N.H. Daily Coronavirus Update—December 2020

Thursday, December 31

As of Dec. 30, New Hampshire has received 45,275 doses and has administered 13,200 injections—a rate of 29.2%. In contrast, Maine has administered 44.3% of its doses and Vermont 32.7%. Massachusetts is at the bottom of the list of New England states at 22.8%. Nationally, 25% of the doses received by states have been distributed. (Source: Bloomberg News Vaccine Tracker)

On Wednesday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 594 new positive test results for COVID-19 and 6 additional deaths. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. After Anti-Mask Protesters Target His Home, Sununu Cancels Planned Outdoor Inaugural Ceremony. Citing public safety concerns related to a group of armed protestors who have gathered outside of his private home in recent weeks, Gov. Chris Sununu said Wednesday he is cancelling a planned outdoor inaugural ceremony on Jan. 7. “For weeks, armed protesters have increasingly become more aggressive, targeting my family, protesting outside my private residence, and trespassing on my property — an outdoor public ceremony simply brings too much risk,” Sununu said in a press release. “We do not make this decision lightly but it is the right thing to do.” Sununu will now be sworn-in during a small private ceremony, with a live stream provided to members of the public. He will deliver an inaugural address at 7 p.m. on Jan. 7. (Source: NHPR)

2. Hospitalizations Again Top 300 As Dec. 23 Becomes New High Water Mark for New Cases in NH. Of the 594 new positive tests announced on Wednesday, 92 were additions for Dec. 23, which officially became the state’s worst day for new cases with 1,208. This tops the previous high of 1,133 announced for Dec. 2. Of the six additional deaths, five were in residents age 60 or over and one was a resident under age 60. 306 people are also hospitalized with COVID-19. Over the course of the pandemic 901 persons have been hospitalized with the illness, meaning that as of Wednesday more than a third of the people hospitalized by COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic are currently in hospital care. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Meanwhile, two months after the start of what has been a flu season, the state has reported its first flu death. (Source: WMUR)

3. More New Cases Announced at Portsmouth’s Clipper Harbor and Wentworth Senior Living. In its weekly update of outbreaks at nursing homes and other congregate living facilities across the state, the N.H. Department of Public Health listed 31 active outbreaks. This week, 29 active resident cases were listed at Clipper Harbor and 7 resident cases and 5 staff cases at Wentworth Senior Living. Although neither facility has experienced a fatality, the updated totals represent increases over the previous week. The largest active nursing home outbreaks are at the New Hampshire Veteran’s Home (93 resident cases, 102 staff cases and 35 deaths), Pleasant View Nursing Home (82 resident cases, 38 staff cases and 11 deaths), and Hanover Terrace Health and Rehabilitation Center (68 resident cases, 39 staff cases and 6 deaths). )Source: N.H. DHHS)

4. NH State Men’s Prison Records First COVID Death of Pandemic. Wednesday’s update of outbreaks across the state also revealed the state’s first COVID-19 death of a New Hampshire jail or prison inmate. According to the DHHS summary, the outbreak at the NH State Prison in Concord has grown to 184 inmate cases, 54 staff cases and 1 death. No additional information about the person who died was provided. Additionally, the report lists 20 active inmate cases in the prison’s Secure Psychiatric Unit and 8 staff cases. Other corrections facilities listed with active outbreaks were Northern NH Correctional Facility in Berlin (83 inmate cases and 22 staff cases), the Merrimack County Jail (35 inmate cases and 4 staff cases), Strafford County Jail (54 inmate cases and 10 staff cases), and the Hillsborough County House of Corrections (3 inmates have tested positive). (Source: N.H. DHHS) The spread of COVID-19 in prisons is a national problem. At least 275,000 people incarcerated across the US have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 1,700 have died. “COVID has been uniquely awful for people in jails and prisons,” says Somil Trivedi, senior staff attorney in the Criminal Law Reform Project at the ACLU. “That includes staff who are forced to go in there for their livelihoods… and then forced to go back out into the community.” One consistent call for change advocated by experts and activists to offset the spread of the virus in prisons and jails has been to release as many inmates as possible. “The primary fix is to release everybody who you can possibly release safely,” Trivedi says. “To cut down, thin out the population within the facilities to allow for social distancing and mask-wearing to actually work.” (Source: Time Magazine)

