Evictions expected to rise; Block Island worker positive

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Hundreds of Rhode Island families who lost income during the coronavirus pandemic could lose their rented homes now that the state moratorium on evictions has been lifted, hosuing advocates say.

“Evictions were a crisis in the state long before the pandemic,” Kristina Contreras Fox, a senior policy analyst with the Rhode Island Coalition for Homelessness, told The Providence Journal.

A total of 420 eviction cases were filed from June 2 through June 30 for nonpayment, according to Kara Picozzi, a spokeswoman for the state courts. That adds to the 360 that remained pending prior to the courts shutting down March 17.

Those numbers are expected to climb in the coming months as the federal unemployment supplement runs out at the end of July.

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BLOCK ISLAND WORKER POSITIVE

A summer worker on Block Island has tested positive for the coronavirus, the first confirmed case of the disease on the vacation destination since March.

The worker’s test result came back late Sunday, according to a posting on the town of New Shoreham’s website Monday.

The worker’s employer activated the business’s COVID-19 response plan, the employee was isolated, and the state Department of Health was notified, according to the statement. Contact tracing has started.

Neither the worker nor the business was publicly identified.

It was the first confirmed case of the disease on the island since late March, when a resident who had visited New York tested positive.