2,347 New Coronavirus Cases Reports RIDOH, 400+ Deaths in Past Month

2,347 New Coronavirus Cases Reports RIDOH, 400+ Deaths in Past Month

There is simply no let-up of new cases or in the number of deaths in Rhode Island.

According to data released Wednesday by the RI Department of Health, RI has 2,347 new cases and 17 more deaths pushing the total number of deaths in the past 30 days to more than 400.

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Rhode Island continues to be ranked 4th highest in the United States for the number of cases per 100,000 both by Covid ActNow and The New York Times.

To date, nearly 88,000 Rhode Islanders have been infected and 1,777 have died.

Dr. Michael Fine, the former RI Director of Health, joined GoLocal LIVE today from a vaccination clinic in Central Falls at a public housing facility.

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Central Falls is a focus area for Rhode Island, due to the high number of cases per 100,000 population. At times, Central Falls has led the country in number of per capita infections.

More Vaccination Hope

Earlier Wednesday, GoLocal reported that United Kingdom health officials authorized the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca for the coronavirus.

The decision greenlights the rollout of millions of doses for usage in a country where infections have surged.

Britain is also linked to the new more highly infectious strain of the virus.  

Matt Hancock, the Minister of Health said Wednesday that with AstraZeneca supply the UK will have enough vaccine to immunize all citizens.

In September, the company halted coronavirus vaccine trials after a “serious suspected adverse reaction in a participant.” 

The approval represents the third emergency-use approval of a Western-developed vaccine this month and comes as cases rise sharply in the U.S. and Europe. A shot developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech  and one by Moderna have both been cleared in the U.S.

AstraZeneca’s shot—less effective in clinical trials than its rivals’ injections—is not expected to available in the U.S. until the Food and Drug Administration reviews large-scale trials still being conducted there and decides to authorize its use.