By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – A top state health official provided an upbeat report on COVID-19 to the Governor’s Reopening Task Force and advocated for the reopening of schools across the state.
Patricia Tilley, deputy director of the state Division of Public Health, said that evidence and data show there are few problems related to the transmission of the highly contagious virus seen in grades K-12.
Currently, in all of the schools there are four clusters (three or more with exposure) involving 63 people, she said.
It represents a small percentage of the state cases, Tilley said, with total cases in the schools so far at 1,782.
As of Thursday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire stands at 65,563 cases with 1,006 deaths.
In-School Best
Tilley told the task force the department believes in-person learning is optimal and recommended when possible. This is consistent with the message of Gov. Chris Sununu who has repeatedly urged that classes return to in-person learning rather than remote learning whenever possible.
The next phase of vaccines, Phase 2A will allow for the vaccinations of school and childcare staff in the March to May time frame. This will happen after the age 65 and over cohort gets their vaccinations which is currently underway.
Tilley said 111,000 health-care workers and others in Phase 1A have been vaccinated and she said the state is working through some solutions to get second vaccines scheduled in a timely manner.
Some have been given second dose reservations past the six weeks, which is considered optimal by the manufacturer. The federal VAMS reservation system is outside the state’s control. “Solutions are in the works,” Tilley said.
Indicators
Consistent with a national trend the number of new cases in New Hampshire is down 15 percent across the state in the past seven days (Jan. 21-27) and there is no current sign of the variant, Tilley said.
A number of key indicators of the virus’s presence in New Hampshire were all trending downward offering a “glimmer” of hope, she said. The state gets about 17,000 doses a week.
The number of daily vaccinations is limited by the lack of vaccine supplies that are distributed to each state on a pro-rata basis depending on how many citizens they have. The vaccinations are solely being distributed by the state by logging on to www.vaccines.nh.gov or calling 2-1-1.
The cases are going down but Tilley said to expect continued deaths and need for hospital beds. Most cases are concentrated in Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, she said.
Tilley said the number of active outbreaks at nursing homes is going down and no new ones are being reported and that is the group that has seen their first vaccinations, which offers some immunity.
Rollout
D.J. Bettencourt, chair of the task force, thanked Tilley and the department for its unprecedented efforts to roll out vaccines to about 325,000 residents age 65 and older, which began on Tuesday.
He called it “wildly successful” and a “tremendously successful rollout” though he said there were some issues that were focused on getting the appointments and said that the federal VAMS system was outside of the state’s control.
Wash Hands
Tilley concluded her presentation by urging everyone to “not let your guard down” and wash their hands. She said although the signs are getting more and more positive, with fewer cases, hospitalizations, a lower positivity rate, she urged continued health vigilance.