Raimondo: Masks Will Be Necessary at Camps This Summer, Maybe for School in Rhode Island in Fall

Raimondo: Masks Will Be Necessary at Camps This Summer, Maybe for School in Rhode Island in Fall

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and First Gentleman Andy Moffit addressed student questions on Thursday in lieu of the regular state coronavirus briefing.

Among the questions, Raimondo in her answers said that students can expect to wear masks at camp this summer — and possibly if and when schools resume in the fall. 

“Camps will be different,” said Raimondo, noting that people are “going to be able to get together in small groups this summer.”

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“10 kids, 15 kids, you know small groups of people and also we’re going to try to have a lot more virtual camps and kind of cool new activities,” said Raimondo. “So we’re working really hard every day so you can have some camps this summer — sports camps, outdoor camps, learning camps, I’m going to make sure there are camps."

“There are going to be under new rules and restrictions. We’re going to have to wash our hands more, we’re going to have to wear our masks. You might have to take your temperature before you go into the camp, and we can’t get in big groups of people,” she added.

Schools a Possibility 

Raimondo noted what she envisions the school environment looking like in September. 

“If everything goes according to the way it is now, you’ll be able to go back to school, but we will have to wash our hands a lot more, we might have some changes in the way we have lunch and breakfast in school, we’ll probably have to spread out a little more in the classroom,” she said. 

“You may have to wear a mask. Your teachers might have to have masks and we’re going to have to clean your school much more every single day, multiple times a day,” she said.

"I think of this almost like a dance — we have to dance with the virus. It’s going to change, we have to change. It’s going to throw us a curveball, we have to change with that," said Raimondo. 

On the “dance” front, Raimondo told one student that the instruction of sneezing into one’s elbow is a “bit like dabbing.”

“It’s kind of cool, if you want to be able to do that,” she said.