By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – There will be no school grades kindergarten through high school for the rest of the academic year, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday at a news conference in Concord.
No graduations, no proms, no class trips, no spring sports.
The state also announced two new deaths, 71 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 1,211 and the outbreak of cases at three long-term care facilities.
All schools, both public and private, will continue with distance learning and focus on coming back to school in the fall, Sununu said.
On March 15 when he announced distance learning and it was extended through May 4, Sununu said he had hoped to find a way to allow a safe return to classrooms.
But with many asymptomatic people transmitting COVID-19 which has killed 34 in New Hampshire so far, Sununu said he thought there was no way to safely ensure that the students would not take the virus home to their parents and the most vulnerable of all, their grandparents and elderly neighbors.
“Our hearts go out to those families,” who have lost loved ones to the virus, Sununu said.
While the cases in the state have plateaued, they have not gone down. He encouraged schools to go to a pass-fail grading system for the spring noting “some students thrive in distance learning, but some do not.”
Sununu sent a letter to education leaders, https://www.governor.nh.gov/news-media/press-2020/documents/20200416-education-leaders.pdf. to explain his decision.
There would be a lot of flexibility for the school to get all the kids moving along with accountability and ways to help students through the summer months, he said.
Districts will also determine their own end of school date, he added.
Assessments on how distance learning worked for each student in the fall is an idea that Sununu said he was not opposed to.
“We can look at that opportunity and it can be explored over the summer so teachers know where the gaps are,” for their students, Sununu said.
He said he is not sure right now how or if SAT testing will go forward.
New Numbers
Three long-term care centers have had newly reported outbreaks of the virus, according to Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette.
At the Residence at Salem Woods in Salem, a total of 21 residents and four staff have been sickened, while at Bellamy Fields in Dover, five residents and five staff have become ill. At the Professional Practice in Concord, one resident has died, two residents were sickened and six staff are ill, although they have not had any recent new cases, Shibinette said.
There have been other outbreaks at long term care facilities in Nashua, Manchester, and Greenfield. Thursday’s newly reported deaths were of a man over the age of 60 in Rockingham County and a woman over 60 from Hillsborough County.
In all, 34 have died and about half have been residents of long-term care facilities, officials said.
Asked when and if he would we extend the stay-at-home order, Sununu said he will address it before May 4 and likely announce something next week. He will look individually at non-essential businesses, public gathering stipulations, and many of his emergency orders, he said.
“We still have a little time,” Sununu said, noting that the growth curve for the virus in the state has plateaued, but not gone down. “We are not putting anyone in harm’s way.”
Money’s Gone
Sununu said it is unfortunate that Small Business Administration’s two grant programs have spent the money according to area banks. It was done on a “first come first serve” basis and he said many big companies got in quick, ahead of the little guys in business in New Hampshire.
Sununu said he was not sure distributing it in such a manner as the federal government did, “was the best way to do it.”
He is hoping there is more money coming from Washington and noted that there is a big chunk of money still to be distributed in the state as part of the $1.25 billion from the CARES Act.
“We still don’t have final guidance on how to spend it,” Sununu said though some guidance is expected from the U.S. Treasury by April 24. “But we will be moving quickly,” to disperse that money, Sununu said. “These funds are to save jobs.”
Sununu has created an office to advise him on how to spend the federal money, noting that he has that right in law. A lawsuit, challenging his right to do that has been brought by Democratic leaders who argue Sununu, a Republican, is usurping legislative authority over accepting and dispersing federal grant money, which traditionally goes through the legislative Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee.
Sununu said lawmakers can’t act fast enough. A court hearing on the lawsuit has been delayed at the governor’s request until Monday.
The governor also created a stakeholder advisory group this week that met Thursday and will advise his new office.
Elective Surgery
One area that could help the bottom line at hospitals is elective surgery. The state halted all elective surgeries at hospitals to deal with the pandemic last month and it has meant that the more lucrative part of their operations has ceased.
Sununu said he is working on a plan to allow for some elective surgery to resume, thus helping to slow the massive layoffs that have been reported at hospitals across the state. He said he wants to make sure that COVID-19 patients are sectioned off from elective surgery.
Sununu said hospitals estimate they have lost $150 million since the crisis began about five weeks ago.
Now, with a massive shipment of personal protective equipment in the state, Sununu said it is a good time to look at elective surgeries.
Homeless
The governor said the state has had more cases in recent days where there has to be more intervention among the homeless and public authorities.
Currently, the state is looking at various models on how to deal with and enforce action to protect homeless people from infecting others and staying well.
The issues are not only Manchester, but in Keene and Laconia, he said. The state is also looking at what housing options are available. He said the Dube building at the former Laconia State School “is available to us if we want it.” Sununu said he has spoken with local officials who have publicly expressed concern about the idea.
He described the numbers of homeless needing quarantine housing as a handful or a dozen at this time.
Mental Health
The governor said there are not a lot of people seeking services for mental health or substance abuse which “is a bit concerning because the need is still there.” He said there are efforts underway to examine that situation.
Campgrounds
The original plan was to keep campgrounds open, Sununu said, when spring begins. He has been listening to communities expressing concern that it would encourage people traveling a distance to come to New Hampshire and possibly spread infection.
“So we are putting together a guiding document which will hopefully allow campgrounds to stay open,” he said, with certain restrictions on density.
But he warned, “If we can’t ensure public health then there is still a possibility we will have to pull the plug.”
Ideas
One of the best resources the governor said he has is speaking frequently with other governors and together providing feedback to the Trump administration.
“When we have to challenge the system or ask for additional help, we are always willing to do so,” he said.
As governors, locally, regionally and nationally, “we are always batting around ideas,” he said.
On calls with President Trump and Vice President Pence, as the governors were having just after Thursday’s press briefing, Sununu said he is always listening to what may be available, what the federal CDC recommendations are and ways to increase testing and federal programs to meet the needs of the state with the hope of “taking it and translate it into some operational success.”
Stay Home
If you own a vacation home in New Hampshire, stay in your primary home, Sununu said.
“This is not time to be vacationing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire,” he said. “At some point we want people to come back to New Hampshire for tourism or whatever it might be but not now. Not now. This is really about staying at home, staying healthy, abiding by those stay-at-home orders. Those are really tough orders and we take them very seriously.”
If you are coming for work, that is okay, he said.
Primary Concerns
He said the two things that worry him most are concerns about long-term care facilities, transmissibility in asymptomatic situations and our geography.
“Geographically in the southern tier given our connectivity to the Massachusetts border and the transitivity of our lifestyle frankly across that border,” is one big concern, he said.
The other concern is the idea that someone, unknowingly, could be carrying the virus, not know it and infect an entire nursing home.
“It just takes one asymptomatic individual,” Sununu said. “to make a very tragic situation.”
Sununu issued Emergency Order #32 as part of the state’s efforts to respond to COVID-19.
Emergency Order #32: Extension of Emergency Orders #1 and #19 (temporary remote instruction and support for public K-12 school districts)
