Rhode Island passes 1,000 deaths from COVID-19

The Rhode Island Department of Health on Thursday reported 4 coronavirus-related death and said 76 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

That brings the total toll in the state to 1,001 deaths and 18,148 known cases.

There were 67 patients with COVID-19 in Rhode Island hospitals on Tuesday, the most recent date for which data were available. Seven were in intensive care; 4 were on ventilators.

In addition to the 76 positive tests, 3,496 tests came back negative Wednesday, for a 2.12% positive rate. When only those testing negative for the first time are counted, the positive rate was 3.5%.

The pandemic’s place in R.I history

Wars, natural disasters, large-scale accidents and plagues have claimed hundreds of Rhode Island lives over the last century and a half. Here’s how the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 compares to other historic events, in terms of the number of Rhode Islanders — or people in Rhode Island at the time — who died.

9/11 terror attacks

On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked three commercial jetliners and crashed them.

Blizzard of 1978

A snowstorm on Feb. 6, 1978, caught Rhode Island by surprise, paralyzing the state for days.

Station nightclub fire

As has-been metal band Great White took the stage Feb. 20, 2003, a roadie set off fireworks that ignited a blaze that burned the West Warwick nightspot to the ground.

U.S.S. Bennington fire

As the aircraft carrier steamed through Rhode Island waters toward Quonset Point on May 26, 1954, the hydraulic system powering a catapult used to launch planes exploded and started a fire.

Korean War

The Asian conflict lasted from 1950 to 1953.

Vietnam War

The Southeast Asian conflict lasted from 1959 to 1973.

Hurricane of 1938

A storm rolled in from the Atlantic Ocean unanticipated on Sept. 21, 1938, flooding Providence and devastating coastal Rhode Island.

Coronavirus pandemic

It started when a chaperone on a St. Raphael Academy trip to Italy was hospitalized Feb. 27 after returning home. He would recover, but the first Rhode Island life would be lost to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, on March 19. The toll had reached 1,001 lives by Wednesday, July 22, 2020.

U.S. Civil War

The conflict between northern and southern states lasted from 1861 to 1865.

World War II

The U.S. battled Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan from 1941 to 1945.

Flu epidemic

The so-called “Spanish” flu struck in two waves in 1918.

Positive cases in R.I.: 18,148 (76 reported Thursday)

Negative tests in R.I.: 299,490 (3,496 reported Thursday, 2.1% positive rate)

R.I. coronavirus-related deaths: 1,001 (all but 1 before Wednesday)

Rhode Islanders hospitalized with coronavirus: 67 (7 in intensive care)

Positive cases in Massachusetts: 114,320

Massachusetts coronavirus-related deaths: 8,468

Positive cases in U.S.: 4,021,053

U.S. coronavirus-related deaths: 143,967