As COVID Rises in RI, Health Dept. Official Quits and Criticizes McKee Administration’s Response

As COVID Rises in RI, Health Dept. Official Quits and Criticizes McKee Administration’s Response

COVID cases are rising across the country and now, the Rhode Island Department of Health has raised the state’s warning level to “HIGH” in four of the five counties — only Newport Country is still ranked as “MEDIUM.”

The CDC is now recommending that Rhode Islanders wear masks indoors. Neither the CDC nor RIDOH is recommending mandating masks.

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee and governors across the Northeast face increasing cases.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

And, simultaneously, RIDOH staffer Julian Dirx has quit the agency and is criticizing McKee’s administration for its COVID response.

“McKee treats health department staff like extensions of his campaign. He’d have community vaccination events set up as self promotions. He’d pass out home test kits like candy at municipal events with his Trump Democrat Mayor friends Polisena and Lombardi,” Twitted Dirx.

Dirx self describes himself on his LinkedIn bio as “health equity & social justice | Project Director at Human Impact Partners | former Co-Director of Health Equity Institute at Rhode Island Department of Health | fighting COVID & the bipartisan politics of mass death.”

Rhode Island continues to lead the country in vaccination rate, and it should be noted when McKee took office, the state ranked last in the country. McKee shifted the management of the vaccination program from the RIDOH to his office and the Department of Administration.

 

McKee Response

Matt Sheaff, a spokesperson for McKee said in a statement to GoLocal:

The Administration continues to partner with cities, towns, schools, and communities groups throughout Rhode Island on vaccination clinics to maintain our status as one of the best vaccinated states in the country.

We continue to educate and urge Rhode Islanders at every opportunity to protect themselves and their loved ones by getting boosted. For example, we have and continue to do broad traditional media and social media campaigns.

We are also partnered with the primary care provider community to ensure that primary care providers throughout the state have the latest information and resources, and are ready to evaluate for and treat COVID-19, which will ease the pressure the pandemic has put on our hospital system.

In the area of testing, we have maintained a network of State-run testing sites, while partnering with pharmacies on additional testing availability in people’s neighborhoods, and while getting hundreds of thousands of self-test kits directly into the hands of Rhode Islanders. Testing in Rhode Island is now fast, easy, convenient, and in many instances free.

 

RI by the Numbers

Since April 7:

Hospitalizations have increased from 49 to 103

Transmission Rate has increased from 107 per 100,000 over a 7-day period to 515.