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. These weeks are based on weeks defined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The respiratory virus season typically starts during the first week of October, on the 40th MMWR week of the year, and typically lasts through the last week of September, the 39th MMWR week of the next year.
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
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
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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.
Hospital Admissions
RIDOH uses data reported by hospitals to track admissions related to flu and COVID-19.
A COVID-19 associated hospital admission includes Rhode Island residents who were admitted to a Rhode Island acute care facility and had a positive COVID-19 lab result, as reported by the hospital. People are included only once per 90 days, based on first specimen collection date.
A flu associated hospital admission includes Rhode Island residents who were admitted to a Rhode Island acute care facility and had a positive flu lab result, as reported by the hospital. People are included only once per 14 days, based on first specimen collection date.
Deaths
RIDOH uses death certificates and lab reports to track COVID-19 and flu deaths among Rhode Island residents. For privacy reasons, counts fewer than 5 are represented as “1-4” on the Deaths by Age charts.
COVID-19
A COVID-19 death is counted when the death certificate lists COVID-19 as a primary or contributing cause of death. COVID-19 deaths are further defined as laboratory-confirmed or non-laboratory-confirmed, depending on if the patient had a positive COVID-19 test result within 180 days of death.
Flu
A flu death is counted when the death certificate lists flu as a primary or contributing cause of death and the patient had a positive flu test result within 60 days of death. Note that before June 1, 2025, all flu deaths were investigated before reporting. Refer to the data notes below for details.
Data Notes
RIDOH updates our dashboards weekly to reflect data through Saturday of the last reported week. These weeks are based on weeks defined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The respiratory virus season typically starts during the first week of October, on the 40th MMWR week of the year, and typically lasts through the last week of September, the 39th MMWR week of the next year.
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.
RIDOH uses data reported by hospitals to track admissions related to flu and COVID-19. A COVID-19 associated hospital admission includes Rhode Island residents who were admitted to a Rhode Island acute care facility and had a positive COVID-19 lab result, as reported by the hospital. People are included only once per 90 days, based on first specimen collection date.
A flu associated hospital admission includes Rhode Island residents who were admitted to a Rhode Island acute care facility and had a positive flu lab result, as reported by the hospital. People are included only once per 14 days, based on first specimen collection date.
Please note that the COVID-19 associated hospital admission definition changed starting on June 1, 2025. Compare COVID-19 admission counts before and after this date with caution.
Before June 1, 2025, a COVID-19 hospital admission was counted when a patient was admitted to an inpatient facility with a positive COVID-19 test:
• Within 14 days before hospital admission if COVID-19 was not a primary or contributing cause of hospitalization
• Within 30 days before hospital admission if COVID-19 was a primary or contributing cause of hospitalization
• Within 3 days after hospital admission, regardless of the cause of hospitalization
Patients were counted once per 90 days, based on the date of their first positive COVID-19 test result. Before January 1, 2023, patients could be counted more than once if they were re-admitted during the same 90-day period.
RIDOH uses vital records data to track the number of deaths associated with COVID-19 and flu among Rhode Island residents. For privacy reasons, counts fewer than 5 are represented as “1-4” on the Deaths by Age charts. Season totals are calculated based on the respiratory virus season, which typically starts during the first week of October and typically lasts through the last week of September of the next year. The totals displayed in the Deaths by Season graphs may not align with the sum of deaths displayed in the Deaths by Month graphs.
A COVID-19 death is counted when the death certificate lists COVID-19 as a primary or contributing cause of death. COVID-19 deaths are further defined as laboratory-confirmed or non-laboratory-confirmed, depending on if the patient had a positive COVID-19 test result within 180 days of death. *
A flu death is counted when the death certificate lists flu as a primary or contributing cause of death and the patient had a positive, non-antibody, flu test result within 60 days of death. *
Note that the flu death definition changed starting on June 1, 2025. Before June 1, 2025, all flu deaths were investigated and counted if they were determined to have resulted from a clinically compatible illness with no period of complete recovery between the illness and death. Starting on June 1, 2025, only pediatric flu deaths are investigated. Compare death counts before and after this date with caution.
Pediatric (age 0-17) flu and COVID-19 deaths are counted once they are investigated and are determined to have resulted from a clinically compatible illness, confirmed by an appropriate laboratory test, with no period of complete recovery between the illness and death.
*Lab reports for COVID-19 and flu can be reported to the health department by laboratories, healthcare facilities, or the state medical examiner’s office.