Gov. Dan McKee announced on Tuesday that he has remobilized about 180 of the state’s National Guard members to handle the surge in COVID-19 cases.
In a tweet, the governor said the group “is supporting vaccination and testing throughout RI, including being on the ground in Central Falls today.”
Central Falls has seen long lines at testing sites, having recently operated with only one state-run facility until Monday, when a second location was opened in a vacant Rite Aid on Broad Street.
Maj. Jared Rickey, state public-affairs officer for the Rhode Island National Guard, told The Providence Journal there are a “handful” of Guard members in the city who are assisting with operations at the old Rite Aid site.
“Our mission there is to increase the throughput for testing at that site,” Rickey said, adding, “As of right now, the guard members that are supporting that site are not administering tests.”
Rickey did not have details on the specific duties of the members but said they would “ease the tension off of the people that are doing the testing so that they can focus primarily on testing.”
When the location launched operations Monday, it soon became the site of traffic tie-ups and a line that stretched out the door, mirroring demand at Central Falls’ other testing site down the block at Jenks Park Pediatrics.
The city has been Rhode Island’s hardest hit community during the pandemic, with nearly 29,000 cases per 100,000 residents, according to data from the Department of Health.
Across the state, Rhode Island remains in high transmission of the virus, with more than 2,100 infections per 100,000 residents in the past week.
Rickey said that within a week, about 82 National Guard members of the roughly 180 will be stationed at the Rhode Island Convention Center to support vaccination efforts.
McKee also tweeted that he had toured Rhode Island Hospital’s emergency wing on Tuesday, where he met with front-line workers.
“Our team is finalizing operational plans for [the National Guard] to provide support to hospitals in cooperation with their facility leadership,” he said.
The governor’s office did not immediately provide The Journal with specifics, other than noting that the National Guard’s efforts would relate to vaccinations, testing and supply management.
At the start of the pandemic in 2020, the Guard had various responsibilities including screening travelers in Providence’s Amtrak terminal and Peter Pan bus terminal. At one point, the Guard was tasked with going door-to-door in search of New Yorkers who had fled the virus’ epicenter. The Guard had also set up checkpoints at the Connecticut border in an effort to keep infected motorists away.
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