5. 22 Staff at Valley Street Jail Have COVID-19, Jail Head Says. Twenty-two staff at the Valley Street jail currently have COVID-19, Jail Superintendent Willie Scurry said on Wednesday, the same day that the jail began testing inmates after reports of a high number of possible cases. On the defensive, Scurry took part in two public forums at which he addressed issues of COVID-19 and testing at the jail, which until this week had tested only 11 inmates. Scurry told Hillsborough County commissioners that testing in Unit 2D would take place on Wednesday, though he said it was unrelated to a Union Leader report about sick inmates in the jail. Fourteen or 15 inmates are in quarantine in Unit 2D with COVID-19 symptoms but had not been tested, the jail’s head nurse testified. In a court hearing a few hours later, a defense lawyer grilled Scurry, who repeatedly said he was not familiar with or could not recall guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for correctional facilities. (Source: Union Leader) Meanwhile, a judge is considering whether one of the inmates at Valley Street Jail who has COVID-19 should be released on bail, in light of concerns about the facility's management of health and safety during the pandemic. On Wednesday, Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Charles Temple heard over three hours of arguments and testimony on the Manchester jail's COVID-19 protocols. Attorney Elliot Friedman argued those protocols endanger the health and life of his client, William Jones. Jones, who is in preventative detention awaiting trial, is one of two inmates who recently tested positive for the virus. Friedman says Jones' treatment by staff, quality of food, and access to counsel has diminished while he’s been under quarantine. Attorney Friedman argued the lack of facility-wide testing and screening of staff put his client at risk, and made it challenging for attorneys to assess their safety risk when meeting in person with clients. “The jail’s approach to COVID is going to make me in this case with Mr. James choose between his and my health and safety and his right to counsel,” he said. “And that is not a choice anyone should have to make in our legal system.” County Attorney Kent Smith said James was at Valley Street Jail “for a reason,” and that his diagnosis did not warrant a release. (Source: NHPR)

6. Epping and Hooksett Close Town Halls After Outbreaks. Epping Town Hall will remain closed to the public until Jan. 11 after six employees and a selectman tested positive for COVID-19. Town Administrator Gregory Dodge said he was among those infected, but he has since recovered and returned to work this week. “I had mild symptoms. Loss of taste and smell, a little congestion, dry cough and headache. It never affected my lungs at all. I was fortunate,” the 63-year-old Dodge said. None of those infected were hospitalized, but he said the virus impacted some worse than others. (Source: Union Leader) Meanwhile, Hooksett Town Hall is closed until Jan. 4 after five town hall workers tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, but town officials say they do not think residents were exposed. According to a news release from the town, the positive COVID-19 cases are so far only in the administration, finance, building and engineering departments. Fire Chief James Burkush, who heads Hooksett's COVID-19 emergency operations, said he does not believe residents were exposed to the coronavirus at town hall, because town hall staff wear face masks and stand behind plastic shields. "We've done everything we can possibly do," Burkush said. "But it's COVID. It's very easily spread." (Source: Union Leader)

