7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Raimondo Warns of State Furloughs and Budget Deficits
GoLocalProv News Team
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Raimondo Warns of State Furloughs and Budget Deficits
On Tuesday, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo warned that Rhode Island is facing an $800 million budget deficit and that cuts would cause pain across the board.
Raimondo admitted that no Rhode Island state employees have been laid-off or furloughed while more than 280,000 Rhode Islanders have filed for unemployment insurance, "gig" economy benefits or temporary disability insurance.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTRaimondo said, “I would love to avoid furloughs and layoffs, but I don’t see how we’ll be able to do that.”
Republicans in Congress have said repeatedly said they oppose providing federal funds to "bail out" states that were poorly managed going into the coronavirus economic crisis and have not done enough to cut expenses.
Rhode Island has not made any state government cutbacks to date.
According to The Hill, “'We’re going to insist on doing narrowly targeted legislation if and when we do legislate again, and we may well,' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. Senate Republicans have publicly questioned the need to pass additional legislation soon, arguing that only a small portion of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act and the $484 billion of the interim coronavirus relief bill passed in April has gone out the door."
WATCH AT NOON: Former Director of Health Dr. Michael Fine on GoLocal LIVE
See Slideshow: 7 Major Coronavirus Developments Below
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — May 13, 2020
RI's Hospitals Reopen for Elective Surgeries
Rhode Island's hospitals have re-opened for elective surgeries.
Governor Gina Raimondo during her Tuesday press briefing said the hospitals are "safe" and that she urged Rhode Islanders that need procedures to get them scheduled.
Family Service Taps Technology for Direct Care
Family Service of Rhode Island says it has tapped today’s technology to raise awareness of mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide mental health and substance use counseling.
“With strict policies limiting face-to-face care due to social distancing and stay-at-home directives, it has become critical to conduct patient encounters by telephone or video conference during the current pandemic, especially as many patients are currently experiencing increased levels of stress and anxiety.” said Sarah Kelly-Palmer LICSW, who heads the non-profit’s outpatient programs.
Family Service of Rhode Island was able to quickly and efficiently transition into providing telehealth service and hope people needing mental health and substance use care will contact us. For additional information or to set up an appointment call (401) 519-2280, or visit www.familyserviceri.org. habla español.
Tesla Battle Continues: County Outlines Reopening Conditions
The ongoing battle between Tesla founder Elon Musk and California continues.
On Monday, despite a prohibition, Musk announced he was reopening his California manufacturing plant.
Alameda County Public Health Department Tweeted:
"Alameda County Update on Tesla, May 12: We received Tesla’s site-specific Fremont COVID-19 Prevention and Control Plan yesterday as anticipated. A site-specific plan is a part of the Governor’s guidance for reopening manufacturing."
Poll Shows Americans Don't Believe Gatherings of 10+ Safe
A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds:
Americans are curbing their expectations about when it will be safe for gatherings of 10 or more people, with about 2 in 3 adults now saying it will not be until July or later before those events can happen.
The findings provide more evidence that Americans remain worried about the threat of the virus and cautious about efforts to lift stay-at-home restrictions and to reopen businesses, even as many governors have begun to move in that direction.
In the face of plans in many states to gradually ease those limitations, significant majorities of Americans continue to emphasize the need for social distancing and other safety measures.
Numbers
11,614 Cases in Rhode Island
79,332 Cases in Massachusetts
444 Deaths in RI
5,141 Deaths in Massachusetts
1,408,745 Cases in the United States
83,449 Deaths in the United States
4,362,876 Global Cases
293,344 Global Deaths
1,613,326 Global Recoveries
China Blocks Research in Wuhan
"More than four months later, Chinese officials have yet to share with the world any data from the animals Mr. Lu [Junqing] and others say were sampled.
Beijing now appears to be stalling international efforts to find the source of the virus amid an escalating U.S. push to blame China for the pandemic, according to interviews with dozens of health experts and officials," reports the Wall Street Journal.
GoLocal LIVE -- Wednesday, May 13, 2020
11:00 AM - Professor Jennifer Lawless, Chair of the Political Science Department at University of Virginia
12:00 PM - Dr. Michael Fine, Former RI Director of Health
2:30 PM - Governor Gina Raimondo Briefing
EDITOR'S NOTE: Gov. Raimondo has reversed her policy and is now allowing reporters to attend press conferences and directly ask questions. For more than 6 weeks she had blocked reporters from directly asking questions for the public to hear.
