What does COVID look like in RI right now? Here’s what to know.

As the summer winds down, Rhode Island is seeing low numbers of COVID-19, according to public health officials.

“Right now, we are in a good position when it comes to COVID-19. Infection levels throughout this summer are the lowest they have been since spring 2022,” said Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the state Department of Health.

The number of hospitalizations associated with the disease – which is one of the main measures of how widespread it is – has been falling since the spring, according to Wendelken.

What do the COVID numbers look like now?

Rhode Island reported 80 COVID-associated hospitalizations in May, 75 in June and 70 in July, according to Wendelken.

“To date in August, we have not seen an increasing trend in weekly hospitalization rates,” he said.

The state used a three-tiered system to measure hospital admissions. Rhode Island is currently at “low” on a low-medium-high scale.

“Like other respiratory viruses, we do expect some ebbs and flows in our COVID-19 data,” he said. “We expect a small peak in infections over the next few weeks. This peak will be considerably lower than other increases in COVID-19 that we have seen in the past.”

What could drive COVID cases back up?

Wendelken said a number of factors could contribute to a rise in COVID infections:

• Travel has returned from pre-pandemic lows, allowing a higher chance of exposure.

• It has been months, if not longer, since most people got a COVID vaccination or booster,

• The last big increase in cases was last winter, which means people haven’t been exposed to significant virus levels in “quite some time.”

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Speaking of COVID boosters, is there a new one this fall?

A new COVID shot, which is expected to be a good match with currently circulating variants of the virus, will be available in a few weeks. Look for more information from the Department of Health soon.

Speaking of COVID variants, what one is making the rounds in RI?

The most common variant in our region and across the nation is EG.5, a member of the omicron family.

“Fortunately, there is no indication that the main variant in Rhode Island right now causes more severe disease,” Wendelken said.

Should people wear masks?

“There is no general recommendation for masking right now,” Wendelken said. “We will monitor the data closely and make prevention recommendations based on what we see, particularly for people at higher risk of severe disease.”

Is RI going to run out of COVID medical supplies?

Shortages of almost everything, including personal protective equipment, which made the acronym PPE a household term, caused major problems when the pandemic first struck in 2020, but the state is much better off.

“We do not have any supply shortages in Rhode Island,” Wendelken said.

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How is RI tracking COVID?

In the early months of the pandemic, the state published the daily number of positive cases on a frequent basis, but that stopped last year with the rising popularity of at-home tests, whose results are not reported, making the number of positive cases no longer reflect how many people are infected.

Now, the Department of Health monitors a number of measures, including: hospital admission levels, fatality rates, the percentage of emergency department visits that result in a COVID-19 diagnosis, and COVID-19 virus concentrations in wastewater.

But the department still monitors nursing homes and other “congregate care” facilities to monitor populations at greatest risk. And it tracks outbreaks in schools and health care facilities.