7. More Vaccine Arrives in State But Transparency Remains Lacking. Another 19,000 coronavirus vaccines arrived in New Hampshire this week - but detailed and up-to-date information about how many people have gotten their shots, and where this batch is going, hasn't been made publicly available. Other states, including Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine, are offering detailed information on their state websites about where and to which groups the vaccine is being administered. New Hampshire health officials said the state would be offering more detailed information to the public early this week, but that information hasn't been made available yet. (Source: NHPR) The Bloomberg News Vaccine Tracker shows that as of December 30, the US had distributed 12,409,050 doses of which only 3,049,456 have been used. But although the pace of vaccinations is far slower than what federal officials promised, more people have received vaccines in the US than any other country. On average 25% of the doses distributed to states have been administered. According to Bloomberg, New Hampshire has received 45,275 doses and has administered 13,200 injections—a rate of 29.2%. In contrast, Maine has administered 44.3% of its doses and Vermont 32.7%. Massachusetts is at the bottom of the list of New England states at 22.8%. (Source: Bloomberg News Vaccine Tracker)

8. COVID-19 Vaccines Have Small but Important Differences. When it’s your turn to be vaccinated, you likely won’t have a choice which of the two coronavirus vaccines approved for emergency use by the federal government you will receive. But it’s good to know the similarities and differences. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are based on messenger RNA (ribonucleic acid) that takes advantage of the process that cells use to make proteins in order to trigger an immune response and build immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Both are also about 95% effective, require a second booster shot 28 days after the first, and are currently in short supply. “Both vaccines have a similar side effect profile, and those appear to be minimal,” said Dr. David Itkin, infectious disease specialist at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. “Both offer great efficacy and promise so getting one is based on availability at this point. Even if you already had COVID, you should get the vaccine. People have been reinfected, and it will help protect others.” Differences include requires storage temperatures and the approved age for distribution. Itkin said the Moderna vaccine is rated for 18 and above, while the Pfizer rating begins at 16. (Source: Seacoast Online)

9. New PPP Rules Favor Small Businesses, Provide Greater Flexibility. Businesses that need help are “inundating” banks with questions about the new Payroll Protection Program, but it may take weeks before they get the answers needed to even start to apply. The program – flush with more cash and loaded with new rules – was signed into law on Dec. 27, but the law gives the U.S. Small business Administration 10 days to issue guidance, and most observers are doubtful they’ll meet that deadline. Congress allocated $280 billion for the PPP program, nearly a third of the $900 billion stimulus package, but there is more than $130 billion left over from the last two rounds, so the total is more than $410 billion. That’s less than the $518.3 billion allocated last time but not that much less. Other differences include a lower maximum amount of the loan only $2 million rather than $10 million. And the maximum number of employees this time is 300 rather than 500, which only excludes a few companies. The remade PPP also excludes entertainment venues, which now are covered under a different program that allows $10 million loans. Forgiveness will also be a bit looser this time for those with loans under $150,000, but there is one major obstacle that wasn’t there the first time: you have to show a revenue drop of at least 25% in at least one quarter compared to last year. That might hurt New Hampshire, since the state economy did better than most, but then again, it might not, as the state’s economy performed worse in the second quarter when a severe stay-at-home order was in effect. (Source: NH Business Review)

10. New Legislation Proposes To Study Whether NH Should Appoint Nursing Home Inspector General. New Hampshire’s long-term care facilities have been hit hard by the pandemic. New legislation proposes to study whether the state should appoint an inspector general for nursing homes, where more than 80A% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have occurred. Oversight of nursing homes falls under the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. The state also has an office of the long-term care ombudsman, charged with investigating and resolving complaints concerning residents. Donovan Fenton, a Democratic representative from Keene, is sponsoring the bill. He says he’s worried about the pandemic's impact on nursing homes, and says an entity outside of the health department could possibly provide better oversight. “They have their hands full with a lot of things,” Fenton said. “I think it should be branched off into its own category with an inspector general for accountability of our current systems, regulation, and inspection.” Fenton says he’s proposing a study committee for the position because he doesn’t “want to add a layer of bureaucracy without reviewing it fully.” (Source: NHPR)

