Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo is calling on people who attended recent demonstrations over the death of George Floyd to get tested for COVID-19.
While she said most of those at a large protest last Friday outside the Statehouse wore masks, the governor said the proximity of people to each other still posed a risk of transmission.
Raimondo repeated that she made a mistake by not wearing a mask herself while emerging from the Statehouse to speak with demonstrators – and she said she and most members of her family plan to get tested.
“You can go to portal.ri.gov to schedule a test,” the governor said during a Monday briefing. “My husband and daughter and I are going to get tested later this week. Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott and members of her team who were there passing out literature, we are all going to get tested this week. And of course, if we test positive, we’ll go into isolation.”
During a Q+A with reporters, the governor said she knows that size limits for events like weddings are frustrating, particularly when large groups are gathering to protest Floyd’s death. But she said it was difficult to compare other events to demonstrations sweeping the nation.
The number of Rhode Islanders whose deaths are attributed to coronavirus climbed by 27 over the weekend, to 799.
Raimondo and Dr. Alexander-Scott, the state Health director, said the number of newly revealed infections is trending in a positive direction.
The governor announced a new effort to test people who do not have any symptoms of COVID-19, with a goal of testing 900 such people a day, starting with workers in close-contact jobs in hair and nail salons and gyms.
Raimondo said testing asymptomatic individuals will serve as an early warning system against outbreaks of the virus.
The governor was asked if she supports calls to de-fund police. While the decision for local police departments must be made by cities and towns, she said, Raimondo said she believes things like improved training and body cameras are the appropriate response to broader concerns about police.
