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LEADING OFF
Happy Thursday and welcome to Rhode Map, your daily guide to everything happening in the Ocean State. I’m Dan McGowan and I need to see the sports reporters at our three TV stations play a game of HORSE. Right now. Follow me on Twitter @DanMcGowan or send tips to Dan.McGowan@globe.com.
Programming note: There will be no afternoon Rhode Map today or tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.
ICYMI: Rhode Island was up to 3,529 coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, and 87 residents had died. There were 229 people in the hospital, 54 in intensive care, and 44 on ventilators.
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We don’t hear folks from the White House discuss Providence very often, so it was alarming to hear Dr. Deborah Birx on Wednesday talk about her concern about the uptick in cases in this area. She noted that Rhode Island is caught between “two incredible hotspots” in New York City and Boston.
While we see and hear from a lot of state leaders, it’s worth noting that Providence also has a full team in place that has been tracking the spread of the coronavirus. That starts with Clara Decerbo, the director of the Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).
Decerbo, a Middlebury College graduate who has a doctorate from URI, has been tracking the virus since January when it started to move out of China. Once it hit Washington state, she requested a meeting with city officials here to begin preparations. It wasn’t long before Rhode Island had its first case.
In a recent interview, she said that she believes the social distancing regulations that have been put in place by Governor Gina Raimondo and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza have helped to buy the state much-needed time to prepare.
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“The longer we can stretch it out, the better it will be for people in Rhode Island,” Decerbo said.
Running PEMA during a disaster isn’t easy, and she knows she has big shoes to fill. One-time director Peter Gaynor is now running the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Aside from coordinating a response that considers every possible scenario – including what to do about schools and city services during an outbreak – she is also reporting to the mayor while answering questions from all 15 City Council members. But Decerbo has drawn praise from city leaders for being responsive and keeping her cool in a tense situation.
“It’s never a good thing when there’s a lot of focus on emergency management,” she said. “We talk about training for blue sky days and black sky days. This is a black sky month.”
It may be difficult to sound optimistic with a stay-at-home order in place and all public spaces across the city closed, but Decerbo said she’s confident city and state leaders have put Rhode Island in a position to pull through. And she’s not shy about who she believes deserves the most credit.
“I think the greatest strength of this community is truly the community itself,” she said.
NEED TO KNOW
Rhode Map wants to hear from you. If you've got a scoop or a link to an interesting news story in Rhode Island, e-mail us at RInews@globe.com.
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- The White House has deep concerns about Rhode Island’s rising coronavirus cases.
- It sounds like Governor Raimondo is finally going to release Rhode Island’s projections for when we’ll hit the peak number of cases.
- Speaking of projections, experts in Massachusetts are raising concerns about those widely cited University of Washington studies.
- My colleague Yvonne Abraham has an important column in today’s paper: How do you stop an abuser in a pandemic?
- The Globe’s editorial board calls on state and federal governments to make it easier to vote by mail in the November election.
WHAT'S ON TAP TODAY
Each day, Rhode Map offers a cheat sheet breaking down what's happening in Rhode Island. Have an idea? E-mail us at RInews@globe.com.
- REMINDER: If you want to wish a friend or family member a happy birthday in tomorrow’s Rhode Map, send me an e-mail with their first and last name, and their age.
- Governor Raimondo’s daily update on the coronavirus is at 1 p.m.
- RISD is hosting a town hall about its financial picture at 6 p.m.
- Enjoying Rhode Map? Do us a favor and encourage your friends to sign up here.
Thanks for reading. Send comments and suggestions to dan.mcgowan@globe.com, or follow me on Twitter @DanMcGowan. See you tomorrow.
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Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.