11. With Remote Meeting Technology Easily Available, Reps Say UNH Parking Lot is No Place to Legislate. If you thought the drive-in was a thing of the past, the New Hampshire House of Representatives has news for you — it isn’t. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the House will open its 2021 session in a parking lot at the University of New Hampshire on Jan. 6. The move is not sitting well with many representatives, who believe it’s not safe for 400 members to gather at this time and would prefer the meetings take place remotely over the internet via such mediums as Zoom. "The concept is incredibly absurd and beyond embarrassing for our state," Rep. Casey Conley (D-Dover) wrote on Facebook. "It creates challenges for members who do not drive and do not own cars, and does not accommodate members with disabilities. It requires 400-plus people to burn gas to stay warm, spew fumes into the environment and effectively forces unpaid House members to pay for their own heat." “This is the New Hampshire Republican Party saying that they are unable to do what the government has required individuals and businesses to do since the pandemic began,” Deputy Democratic Leader Representative David Cote (D-Nashua) said. “Over the past nine months, businesses throughout the state and most of New Hampshire’s state government have adapted to working remotely to protect public health. For some reason, House Republicans are unable or unwilling to adapt like the rest of society.” Rep. Anita Burroughs (D-Bartlett) has been weighing whether she will attend the Jan. 6 session. She’s concerned about safety. “I’m going back and forth about whether I should go,” she said by phone Tuesday. “I’m leaning towards not going for a couple of reasons. First, I think it’s just absurd. One of the key reasons we shouldn’t do this is because there are a number of reps who have disabilities and having a meeting in a parking lot may prevent them from being able to attend. (Source: Conway Daily Sun)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 30, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• Bloomberg News Vaccine Tracker (NEW!)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Wednesday, December 30

New Hampshire is one of 12 states—and the only state in the northeast—whose governor has chosen not to impose new restrictions during the current surge in COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations. (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)

On Tuesday, New Hampshire public health officials reported 20 additional deaths from COVID-19 and 1,029 positive tests. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Wednesday.

1. 20 More Granite Staters Succumb to COVID-19. The deaths of 20 more people in New Hampshire have been attributed to COVID-19, health officials announced Tuesday. According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, there have been 735 deaths as a result of COVID-19 since early March. The 20 new victims include 13 women and 7 men over the age of 60, officials said. The death toll announced Tuesday is one short of the highest single-day total (21), which was reported on both Dec. 16 and 23. The state also announced 1,029 positive test results, including 125 in people under 18 years old. (Sources: WMUR and N.H. DHHS)

2. With COVID-19 Deaths and Hospitalizations Rising, N.H. Holds Back On Restrictions. December has been the deadliest month of the pandemic in New Hampshire. The state reported more than 200 deaths this month so far, and the number of people hospitalized remains more than double where it stood before Thanksgiving. Other states in New England have also seen a surge in COVID-19, leading governors to implement new restrictions in an effort to flatten the curve. But so far, Gov. Chris Sununu has resisted similar measures in New Hampshire. In a recent press conference, he characterized the December surge in cases, deaths, and hospitalizations as “a bit of a bump.” However, December has proved to be the deadliest month of the pandemic with over 200 deaths. Hospitalizations have shifted between 250-300 people, which has been putting stress on hospitals and their staff. While New Hampshire is faring better than some states, Maine and Vermont, two comparable New England States that also have smaller populations, are faring much better than the Granite State when it comes to key public health measures. Vermont's population is about half of New Hampshire's, but it's recorded 130 or so deaths, while New Hampshire's death toll is over 700. Maine has a very similar demographic makeup and a nearly identical population to New Hampshire. It's recorded about half of the number of deaths and is seeing far fewer daily cases. In the past month or so, Vermont and Massachusetts have introduced a number of new restrictions—such as putting more capacity limits on restaurants, putting a curfew on bars and restaurants, and further limiting travel—as they saw their numbers continue to rise. In contrast, Gov. Sununu response has been limited to imposing a statewide mask mandate in mid-November—an action that came months after mandates were enacted by other New England states. According to NHPR reporter Jordyn Haime, who covers the New Hampshire’s COVID-19 response for NHPR, “since then, the governor has said that he's watching the data and that nothing is off the table, but he hasn't announced new steps to flatten the curve since then. So in terms of policy, New Hampshire is an outlier in New England.” (Source: NHPR)

