7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Block Island Has Zero Cases, What Can We Learn — April 28, 2020
GoLocalProv News Team
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Block Island Has Zero Cases, What Can We Learn — April 28, 2020
Think of Block Island as a little New Zealand.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNew Zealand is one area of the world that has taken a very different strategy than the United States. New Zealand, which is an island and has locked itself off from the rest of the world, is now pronouncing that it functionally has no new cases. It has a population of 4.8 million and has had only 1,472 cases and just 19 deaths.
“New Zealand had the opportunity to do disease elimination and the good news is it looks like it's successful," said Dr. Michael Fine, former Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health who joins GoLocal every weekday at 12 noon.
"They topped out at about 1,500 cases in a nation of 4 million and I think 13 or 14 deaths that's kind of amazing and good for them on the on the one hand but on the other hand the moment they open up to the rest of the world, unless their testing is impeccable, they have the same risk,” he added.
WATCH AT NOON: Former Director of Health Dr. Michael Fine on GoLocal LIVE
On March 18, an Emergency Ordinance went into effect on Block Island in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Town of New Shoreham adopted 13 procedures for the purposes of protecting the public health, safety and general welfare of the Town.
Then the Council modified it to include a Shelter-in-Place order to all of Block Island a week later.
"Any person crossing over to Block Island must immediately self-quarantine for fourteen days upon arrival on Block Island, and thereafter must shelter-in-place," said the Block Island Tourism Council.
Discouraging Visitors
The Tourism Council said it is actively discouraging visitors and second homeowners from the island.
Anyone who is on Island currently or is making the crossing to Block Island must adhere by the Shelter-in-Place ordinance.
But like New Zealand, when Block Island opens it faces a threat of wide-ranging contamination.
SLIDES: See 7 Major Coronavirus Developments BELOW
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — April 28, 2020
RI Has Worst Unemployment Ranking in Country
The Federal Reserve ranks Rhode Island as having the "highest unemployment insurance (UI) claims as a share of the labor force."
University of Washington Model Increases U.S. Death Toll
One of the models tracking the coronavirus used both by the White Hosue and the State of Rhode Island has new and disturbing trends.
By August the model now predicts 74,073 deaths
On April 22, they predicted 67,641.
On April 8 they predicted 60,415.
The biggest factor affecting the upward calculation -- ten states decreasing restrictions.
Payroll Protection Plan Hit with Delays and Technology Failures
Congress' latest infusion of hundreds of billions to the Small Business Administration to support business payrolls has been hit with new challenges for applicants.
"Glitches hamper second round of funding," reported CNN.
The first traunch of $349 billion was dispersed in about 10 days leaving millions of businesses with no relief. Now, the second round of funds is predicted to go even faster.
Commerce RI is working to assist businesses through the application system and connect them with a bank. Click Here
Worries About Pre-Existing Lung Issues
In March, the CDC looked at how underlying lung disease, among other factors, could play a role in coronavirus.
New data shows that West Virginia has the highest percentage of adults diagnosed with lung conditions of all U.S. states, according to a new ranking from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The coal mining industry has had a big impact
The ranking is based on 2018 survey data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
Nationally, 6.9 percent of adults reported ever being told that they have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema or chronic bronchitis.
1. West Virginia — 15.3 percent
14. Maine — 8.1 percent (New England's highest-ranked)
16. New Hampshire — 8 percent
19. Rhode Island — 6.9 percent (the national average)
50. Hawaii — 4.1 percent
Vaccine Race
The New York Times is reporting that the Jenner Institute at Oxford University is scheduling tests of a new coronavirus vaccine on upwards of 6,000 people by the end of next month.
The Jenner Institute announced on April 7, "The world’s largest randomised clinical trial of potential coronavirus treatments is well underway in the UK as part of the race to find a treatment. A number of promising treatments are being tested and, if the science supports it, will be given to NHS patients as quickly as possible. Definitive results on whether the treatments are safe and effective are expected within months and, if positive, they could potentially benefit hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Almost 1,000 patients from 132 different hospitals have been recruited in just 15 days and thousands more are expected to join the Randomised Evaluation of COV-id19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial in the coming weeks, making it the largest randomised controlled trial of potential COVID-19 treatments in the world."
"The Oxford scientists say that with an emergency approval from regulators, the first few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September — at least several months ahead of any of the other announced efforts — if it proves to be effective," writes the NY Times.
Numbers
7,708 Cases in Rhode Island
56,462 Cases in Massachusetts
233 Deaths in RI
3,003 Deaths in Massachusetts
1,010,507 Cases in the United States
56,803 Deaths in the United States
3,077,133 Global Cases
211,961 Global Deaths
925,901 Global Recoveries
GoLocal LIVE Schedule, April 28, 2020
10:00 AM - Zachary Levesque, Northpointe
10:30 AM - Tracey Minkin, Travel Editor, Coastal Living
11:00 AM - Paul Krasinski, CEO, Founder at Epicenter Experience
12:00 PM - Dr. Michael Fine, Former Director of Health in RI
1:00 PM - Governor Gina Raimondo Briefing
2:30 PM - Kate Nagle, GoLocal News Editor
