By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – New Hampshire suffered one of its worst days in the COVID-19 pandemic reporting 78 new positive cases of COVID-19 and three deaths, according to officials at Gov. Chris Sununu’s press conference on Friday.
Another outbreak was also announced involving the Easter Seals residential care facility in Manchester. Sixteen residents and 16 workers at The Gammon Academy have tested positive, many of whom were asymptomatic, officials said.
Two of the three individuals whose deaths were reported Friday were residents of long-term care facilities that have had outbreaks. They were at Hanover Hill Health Care in Manchester and The Residence at Salem Woods.
In total, 1,287 individuals have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the Granite State and 37 have died, said Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist.
Hospitals, he said, are keeping up with the number of cases. “We are still in the thick of this,” Sununu said, calling it the second-worst day since the state started fighting the virus. “We are fighting it with everything we have.” There were more positive tests reported on April 4 with 81 new cases.
He urged people to continue to stay at home this weekend and take precautions to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Chan said the state should brace for the number of positive cases to go up next week as it really ramps up testing. The focus of that testing is expected to be in long-term health-care facilities in Rockingham and Hillsborough counties where more than 70 percent of the COVID-19 cases have been detected.
Rapid testing is now available and will be deployed to get to an estimated 6,600 residents and staff of those facilities tested.
More than half of the deaths from COVID-19 in the state have been in those settings and among the elderly, said Lori Shibinette, commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Chan said, “as we look to increase testing of our most vulnerable population, you should expect increases in positive cases.”
He described those as people over the age of 65 with multiple underlying medical conditions. He said the expected increase in cases should not create concern or alarm.
It is an attempt, he said, to bring COVID-19 under control here, particularly at nursing homes.
He did say there is evidence that the social distancing mitigation is helping particularly in terms of hospitalizations, which remain stable over the past few weeks.
It still remains very important that people continue to stay at home as much as possible and to leave for only essential purposes. He suggested that people wear a cloth face covering when in public and practice good and frequent hand washing.
Hospital Funding
A $50 million fund to help keep the doors open at health-care facilities was created a few weeks ago. Two weeks ago, Sununu announced that about $5 million of that would go to LRGHealthcare in Laconia and Franklin which had announced layoffs of about 600 people.
On Friday, Sununu announced additional grants to Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, Weeks Medical Center in Lancaster, Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook, Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin, and Exeter Hospital. All will be receiving funding and approximately 40 other smaller health-care providers will be getting funding totaling $7 million.
The governor said not all the funding has been expended and he is hopeful that the funds will be further used to stabilize the state’s health-care system.
On Thursday, he announced he is looking at the idea of opening up some hospitals for elective surgery.
Substance Abuse, Mental Health
Sununu said that the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration awarded the state a $2 million grant to help during the crisis, particularly with the New Hampshire Rapid Response Crisis Intervention for mental health and substance abuse.
“We are grateful for this funding very much,” he said.
Response to Trump’s Plan
Sununu was asked what he thought of President Donald Trump’s three-tiered plan to open up the country and how that might play out in terms of what he was thinking for how he would open up New Hampshire.
He said he thought the template laid out was a good one and it may well vary from state to state and sector to sector but he warned, “We are not there yet.”
The state would need 14 days of better testing results to even consider it.
“We seem to have hit this plateau, but we are at a very high number,” he said.
Antibody tests “are not quite there yet,” but every day the science gets a bit better and the availability and capacity of testing here increases daily as well.
Summer Camps
Sununu said he is engaging summer camp directors and stakeholders on what summer camp would look like this summer in the shadow of COVID-19 in order to determine whether or not camps of any kind can go forward. He has not yet decided.
He also acknowledged regret for the high school seniors who have worked hard for 12 years and will not get to celebrate their accomplishments with graduations and proms.
NHL Playoffs
,The governor said he had spoken Friday with the Commissioner of the National Hockey League to see if the state can be of assistance with hosting the NHL Playoffs this summer. The hockey games would be held without an audience, likely at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, “but these discussions aren’t even really happening” yet, he said.
Washington, D.C.
On Friday, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin led 32 fellow senators in advocating for local governments to receive dedicated, flexible funding in the next COVID-19 emergency funding bill. Shaheen said local governments need more flexible, dedicated funding in the next emergency funding package.
Senator Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. also signed the letter.
This would be in addition to the $1.2 billion the state is expected to receive next week from the federal CARES Act. The Senators wrote, “On behalf of our state, local, and tribal governments, it is essential that you include robust, dedicated, and flexible funding to all units of state and local government in the next interim emergency coronavirus package to support their ongoing efforts in the fight against this pandemic.”
Dairy Farm Aid
Also in Washington, the entire New Hampshire and Maine congressional delegations have signed on to a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to boost support for dairy farmers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In their letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue, the members specifically requested that the USDA provide price stabilizing assistance to assist New England dairy farmers who are struggling with plummeting prices for milk products and increased costs due to the public health emergency.
“At a time when the entire agricultural sector is facing economic harm and uncertainty, USDA should ensure that dairy farmers are provided with stabilizing assistance,” the members of the Maine and New Hampshire Delegations wrote. “These farmers are essential employees working hard to produce the milk and dairy products our country needs during this pandemic, and we must do everything we can to quickly deliver the support that they need.”