3. Hospital Association President Believes Toughest Weeks Lie Ahead for COVID-19 Hospitalizations. For three weeks now, the number of Granite Staters receiving treatment for COVID-19 in hospitals has been above 200 and has topped 300 on several days. The President of the New Hampshire Hospital Association, Steve Ahnen, said there is no doubt that capacity is getting tight and they are seeing more patients needing critical care in ICU beds. “The next several weeks are likely to be some of the most challenging of the pandemic yet,” Ahnen said. In New Hampshire and across the nation, cases are surging. On Aug. 30, only 6 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals statewide. In the fall, that number began rising into the 30-40 range. In the weeks after Thanksgiving and in December hospitalizations surged to a record of 305 on Dec. 23. Hospital staff are in constant contact, meeting every day with each other, and then twice a week with state officials to discuss challenges, staffing and capacity. “So, if a hospital in the southern part of the state is at or near capacity, whether it’s ICU beds or other beds that their colleagues are able to help out and say, ‘I can take patients from you today to help make sure that those patients are getting the care that they need,’” Ahnen said. (Source: WMUR) According to CovidActNow, a non-profit group that assesses coronavirus risk levels for all 50 states, New Hampshire has reported having 282 staffed adult ICU beds. 105 are filled by non-COVID patients and 60 are filled by COVID patients. Overall, 165 out of 282 (59%) NH ICU beds are filled. Based on the current positivity rate along with the rate of news cases and hospitalizations, CovidActNow concludes there is likely enough capacity to absorb a wave of new COVID infections. (Source: CovidActNow)

4. State Begins Vaccinations for First Responders, Other Frontline Workers. Thirteen state-managed vaccination sites are now up and running, distributing vaccines to first responders and frontline workers. Manchester Fire Chief Dan Goonan said about 80% of his staff have registered for the vaccine. He hopes to have the entire department vaccinated in the coming weeks. “Widespread vaccinations, it’s just going to give us a leg up and get to the other side of this,” Goonan said. The new locations are only for first responders and frontline workers and the state has reached out to those eligible to be vaccinated through their employers and licensing boards. (Source: WMUR)

5. Could Be Weeks Before All Nursing Home Residents Get Vaccines. Vaccinations have begun at nursing homes in New Hampshire, but state officials say it could take a month before all the people living and working in these facilities get their first injection. Most of the first group of recipients — high-risk healthcare workers and residents and staff at long-term care facilities — will receive the first of two required doses by the end of January, according to Elizabeth Daly, chief of the Health and Human Services Department’s Bureau of Infectious Disease Control. (Source: Concord Monitor)

6. NBC Report: Adequately Vaccinating Americans Will Take 10 Years at Current Pace. At the current rate of daily vaccinations, it would take almost 10 years to inoculate enough Americans to get the pandemic under control, a jarring new NBC News analysis showed Tuesday. The goal of Operation Warp Speed, a private-public partnership led by Vice President Mike Pence to produce and deliver safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines to the public, is to ensure that 80 percent of the country's 330.7 million people get the shots by late June. To meet that goal, a little more than 3 million people would have to get the shots each day, the math shows. But so far, a total of only about 2 million people — most of them front-line health care workers and some nursing home residents — have gotten their first shots of the 11.5 million doses that were delivered in the last two weeks, a review by NBC News of data from federal and state agencies showed. (Source: NBC News) Meanwhile the Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health said he was "incredibly frustrated" by the slow pace of vaccine distribution and states and hospitals having to fend for themselves. "The worst part is no real planning on what happens when vaccines arrive in states," said Dr. Ashish Jha. "No plan, no money, just hope that states will figure this out." (Source: NBC Boston) The new $900 billionCOVID relief package signed earlier in the week by the president should help. It allocates $8 billion to $9 billion to fund vaccine distribution and may meet the demand made by national organizations representing local public health officials, who have said that at least $8.4 billion was required to carry out the massive vaccination campaign. (Source: CNBC) New Hampshire will receive an estimated $183 million to cover “testing, tracing and COVID mitigation funding” and around $36 million for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration. (Source: NHPR) Meanwhile, several top economists and two former presidential candidates are floating a novel incentive idea should vaccine supplies increase and distribution issues decrease in the coming months: pay Americans reluctant to be vaccinated $1,000 or more to get the vaccine. (Source: BusinessInsider)

