Reopening, Closing and Reopening Rhode Island

Allan Giberti
 

Governor Gina Raimondo has decided that May 9th is the date she will begin easing restrictions and begin the slow reopening of the State of Rhode Island. As long as numbers stay consistent and there is no sudden spike, we can start getting back to life.

Both Massachusetts’ Governor Charlie Baker and Connecticut’s Governor have extended their state’s stay-at-home orders to May 18th and 20th, respectively.

Is it me or does anyone else see a potential issue here?

​Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating that we need to keep businesses closed just because Massachusetts and Connecticut are or that business owners refuse service to anyone. I’m just wondering how we’re going to deal with another influx of out of state visitors? You do remember the brouhaha that occurred the last time the Governor had “concerns” about people traveling to Rhode Island.

The problem would be the executive order that says anyone traveling to the state of Rhode Island must self-quarantine for 14-days. That would have to go and it would also allow those who live here, but work in Massachusetts or Connecticut, to take part in the slow restart of our economy.

Yes, there are plans in the works to reopen the casinos.

Reopening our economy also opens the door to people from neighboring states who are currently under a stay-at-home order (because their Governors feel, for whatever reason, they need a little more time to get a handle on the virus) to come to Rhode Island in search of some much-needed goods and services.

Should the concern be not that we may be opening to early but are we reintroducing the coronavirus by encouraging “tourism”.

Perhaps Rhode Island is opening too early and it’s Massachusetts and Connecticut that have it right. Maybe it’s the people from out of state who should be wary about coming here and then potentially bringing the virus back to their own states.

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful and no one wants to stay at home. People are out and about and many of them are done with staying inside and being isolated. People are going out and living life.

During the Governor’s COVID-19 press conference on Saturday I asked the Governor,

“After May 9th, what factors would constitute the “spike” that would force you to tighten restrictions on RI again and how long would that spike have to last?”

Right now, the short answer is they don’t know or they haven’t quite nailed down the details yet.

They reported a spike in cases and hospitalizations that corresponded to the Easter and Passover Holidays. This past weekend was absolutely beautiful and the good weather is only going to continue but I’m willing to bet there is going to be spike in the data that corresponds to this past weekend. Unfortunately, we’ll get that data after we’ve begun opening up the state. Let’s hope it’s a small spike and not something that’s sustained for any length of time.

Can you imagine Governor Gina Raimondo reopening the economy only to have to shut it back down again? That will not go over well at all.
 
Allan Giberti is the host of RI Red Radio on 990WBOB.com. You can listen to Allan live on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7pm Eastern.

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