State of Rhode Island
Department of Health
It’s common to get sick from respiratory viruses such as COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), especially in the fall and winter. Each year, respiratory viruses are responsible for millions of illnesses and thousands of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. Rhode Island Respiratory Virus Data
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all people use core prevention strategies to protect yourself and others from respiratory virus illnesses.
You can choose from these additional prevention strategies to further protect yourself and others:
All of the prevention strategies described above can help reduce risk. They are especially helpful when:
Hospital emergency departments in Rhode Island are currently very crowded. Children and adults in emergency departments with less serious health issues are experiencing long wait times. If you or your child does not need emergency medical care, please do not go to the emergency department. Long waits in the emergency department are frustrating, and they expose you and your family to new sicknesses.
Many respiratory viruses can be treated more quicky and effectively by a primary care doctor or in an urgent care facility than in an emergency department.
Contact your primary care provider or pediatrician if you believe you or your child need medical care. Your provider can offer advice on whether an in-person evaluation is needed and the best location (doctor's office, urgent care, emergency room) for care.
RIDOH has lists of primary care providers, urgent care facilities, and health centers online.
For more information on non-emergency treatment options and when to seek emergency medical care, visit Right Place, Right Care.
RIDOH uses data from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) to track the percentage of emergency department visits in Rhode Island that have a discharge diagnosis of COVID-19, flu, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Hospitals provide discharge diagnosis data about the diagnosed illness, injury, or condition associated with a particular emergency department visit. These data, which include non-residents, can indicate increased spread of respiratory illness in the state.
If emergency departments have not reported at least 75% of their records on time over the past six months, RIDOH does not include their visit data in the last two reporting weeks.
The number of people with a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine or a 2024-2025 flu vaccine reflects Rhode Island residents who have gotten at least one dose of that vaccine and have a record in the Rhode Island Child and Adult Immunization Registry (RICAIR). RIDOH only counts a person once each year for each of these vaccines no matter how many doses they have gotten.