7. Britain Approves Use of COVID-19 Vaccine Being Tested in New Hampshire. A COVID-19 vaccine being tested in New Hampshire has been approved for use in the United Kingdom, and its developers believe it will be effective against a new variant of the virus driving a rapid surge in infections in Britain. The AstraZeneca vaccine was approved Tuesday by British health authorities, who have ordered 100 million doses. The first inoculations will be given Monday. The vaccine, developed by the British pharmaceutical firm in conjunction with the University of Oxford, is the subject of a clinical trial at ActivMed’s office in Portsmouth, N.H. 1,500 people in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts are being given the vaccine or a placebo to determine its effectiveness and safety in what is known as a Phase 3 clinical trial. That is the final step before the release of a vaccine in the U.S. (Source: Concord Monitor)

8. NH Corrections Officials: 156 Active COVID-19 Cases Among DOC Staff, Inmates in NH. According to the NH Department of Corrections, of the 332 total cases involving inmates since March, 116 are now active. Meanwhile, of the 835 staff members at all the state's facilities, 117 have had COVID-19 since March. Forty of those cases are active as of Monday. Officials said 1,065 inmates have been tested and 31.17% of those inmates were diagnosed with COVID-19. The department said inmates are only tested if they have symptoms or if they have been identified as a close contact of an infected person. (Source: WMUR) In June, the American Civil Liberties Union graded the state of NH’s response to COVID-19 in its prison system as an “F+“. The poor grade came well before the vast majority of inmates and staff who contracted the illness were infected. (Source: ACLU)

9. Two Inmates at Valley Street Jail Have COVID-19; Lawyers Call for Testing Throughout Jail. Two inmates at the Valley Street jail have tested positive for COVID-19 amid calls for more testing and concerns about the laxity of quarantines at the state’s largest county jail. In an email, Superintendent Willie Scurry said two inmates recently tested positive, but when asked, he did not provide further details, including their current medical condition and the number of inmates who have been tested. Nor did he respond to a question about whether any staff have contracted COVID-19. Valley Street jail, which houses Hillsborough County inmates, is the third in the state to report cases of COVID-19 recently. Merrimack and Strafford County jails recently have reported outbreaks — cases where the virus is being transmitted between multiple clusters of three or more infected people. “We are testing (inmates) at the discretion of our medical providers,” Scurry wrote in an email. “We’ve seen across the country what happens when the virus spreads across correctional facilities: lots of cases, lots of deaths. Without some changes, I’m worried that’s going to happen here,” said Melissa Davis, a University of New Hampshire law professor who runs the school’s Criminal Practice Clinic. Davis said eight residents of the 1D unit have COVID-like symptoms. They have not been tested but have been confined to their cells for 22 hours a day. Meanwhile, they share air in the unit with healthy inmates, Davis said. (Source: Union Leader)

10. Senate GOP Blocks Swift Vote on Trump’s/Dem’s $2K Checks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked Democrats’ push to immediately bring President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks up for a vote, saying the chamber would “begin a process” to address the issue. “The working class of this country today faces more economic desperation than at any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said as he also tried to force a vote on the relief checks. “Working families need help now.” But McConnell blocked the move a second time. Senators returning to Washington after a long holiday weekend will find the issue still waiting for them. (Source: Associated Press)

