider. If you don’t have one, you can call a community health clinic or respiratory clinic. You can find the full list of clinics at health.ri.gov/covid .
If you do not have symptoms but want to get tested, you can go to portal.ri.gov . This is for anybody who falls into one of these categories:
Close contact workers
First responders
Bus drivers
Child care workers
18-to-39-year-olds
Anyone who recently attended a large protest or demonstration
Anyone who is traveling to a state that requires a test
Anyone who is returning from a state on RI’s quarantine list, which is available on health.ri.gov
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 tomorrow at 1 p.m.
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 .
In order to to mitigate spread and keep students and staff safe, we are developing a plan for each possible scenario of COVID-19 cases in a school district.
In every situation, the team at RIDOH will work with each district on a case-by-case basis.
We have a detailed, 24-page health protocol playbook available on Back2SchoolRI.com that outlines the steps we will take in every scenario.