By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – With the number of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths on the rise, some lawmakers question the safety of continuing tours for elementary school children at the State House where there is no mask or vaccination mandate and no requirement to report the number of legislators and staffers who have been infected.
Although few adults wear face coverings at the State House because they are optional, a group of Loudon Elementary School fourth graders each wore a mask Tuesday as they sat in the Senate Chamber listening to state Sen. John Reagan, R-Deerfield speak to them. Reagan did not respond to a request for comment.
State Rep. Mel Myler, D-Hopkinton, a member of the House Education Committee, said it is time to demand everyone wear a mask in the State House or temporarily halt the children’s tours.
“When you go into the State House you don’t know who has been vaccinated,” Myler said, adding for those who don’t wear masks, you have no idea of their health status.
“So, you have children going into the State House that are masked dealing with legislators that aren’t masked and I think that is a threat. I would hope the Republican leadership would step forward now that fourth graders are coming into the State House and begin to demand that everyone wear a mask in the House,” Myler said.
On Thursday, the state announced 680 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths and 205 people hospitalized. The state said 192 of the new cases were children under age 18.
Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, D-Concord, said schools should be told in advance of field trips that the State House has no mask mandate.
“I would hope that the schools that are planning to bring fourth graders to the State House that they are advised there is no mask mandate currently in effect at the State House and they are very apt to encounter legislators who are not masked…,” Warmington said.
Loudon Elementary School Principal Catherine Masterson said parents were told that the fourth graders would be going on a field trip to the State House, but there was no mention that when they got there they would likely be in contact with adults who were not wearing face coverings.
“We have a mask mandate at our school and they were on a school sponsored trip,” Masterson said.
Face masks at school have been a hot topic in Loudon and many parents have an opinion either for or against, she said.
“We asked parents’ permission to go on a field trip and they gave permission. We didn’t speak to specifics,” Masterson said.
State Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye, said he didn’t want to single out any one legislator for not wearing a face covering at the State House because so many people don’t wear face masks there.
“My take on it is I try to follow CDC guidelines and especially inside in the presence of unvaccinated people whether it’s children or a group of people who for medical reasons can’t be vaccinated,” said Sherman, who is also a physician.
“I wear a face mask indoors in any public building, restaurant or other venue. It is my understanding it is still in the CDC guidelines and the data says that one should wear a mask especially given the Delta variant and given we only have a 58 percent vaccination rate in this state,” Sherman said.
He said people forget that unless you have a medical grade face mask, “the major protection masks provide is protecting other people from you.
“The data has shown there is some protection for you from other people, but the major reason to be wearing a mask is to protect others from you and that’s why especially if we have fourth graders coming to the State House who can’t be vaccinated because of their age, it would be really helpful for us to consider their vulnerability and consider wearing a mask. Right now in the State House it is at each person’s discretion.
“I would raise the concern if we have children coming into the State House and we know they can’t be vaccinated that anyone having contact with those children should wear a mask for the children’s safety and I agree that especially nowadays with so much focus on parents’ rights that they’re fully informed there is not a mandatory mask policy at the State House and because there is no mandatory mask policy your child may be exposed to someone not wearing a mask,” Sherman said.
InDepthNH.org also reached out to state epidemiologist Dr. Ben Chan, Health and Human Services, Gov. Chris Sununu and Sen. Reagan for comment and none responded.
The battle over health safety during the pandemic has largely been along party lines with Republicans opposed to face coverings at the State House.
Seven Democrats with serious health issues have sued House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, under the Americans With Disabilities Act, asking they be allowed to participate remotely. That case is still before the First Circuit Court of Appeals. But Packard has been steadfast and insists even in committee meetings that House members meet in-person only now that the state of emergency has ended.
Attorney Israel Piedra represents Renny Cushing, D- Hampton, and the other Democratic House members who filed the lawsuit.
“This is an extraordinary situation about disabled legislatures – some with stage 4 cancer, compromised immune systems being forced to either (a) put their lives at risk in a room of 400 – many of whom are unmasked and unvaccinated or (b) forfeiting their right to vote leaving thousands of Granite Staters without a voice in the Legislature,” Piedra told the First Circuit last month.
He told the court the problem is worse now because Speaker Packard won’t allow remote committee meetings and insists on in-person meetings “in a building that is not properly ventilated… Members do not have to wear masks in that building.”
Senior Assistant Attorney General Anthony Galdieri represents Packard and has argued that legislative immunity was a barrier to the Democrats’ request for relief.
Just over 10 months ago, House Speaker Dick Hinch, R-Merrimack, died from COVID-19, one week into his new office. Although he had attended several Republican events where most attendees were unmasked, it was never stated how he was infected.
There have been a handful of unofficial reports of COVID-19 infections in the State House and Legislative Office Building ever since. But Packard has refused to say how many have been infected. A Democratic Representative recently pointed the finger at a Republican Representative for infecting her at a committee meeting by not wearing a mask. Both said on social media they had COVID-19.
On Tuesday, Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, walked mask-less into Gov. Sununu’s office. Senate communications director Carole Alfano gave a tour to a new assistant and both were mask-less as was Deputy House Speaker Rep. Steven Smith. Also mask-less in Sununu’s waiting room where visitors are welcomed were his receptionist and security officer.
