PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island has closed all state-run coronavirus testing sites as the region braces for a major winter storm.
Gov. Gina Raimondo’s office said Wednesday that all indoor and outdoor sites booked through the state’s testing portal will be shuttered on Thursday.
Anyone with a Thursday appointment will not need to make new ones when sites reopen, the office said. They can simply go to their original appointment site at any time with their confirmation notice.
Rhode Island is expecting as much as a foot of snow. A winter storm warning has been issued for Providence and Kent counties from 7 p.m. Wednesday through 1 p.m. Thursday.
State health officials, meanwhile, reported 20 coronavirus-related deaths and nearly 1,000 additional cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The state Department of Health also said there were 469 patients in Rhode Island hospitals with the virus, with 62 of them in intensive care.
There have been 1,590 deaths and more than 76,000 known cases of the virus in the state since the pandemic started.
Rhode Island’s 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate has hovered around 7% the past two weeks. It’s average of daily new cases has risen, from 926 new cases per day on Dec. 1 to 1,167 a day on Dec. 15.
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