By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – While not considered a surge, the state is seeing a slight uptick in the number of its new cases of COVID-19 in the past few weeks, state officials announced Tuesday.
Dr. Benjamin Chan, state epidemiologist, announced that there were 33 new cases of the novel coronavirus Tuesday, up from an average last week in the range of about 25 cases. He spoke at Gov. Chris Sununu’s Tuesday news conference.
There was also a new death announced of a senior not living in a long-term care facility. In all, the state has seen 418 deaths so far and the number of deaths is growing. But it is not the case being seen in most areas of the country which are seeing large surges of the virus.
“We are going to see the numbers fluctuate up and down. I do not believe we are seeing a surge,” Chan stressed.
He urged the public to remain socially distanced, wear masks, and take precautions to protect others from the highly transmissible respiratory virus. Emergency orders will likely be in place perhaps until slightly after we have a vaccine, said Sununu.
“There is no playbook,” and eliminating the 60 or more emergency orders would impact many of the rules in place to help reduce chances for a spike in the virus, he said.
Globally there have been 18.3 million cases and more than 4.7 million in the United States where 155,000 people have died.
In the state, there have been a total of 6,693 cases.
Tuesday, there was only one new hospitalization for a total of 698. The state has seen the percentage of positive cases remain at 1 to 1.5 percent, Chan said.
“That is well below many of the thresholds,” for worrisome trends, he said.
The fact that the elderly person died while not being in a nursing home is an indication, Chan said, that there are still lower levels of community transmission occurring, particularly in the southern part of the state.
“So we need everyone to continue to protect themselves,” he said as that could impact schools opening.
NASCAR
Sununu took a moment to thank organizers, participants, and visitors to the NASCAR race in the state on Sunday and called it “very successful.” He said people responded to the strong, elevated messages to wear masks and stay socially distant.
Small Farmer Grants
Sununu plans to kick off the Eat Local month of August with visits to farmer’s markets on Saturday but had to cancel one event due to the storm this week. He announced $1 million in federal CARES Act relief money would become available to small farmers with $50,000 in business each year. It is in addition to a grant program offered to larger farmers earlier this year.
“These are folks that still rely a lot on farmer’s market income,” Sununu said.
The new program opens up Thursday and stays open until Aug. 31. Farmers can apply at goferr.nh.gov.
Community College Grants
The same website is available to help individuals who would like to go back to community college to learn a new skill but have been impacted by COVID-19. Grants are available to anyone whose family has been impacted by the virus with community college system tuition assistance.
Law Enforcement
Sununu has given a 30-day extension to his state commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency.
It sent him an interim report within the 45 days he requested. It focuses on increasing in-service training hours over three years from eight to 24 hours.
He was asked how that would that be paid for.
“Funding is not going to be an issue,” Sununu said.
The commission worked on action items that could be achieved to reduce implicit bias and improve training.
The commission is now moving to address improving community relations and police misconduct.
Sununu said there was consensus among all members of the commission from members of the NAACP, Black Lives Matter, to law enforcement personnel, judges, and defense attorneys.
“We have to move quickly,” to address systemic racism and improve transparency, he said.
Sununu said his staff had an opportunity to go over the 15-point recommendations, which include expanding training for new police officers.
“We agree with all the initial findings,” he said.
LEACT Commission
Would body cameras on police and dash cameras help improve community transparency?
Apparently, no, was the conclusion in Portsmouth following a nine-month study, said Mark Newport, administrative division captain of Portsmouth Police Department.
Earlier in the day, Newport addressed the commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency on community interactions, and the subject of body cameras was discussed.
A copy of the report on cameras is here. http://files.cityofportsmouth.com/police/Bodycamfinal.pdf
Members of the commission said that such cameras might help the community feel the work of their officers is more transparent.
“It might help catch behavior that slips through,” said ACLU-NH representative Joseph Lascaze, a member of the commission.
The study came after former Police Detective Aaron Goodwin was found to have taken advantage of an elderly woman and inherited her $2.7 million, which was later overturned.
If he was wearing a body camera, could that situation have avoided by a body camera? That was debated.
Goodwin never got the money and lost his job, and Portsmouth suffered a credibility issue which to this day is considered a “high profile” case, according to Portsmouth Police Commissioner Stefany Shaheen, who also addressed the commission.
Ronelle Tshiela, an organizer of Black Lives Matter in Manchester, noted that Portsmouth is mostly a white community compared to Manchester and Nashua.
She asked Newport about what he was saying about the “us versus them mentality” with the police and community.
Newport said “we are all in this together” and he suggested people go to the police department in their community to get to know their officers. Shaheen said police often do difficult and thankless work. She said she admired the men and women in uniform.
“People need to feel safe in their homes,” Shaheen said.
Shaheen, who served on the city council before joining the police commission, said such cameras are “no panacea,” though if money was not an issue she might support them.
“I don’t see how (cameras) would improve relationships,” said Newport.
The commission plans to take more testimony on Thursday.
For more: https://www.governor.nh.gov/accountability
Weather
The governor’s semi-weekly press briefing at the emergency operations center in Concord was delayed for 15 minutes because of a tornado warning over Cheshire County.
Sununu noted that it appeared the western part of the state where the threat had shifted, could see the most damage.
“Really, this is a fast-moving storm. Things are going to be changing,” and he urged the public to keep an eye out.
Flash flood watches were issued in all counties but Rockingham. The hope is it moves quickly and out of the state by 10 or 11 p.m., Sununu said.
The state’s outdoor testing sites for COVID-19 are temporarily closed due to the storm through until Thursday.