UPDATED: RI Health Announces 2nd Presumptive Positive Coronavirus Case; Testing a Third Individual

UPDATED: RI Health Announces 2nd Presumptive Positive Coronavirus Case; Testing a Third Individual

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH)’s State Health Laboratories has identified a second "presumptive" positive case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and a separate person has been tested for COVID-19 today.

The presumptive positive case is a teenager. She is at home with mild symptoms. The adult being tested is in her 30s and is also at home with mild symptoms.

All three potential RI cases are tied to a school trip.

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According to the Health, these two individuals went on the same trip to Europe in mid-February as the male in his 40s who RIDOH announced this morning as Rhode Island’s first presumptive positive case of COVID-19. 

Saint Raphael Academy, which organized the trip to Europe in mid-February, will be closed for the remainder of this week. The adult whose test results are still pending is a staff member at Achievement First Academy in Providence. Achievement First Academy will be closed for two days, pending the results of the staff member’s tests. (The result is expected tomorrow, and the school is closing for an additional day to do environmental cleaning.)

All 38 of the people who went on this trip will be self-monitoring for symptoms at home for 14 days with public health supervision. They have been instructed to not go to school or work and to remain at home for these 14 days.

“All three people went on the same trip to Italy,” said Nicole Alexander-Scott. “This is precisely why we are being so aggressive in identifying contacts, ensuring monitoring, and testing people who are symptomatic.”

Outreach to the people who were in direct contact with any of these three individuals is on going. These direct contacts will be self-monitoring for symptoms at home for 14 days with public health supervision. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is managing contact tracing for people on the return flight that these three individuals took back to the United States.

Because human coronaviruses most commonly spread through respiratory droplets, Rhode Islanders are reminded to take the same measures that healthcare providers recommend annually to prevent the spread of the flu and other viruses.