PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said Friday she is signing an executive order that will give the state Department of Health the authority to fine or even shut down businesses that fail to comply with face covering, social distancing and other guidelines when the state launches its economic restart this weekend.
The state will conduct compliance inspections at businesses.
“We’re not going to be out there trying to shut you down, we’re going to be out there bending over backwards to help you stay open and to do it safely, but if you refuse and you’re continually non-compliant, and you get fine after fine, we will have to shut you down,” the Democrat said at her daily news conference.
Businesses face fines of up to $1,000 for multiple violations.
Starting Saturday, non-essential businesses and some state parks will reopen, but people will still be required to stay six feet apart from others and wear face coverings in public places. Gatherings of more than five people, even on Mother’s Day on Sunday, are still barred.
Raimondo stood by her decision to reopen, even though neighbors Connecticut and Massachusetts are not scheduled to start their economic reboots until later this month.
“The fact is, at this point, if you look at the facts on the ground, the data on the ground, we’re doing better,” than those states, Raimondo said.
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THIRD VETERANS’ HOME DEATH
A third resident of the Rhode Island Veterans Home who tested positive for the coronavirus has died, a state official said Friday.
The resident, who died Thursday, was in his 70s and had underlying health problems. He was the first resident of the Bristol facility to test positive back on April 24, according to an email from David Levesque, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which oversees the home.
Currently, the long-term care home with about 200 beds has 14 residents who have tested positive, and all but one aren’t showing symptoms. Also, about 28 staff members have tested positive for the virus, but about one-third already returned to work.
The state Department of Health on Friday reported 11 additional COVID-19 deaths and 249 new cases, which brings the state totals to 399 fatalities and nearly 10,800 cases. Of the 11 new deaths, nine were people in their 70s or older, Director Nicole Alexander-Scott said.
The number of people hospitalized with the disease was 312, down from 318 the previous day.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, but it can cause more severe illness for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.
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FACE COVERING ORDER IN EFFECT
Raimondo’s executive order requiring face coverings for most people when they are in public places to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in Rhode Island took effect Friday.
The order requires coverings indoors and outdoors when people are unable to maintain social distancing, with exceptions for very young children and people with certain medical conditions.
Police in one Rhode Island community say they will use discretion when it comes to enforcement.
Warwick police union President Jedidiah Pineau called the order “draconian” and “questionably constitutional” in a letter on the union’s Facebook page Thursday.
He said the police and public are already heavily burdened by the pandemic.
Warwick chief Col. Rick Rathbun said the department would enforce the rules using discretion and common sense.
Raimondo said Friday it is her expectation that police will encourage voluntary compliance.
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PROVIDENCE DEFICIT
The city of Providence could finish the fiscal year with a roughly $8 million budget deficit due to a decline in revenues caused by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, city councilors said Thursday.
According to a budget report submitted to the City Council, the projected revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30 is $498 million instead of the originally anticipated $506 million, The Providence Journal reported.
Finance Committee Chairman John Igliozzi said the deficit is mostly due to a loss of revenue from parking meters, as well as meal, beverage, and hotel taxes.
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