McKee promises seamless transition during virus fight

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee, who will take over as governor if Gina Raimondo is confirmed as President-elect Joe Biden’s commerce secretary, said Thursday his top priority will be continuing the state’s fight against the coronavirus.

But the Democrat said at a news conference at a Warwick restaurant that his response to the pandemic will differ in one significant way from Raimondo’s.

While Raimondo has pushed hard to have school districts resume in-person classes, sometimes publicly criticizing districts that resisted bringing students back to the classroom, McKee said he will trust local authorities.

“I believe that the local districts should be making their decisions and the state should be supporting those in any way that we can,” he said.

McKee, 69, the former mayor of Cumberland, reiterated his support for small businesses and said he would keep the state’s COVID-19 response team in place.

“I want every Rhode Islander to know that the top focus for the coming weeks and months will be to beat COVID-19 with a successful pandemic response and vaccine distribution,” McKee said.

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POSITIVE TRENDS

There are some positive signs in Rhode Island’s fight against the coronavirus, according to statistics released Thursday.

The state Department of Health reported 853 new confirmed cases and nine more virus-related fatalities from the previous day, for totals of more than 103,000 known cases and 1,996 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

But the daily test positivity rate was 4.5%. Gov. Gina Raimondo had said Wednesday the goal was to get the rate to lower than 5%.

The latest seven-day average positivity rate in Rhode Island is also on the decline and is now lower than 5.9%. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Rhode Island the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test encounters using data from The COVID Tracking Project.

The number of people in the hospital with the disease was 375 as of Tuesday, the latest day for which the information was available. That is down from 402 the prior day and the lowest single-day total since Nov. 21.

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COLLEGE CONTRACT

The state is canceling a $76,000-a-week contract given to a consultant to review Rhode Island College’s finances after state lawmakers questioned its need and why it never went out to bid.

The contract with Alvarez & Marsal started Dec. 14 and was scheduled to run until Feb. 28, but the state Council on Postsecondary Education, the Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner and the Department of Administration announced that it would end Thursday.

“The firm will provide a report on the work it completed and any preliminary findings reached,” the statement said.

A spokesman for the agency said the incoming administration of Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee will work with the Council on Postsecondary Education and the school to figure out the next steps.

The firm was hired to look at the college’s finances and overall operations in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The school announced in the summer that is was facing a budget shortfall of more than $10 million and in response would cut executives’ pay, lay off workers, and freeze hiring.

Democratic state Rep. William O’Brien said the contract money could have been better spent on student scholarships.