Governor says no plans to slow down on COVID-19 testing

Rhode Island officials have no plans to slow down the state's aggressive coronavirus testing program despite a suggestion by President Donald Trump that the country stop testing so many people because it results in too many positive cases, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Monday.

“I know there's been national discussion around reducing testing. We're not going to do that in Rhode Island. If anything we're going to increase our testing," the Democratic governor said in a news conference.

She confirmed later she was referring to the Republican president's comments at a rally Saturday when he said he's asked his administration to slow down coronavirus testing. His campaign said the comment was made in jest.

Rhode Island has tested 20% of its populatio, she said.

The state is working on ways to alleviate long waits to get into state parks and beaches that quickly filled to their reduced coronavirus-related capacity over the weekend.

About 25,000 people visited state beaches on Saturday, and state parks including Goddard Memorial and Colt had lines to get in because they reached capacity, the Democrat said.

She said there were no problems with people getting angry or frustrated because of the waits, although park rangers had to break up some large groups on the beaches that violated state regulations limiting gatherings to 15 people or less, which upset some people.

“I know it's inconvenient to say the least that you can't hang out in big groups on the beach, but the gathering rule is 15 and if we thought it was safe to let you congregate in big groups we would, and we're asking you please to be patient and understanding," she said.

The governor also expressed disappointment that only 80% of businesses inspected by the state Department of Business Regulation over the weekend...