RI Sees Spike In Young Adult Coronavirus Cases

PROVIDENCE, RI — As coronavirus cases continue to decline among most age groups in Rhode Island, there has been a "pretty alarming" spike in cases among young adults, many of whom are believed to be college students, Gov. Gina Raimondo said. To help more effectively reach this group, the state is creating a special task force comprised of student and community leaders.

"You may be young and healthy, but for the sake of others, I'm asking you to do better," Raimondo said. "It's time to get a whole lot more serious [about it.]"

A graph showing new cases among those aged 19 to 24 years old shows new cases among most age groups declining, with one notable exception. The large spike about two weeks ago has recovered somewhat, but is still an alarming trend, Raimondo said.

The task force will brainstorm ways to "meet students where they are," the governor said, such as offering incentives for compliance or coming up with new communication campaigns.

Overall, social gathering remain the largest concern among young people, Raimondo said. Students are urged to keep their social groups small and stable, only interacting with their roommates, for example, rather than everyone in their dorm.

"The groups are just too large," she said.

These informal social gatherings are rarely socially distanced and show poor mask compliance, Raimondo said, which is unacceptable. All Rhode Islanders, regardless of their age, are urged to wear a mask any time they are with someone from outside their immediate household and six feet of distanced cannot be maintained, especially when indoors.

Earlier this month, more than 100 cases of coronavirus were identified at Providence College, prompting a stay-at-home order and temporary shift to fully distanced learning. That, combined with a smaller outbreak at the University of Rhode Island, was enough to put Rhode Island back on the quarantine list for several neighboring states.

"To the students at PC, I'm asking you to obey the stay-at-home order," Raimondo said at the time. "I get that it's fall and you want to get together and have fun, but behavior like that this year endangers other people's lives, and it's incredibly selfish."