Covid cases are on the rise across the country as the highly transmissible Omicron variant makes the rounds. With Omicron making up 60 percent of cases in the state, Rhode Island is no exception, as Director of the Block Island Medical Center, Dr. Tom Warcup, explained to the New Shoreham Town Council at its first meeting of the new year, Tuesday, January 4.Calling the increase in cases a “surge,” Dr. Warcup told the council that the state’s positivity rate had increased to 16.7 percent, with positive cases statewide tripling since mid-December. Hospitalizations have also doubled in the state, according to Warcup. He reported a “variety of cases including adults and children” on the island, but said with the increase in home testing being done it was “difficult to get a grasp” on the exact number of cases. The Rhode Island Department of Health lists 140 positive cases for New Shoreham, up from 130 last week. After hovering around 100 cases through the month of November, 2021, Block Island has seen cases steadily rise through December and into January.When asked if home testing resulted in inflated numbers as people were counted as a positive case on their home test
