RI #1 For Most Cases Per Capita in U.S., Shekarchi & Ruggerio Back McKee in Refusal to Mandate Masks

RI #1 For Most Cases Per Capita in U.S., Shekarchi & Ruggerio Back McKee in Refusal to Mandate Masks

Democratic legislative leaders Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio are supporting Governor Dan McKee in his refusal to mandate masks in schools.

McKee has required masking in state offices.

With Rhode Island’s recent outbreak of cases, Rhode Island is now ranked number one in the United States for most cases of COVID per capita since the beginning of the pandemic. Under McKee, RI has moved from fourth in the country to first for cases per capita.

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The issue of requiring masks in Rhode Island schools is becoming the new ideological football in Rhode Island between Democrats.

McKee has refused to follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President Joe Biden’s senior health advisor Anthony Fauci and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

 

 

Shekarchi and Ruggerio wrote in a statement, “The Governor maintains his executive authority in matters of health and safety. We defer to the Governor and the Department of Health to analyze and determine the most prudent course of action and we will support their decision.”

And when Shekarchi’s spokesperson Larry Berman — who also served as spokesperson to Gordon Fox and Nick Mattiello — was asked if the Speaker thought McKee knew more about public health than the CDC, Fauci, and other top public health organizations, Berman refused to respond.

Ruggerio’s spokesman Greg Pare wrote, “The Senate President has confidence in the Governor and the Department of Health.”

Rhode Island ranks fifth in the country for deaths per capita.

On Friday a group of legislators sent a joint letter to McKee urging that he reverse course and require masking in schools. As of Friday, Rhode Island recorded a transmission rate of 163 cases per 100,000. Rhode Island's action level is 100.

Earlier this week RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea's campaign for governor urged McKee to require masking in schools. McKee campaign through spokesman Mike Trainor responded with a statement claiming, “While we understand Secretary Gorbea’s political need for relevance around this issue, the simple truth is that she does not have access to the national and local reservoir of data and medical/science resources that the McKee administration has had as it continues to monitor this particular issue. It is unfortunate that she is choosing to politicize an issue as important as this.”

GoLocal asked the McKee campaign what was “national and local reservoir of data and medical/ science resources” that McKee was depending on that did not believe masks needed to be mandated. 

The McKee campaign could not provide the name of any experts or provide any data.