Update: Just after 2 p.m. Wednesday, Gov. Sununu issued a news release saying he tested negative for COVID-19.
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – After a week that included travel to Kentucky and greeting visitors to the state last weekend on the Conway Scenic Railroad, Gov. Chris Sununu has fallen ill and is isolating as a precaution against COVID-19.
His office said he would be tested for the highly contagious respiratory virus “soon.”
Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. at Saint Anselm was postponed at about 7:30 a.m.
The statement from the governor said: “Governor Sununu was not feeling well this morning and out of an abundance of caution today’s Executive Council meeting is being postponed. Although Governor Sununu is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, he immediately began isolating this morning and will get a COVID-19 test soon. We will update the public accordingly and Governor Sununu hopes to get back on his feet soon.”
On Monday, Sununu traveled to Kentucky with a delegation of top state Health and Human Services officials on the jet owned and accompanied by inventor Dean Kamen.
Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette, as well as two hospital officials in New Hampshire and others, attended the one-day trip to learn about how Kentucky was handling a hospital surge caused by the Delta variant of the virus.
The trip was focused on medical care and did not include meetings with the Kentucky congressional delegation, the governor’s press release stated.
On the trip also were David Mikolaities, NH National Guard adjutant; Jonathan Ballard, chief medical officer NH DHHS; Jayne Millerick, governor’s Chief of Staff; Michelle McEwen, CEO Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth and Marc Grossman, ER Med Director, Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
In photos sent from Kentucky by his staff, the governor is seen wearing a mask with others in the photo.
However, the governor’s social media feed also shows photos of him maskless on the Conway Scenic Railway this past weekend.
“Great to see so many families aboard the Conway Scenic Railroad this weekend to thank them for all they’ve done this past year and the challenges they’ve overcome,” referring to the pandemic.
The stop on Aug. 29 was part of the governor’s Super603 Thank You Tour.
In the past five days, the governor attended numerous events with New Hampshire residents in his official capacity, according to his own posts on social media.
They included two Republican events on the seacoast and in Warner, a bill signing at a transfer center in Derry, and the ribbon-cutting for the renovated Colonial Theater in Laconia.
Last Friday, the governor was with a number of lawmakers and local Derry officials to sign legislation related to expanded net metering and renewable energy legislation and he also went to Laconia. On the weekend, he attended the Seacoast Republican Women’s chilifest, hosted by former Executive Councilor Russell Prescott of Kingston, and then to the New Hampshire Young Republican’s pig roast in Warner.
The governor met with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and staff on Monday and toured Louisville’s Frankfort Regional Medical Center and the University of Louisville Hospital with the New Hampshire group and also had meetings with health care officials during his one day stay.
The governor received the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine against COVID-19 on April 11 at a mass vaccination event at the New Hampshire International Speedway.