11. Citing Concerns Over Safety and Access for Disabled Legislators, NH House Dems Rip GOP Plan for Drive-In Session. House Democratic Leader Renny Cushing of Hampton, with three disabled colleagues backing him up, urged Acting House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, to let any lawmaker meet remotely and avoid having to attend a “drive-in” session Jan. 6 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Cushing, 68, said Packard’s “Dear Colleagues” letter Sunday spelling out the in-your-car meeting would violate a lawmaker's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and he wouldn't rule out suing House leaders if they refuse to make an accommodation. “The leader of the Republican majority is doing everything possible except that which is most obvious and that is to allow us to meet remotely,” the eight-term Rep. Cushing said during a Tuesday press conference held remotely via Zoom. Cushing noted the state Supreme Court last fall advised former Speaker Stephen Shurtleff, D-Penacook, that the House could hold remote sessions as long as virtual attendance could be confirmed. Rep. David Cote, D-Nashua, began his 20th term in the House and can’t drive as he suffered from Cerebral Palsy. In 2018, he had four stents implanted after suffering a heart attack in 2018. “This is the New Hampshire Republican Party saying that they are unable to do what the government has required individuals and businesses to do since the pandemic began,” said Cote, 60. Rep. Kendall Snow, 81, said he spent three months in the hospital including eight days on a ventilator after he came down with Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 2017. He and his wife, 79 and also disabled, sold their home of 50 years and moved into the Birch Hill assisted living complex in Manchester. “I don’t want to be the Typhoid Mary that brings back Covid-19 back to the 100 residents in the complex where I live,” said Snow, a four-term, retired mental health center executive. (Sources: Union Leader and InDepthNH)

12. COVID Relief Money Comes to the Rescue for NH’s Unemployed. More than 21,000 jobless Granite Staters will get their federal unemployment benefits extended and twice as many will get enhanced benefits, as a result of the of the stimulus bill passed by Congress, and signed – after some hesitation – by President Trump. The enhanced benefits – that $300 a week – started December 27, but self-employed and those collecting for other Covid-related reasons (such as child care because of remote schooling) might have to wait before they get anything at all under the new law. Altogether, there were 21,730 Granite Staters collecting federal benefits last week who will be eligible for extended benefits this week (ending on January 2) until the week ending on March 13 (ironically, the anniversary of the state of emergency in New Hampshire). So there won’t be any gap of coverage. However, NHES Deputy Commission Richard Lavers said “we do not yet have guidance on implementation, which will cause delays in being able to get the new extended PUA/PEUC programs up and running.” In other words, it is unclear when the department will be issuing that first check. The law will also help out those collecting who lost income from wages as well as self-employment income. That self-employment income isn’t included in calculating benefits, but recipients will now will get $100 a week instead, though the rules on that still have to be spelled out. (Source: NH Business Review)

13. Newfields Police Fine, Arrest Protesters at Gov. Sununu's Home. One protester was arrested, and several were issued fines by local and state police Monday night for demonstrating outside the home of Gov. Chris Sununu, despite a recently passed town ordinance banning “picketing” outside a specific residence. Approximately 10 members of the group Absolute Defiance organized a candlelight vigil in Sununu’s Hemlock Court neighborhood Monday evening, protesting the statewide mask mandate he enacted Nov. 19, as well as the new ordinance they felt was infringing upon their First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, which include the rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. The group has been staging protests outside Sununu’s home since Nov. 22. One of the protesters engaged in an argument with state police and another group of state police in riot gear gathered around him before he was arrested. Skylar Bennett of Concord said he was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass by Newfields police. Sununu and his family were not home at the time of the incident.(Source: Seacoast Online)

14. Keene State Delays Start of Spring Semester to Feb. 15. With COVID-19 cases continuing to surge through the holiday season, Keene State College announced it will begin the spring semester three weeks later than previously planned, with classes now slated to start Feb. 15. "I believe our best and most successful semester will occur if we delay our on-campus return," President Melinda Treadwell said in a video announcing the change. "... We have been, for the past several weeks, looking at scientific models, predictions for the virus and been working with our faculty, hearing from our students and trying to make the right decision for our return at Keene State," Treadwell said in the video, which was posted on the Keene State website Dec. 18. "Our top priority is your safety, and the safety of our community." (Source: Keene Sentinel)

