PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island health officials reported six new deaths and more than 900 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The state Department of Health reported that more than 220 people had been admitted to Rhode Island hospitals to be treated for the virus since Sunday, compared to 163 new hospitalizations reported the week before.

Rhode Island has reported more than 1,200 deaths and nearly 40,000 known cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic started.

The latest average positivity rate in Rhode Island is 4.38%.

State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Rhode Island the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test encounters using data from The COVID Tracking Project.

SENATE CASES

Employees of the Rhode Island Senate are being told to work from home after three workers tested positive for COVID-19, state officials said.

The Senate's roughly 50 workers were instructed to start working remotely Monday after three staffers tested positive over the weekend, The Providence Journal reported. They were told to work remotely for two weeks.

The directive came from Gov. Gina Raimondo. Senate spokesman Greg Pare said the Senate president is "following that guidance, and wants to do all he can to keep senate staff members safe.”

The House said it has no plans to shift to remote work. The new cases in the Senate were reported as the General Assembly looks for ways to gather for its first full sessions since July.

Democratic Senate President Dominick Ruggerio previously said he is exploring whether meetings can be held at the Rhode Island Convention Center.