The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) tracks respiratory virus activity by collecting data from Rhode Island hospitals, laboratories, and vital records. The Respiratory Virus Activity Summary below provides recent viral activity for COVID-19, flu, and RSV. Use the links in the blue highlighted box to check detailed data for a specific topic.
RIDOH updates our dashboards weekly to reflect data through Saturday of the last reported week. Please note some data may not be complete at the time they’re reported. Interpret the most recent 2 weeks of data with caution. Detailed data notes are available at the bottom of this page.
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Emergency Department Visits
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Influenza-Like Illness
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Lab Data
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Hospital Admissions (coming soon)
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Deaths (coming soon)
Emergency Department Visits
Emergency department data are collected to track the percentage of visits with a discharge diagnosis of COVID-19, flu, and/or RSV. These data, which include people who don’t live in Rhode Island, can indicate increased spread of respiratory illness in Rhode Island. Data are collected from all 10 acute care hospitals in the state using RI ESSENCE.
Influenza-Like Illness
Influenza-like illness (ILI) is defined as a fever higher than 100° F with a cough and/or sore throat, independent of laboratory testing. ILI tracking provides a better picture of respiratory activity in the community that may not be captured by laboratory testing. These visit data, collected through ILINet, are reported by 21 outpatient providers in Rhode Island.
Lab Data
Click here to view COVID-19 wastewater data
Rhode Island State Health Laboratories
The Rhode Island State Health Laboratories (RISHL) perform molecular testing for influenza on specimens submitted by Providence Community Health Centers, ILINet sentinels, hospitals, commercial laboratories, and congregate living facilities. Subtyping is performed on many of the positive flu specimens to monitor circulating strains and to help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify novel viruses.
Brown University Health Microbiology Laboratory
The Brown University Health Microbiology Laboratory reports all molecular respiratory pathogen positive results from inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department visits. These data allow RIDOH to track circulating respiratory pathogens other than flu and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), with a particular emphasis on RSV.
Data Notes
Activity levels are calculated by averaging the week-to-week changes from the past 3 weeks of emergency department visit rates.
- Activity is increasing if the average change in discharge diagnoses is at least +0.1 percentage points over a 3-week period.
- Activity is decreasing if the average change in discharge diagnoses is at least -0.1 percentage points over a 3-week period.
- Activity is considered stable if there is no average change in discharge diagnoses percentage points over a 3-week period.
For more information on data collection for emergency department rates, refer to the Emergency Department Visits data note below.
RIDOH uses the Rhode Island Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (RI ESSENCE) database to track emergency department (ED) visits by discharge diagnosis. Discharge diagnosis is information provided by EDs about the diagnosed illness, injury, or condition associated with a particular visit. The percentage of ED visits in Rhode Island with a discharge diagnosis of COVID-19, flu, and/or RSV can indicate increased spread of respiratory illness in the state.
RI ESSENCE receives emergency department data from all 10 acute care hospitals around the state. These data are also shared with the National Syndromic Surveillance Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Influenza-like illness (ILI) is defined as a fever higher than 100° F with a cough and/or sore throat, independent of laboratory testing. Information on outpatient visits to healthcare providers for ILI is collected through the US Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet). In Rhode Island, there are 21 community sentinel providers who participate in ILINet: urgent cares, family practices, pediatricians, university health services, and CVS MinuteClinics. Data from 10 emergency departments are also included in ILINet.
The percentage of influenza-like illness (% ILI) is calculated on a weekly basis by dividing the number of patients with ILI by the total number of patients during that week.
The New England baseline % ILI is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For information about how the ILI baseline is calculated, please visit CDC's FluView.
Rhode Island State Health Laboratories
The Rhode Island State Health Laboratories (RISHL) report positive flu test results to RIDOH weekly. Specimens are submitted to RISHL by Providence Community Health Centers, hospitals, select commercial laboratories, congregate living facilities experiencing outbreaks, and providers from the Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet). Specimens are tested for the presence of flu A or flu B. Most flu A specimens undergo subtyping. Flu A samples that do not undergo subtyping are differentiated from samples with inconclusive subtyping results. Rarely, a specimen may test positive for both flu A and flu B, indicating co-infection.
Brown University Health Microbiology Laboratory
In addition to COVID-19, flu, and RSV, the Brown University Health Microbiology Laboratory reports positive tests for adenovirus, rhinovirus/enterovirus, parainfluenza, metapneumovirus, and “non-pandemic coronavirus,” defined as any coronavirus subtype outside of SARS-CoV-2. The Brown Laboratory also reports positive results for bacterial infections from Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae. Specimens are submitted to the Brown Laboratory by hospital inpatient units, emergency departments, and outpatient clinics.
The Brown Laboratory uses a multi-target Respiratory Pathogen Panel (RP2) to test specimens for each of these pathogens simultaneously. A “mixed” RP2 result describes a sample that tested positive for more than one organism on the panel. Brown also reports results from rapid molecular tests for SARS-CoV-2, flu A, flu B, and RSV. Therefore, positive testing numbers for SARS-CoV-2, flu A, flu B, and RSV are calculated as the sum of both RP2 and rapid testing results. Test results for other pathogens in this section include RP2 results only.