RI's COVID-19 Rate Tops 20%, Hospitalizations Near 2020 Peak
PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island's latest weekly coronavirus numbers are out, and the data continues to paint a grim picture of the state of the pandemic. For yet another week in a row, the state smashed single-day case numbers, while hospitalizations and the percent positivity rate exploded.
Last week, the state had three days with more than 6,000 new coronavirus cases, according to the Department of Health.
The weekly data also showed massive increases in case numbers. From the week of Jan. 1 to Jan. 8, the number of cases per 100,000 people climbed from 1,979 to 3,403, an increase of 58 percent. The percent positivity rate, meanwhile, rose from 16.6 percent to 21.4 percent.
Hospitalizations are nearing their all-time pandemic peak. Dec. 15, 2020, 513 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Rhode Island. As of Jan. 5, there were 479 hospitalizations in the state.
It's important to keep the latest COVID-19 surge in perspective, however. While the omicron variant means more people who received the COVID-19 vaccine or booster, unvaccinated cases still make up the vast majority of cases in the state. According to the latest data from the Department of Health, just 17 percent of all positive COVID-19 cases in Rhode Island have been among the vaccinated.
Hospitalizations show an even wider gulf: just 1,077 people who were vaccinated ended up in the hospital, out of the 11,370 total hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. That's a little more than 9 percent.
Read more about breakthrough cases here.
This article originally appeared on the Cranston Patch
