Woonsocket Radio News Room

 

Rhode Island’s COVID-19 data reporting will go into effect next week. We will be transitioning from reporting COVID-19 data Monday through Friday to reporting data weekly, on Thursday afternoons. Other states have already moved in this direction. (For example, Massachusetts transitioned to weekly reporting in early July.) And the CDC is on a weekly reporting cadence for its assessment of community risk levels by county. This change is reflective of the larger shift Rhode Island has made from a pandemic response to endemic management, informed by COVID-19 data trends over a period of weeks. However, our data team and COVID-19 leadership team will still be reviewing hospitalization trends and other key metrics daily to monitor for any significant shifts. We have the ability to move back to daily reporting, should it be warranted at any point in the future.    

 

One last note on these monkeypox vaccination clinics this weekend. Pre-registration is required. All appointments have been taken. There is no vaccine at these clinics for walk-ups. Eligible people can get on a notification list for when additional vaccine comes into Rhode Island through a link on this page: health.ri.gov/monkeypox

 

Joseph Wendelken | Public Information Officer

Rhode Island Department of Health

 

 

President Trump is opting not to give Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Multiple outlets report Trump told Ukranian President Zelensky during Friday's meeting the U.S. would not provide long-range missiles for now. The Ukrainian leader had earlier said he thinks Russia is afraid of the possibility of the U.S. giving his country the missiles, after Trump confirmed there might be a possible swap of Tomahawks for Ukrainian drones.        President Trump is commuting George Santos' prison sentence. The disgraced former Republican congressman from New York pleaded guilty to identity theft and wire fraud in August 2024. He was serving seven years in prison. In a Truth Social Post, Trump implied the sentence was too harsh, adding that Santos will be released immediately.        Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton is entering a plea of not guilty to his federal charges. Bolton was indicted yesterday on federal charges related to alleged mishandling of classified documents. He surrendered to federal authorities in Maryland this morning.        The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to allow the National Guard to be deployed to Chicago. Last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump's deployment to the Chicago area. The judge partially granted a temporary restraining order requested by lawyers representing Democrat Governor JB Pritzker. On Friday, the Justice Department filed an emergency application at the high court requesting a pause to the order to allow troops to enter Illinois.        New approval numbers for President Trump are in. According to a new Emerson College Polling survey, Trump is reported to have a 45-percent job approval rating and a 48-percent disapproval rating. However, when it comes to his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, results show a 47-percent approval rating compared to a 34-percent disapproval rating which is up from the 30-percent approval rating he received in the Emerson 100-day poll released in April.        Prince Andrew is giving up his royal titles. Andrew, who is the younger brother to King Charles, issued a statement via Buckingham Palace announcing that he would no longer use the honors conferred upon him after facing fresh questions over his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. According to the statement, the decision was made "in discussion with The King," after concluding that "continued accusations" distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegations and stepped back from public duties in 2019.       

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