15. Some N.H. Clerks Seek Compensation For Extra Hours, Risk In 2020 Elections. New Hampshire’s local election officials logged lots of early mornings, long nights and weekends on the job in 2020 to ensure voting could proceed safely despite all of the changes due to the pandemic. In many cases, they did so without any extra compensation. Some of them are trying to change that. “I think election officials are asking for acknowledgment and because of the amount of time, the significant amount of time that was put into maintaining our election system this year,” Girona Ewing said. To that end, she asked the Plymouth Select Board to use part of the emergency federal funding they received for COVID-related election expenses to compensate her and other local election officials for their extra time. Elsewhere, other communities have chosen to offer extra pay to part-time election workers or small stipends to clerks. Whether a local election worker receives any pay for the extra time they put in this year will vary depending on where they live. The Secretary of State’s office says communities are allowed to use the emergency election funding they received through the CARES Act “for compensation above and beyond [local election officials’] set salary or stipend.” But ultimately, the decision is left up to local selectboards. (Source: NHPR)

16. Cisco Brewers in Portsmouth Closes for Winter, Will Reopen in 2021. Cisco Brewers, located on Pease International Tradeport, has joined the growing list of Seacoast restaurants that are closing down for the winter and hoping for a better spring. The brew pub, which took over the former location of Redhook Brewery in 2018, announced it would close on Dec. 21 and plans to reopen in March 2021. "Ordinarily, closing the pub would be a difficult decision, however, 2020 continues to define what 'ordinary' is," the business announced on its website. "We feel this is the best business decision we can make, and a responsible action to keep our staff, customers and community as healthy as possible while we all regroup for next year." (Source: Seacoast Online)

17. Seacoast Experts Say Don’t Expect Mask-Free Life Any Time Soon. According to Seacoast, New Hampshire and Maine medical professionals, masks will be with us in 2021 as the COVID-19 vaccines are distributed. Herd immunity, according to experts, won't be achieved until about three-quarters of the population has received the vaccine. Dr. David Itkin, infectious disease expert at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, said it isn't nearly time yet to ease precautions. “It will be some time before we are at a level of having 75-80% of our population vaccinated," he said. "I think we are looking at most of 2021, if not 2022, before we actually loosen the mask restriction.” Longer-term, there may also be a seasonal place for masks, too. “Masking may actually be a nice tool – a comfortable one – for people to use as they ease back into 'normal' life, such as being a part of a large crowds, etc.," said Dr. Evangeline Thibodeau, an infectious disease specialist at York Hospital. "I cannot say for sure that many restrictions will be lifted when we reach herd immunity, however, I do anticipate once we move past the majority of the pandemic ... there will still be some who will choose to wear a mask.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 29, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• Bloomberg News Vaccine Tracker (NEW!)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Tuesday, December 29

After experiencing a sharp surge beginning in mid-November, New Hampshire’s death toll for the pandemic now stands at 715. (Source: Concord Monitor)

State public health officials announced 861 new positive tests for COVID 19 and 7 additional deaths on Monday. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. New Cases In December Top 20,000 As PCR Positivity Rate a Pandemic High of 9.3%. New Hampshire public health officials announced over new COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the state’s total for December to more than 20,000 cases in December alone. There have been 20,832 cases in December, which is 49.99% of all cases identified in New Hampshire for the entire pandemic. As of Monday, 715 Granite Staters have died of the disease since the pandemic began. The 861 new cases include 102 for Sunday (Monday’s report date), 472 for Saturday (Sunday’s report date), 205 for Christmas Day (Saturday’s report date) and 82 for last Tuesday (last Wednesday’s report date). The deaths of seven more people – three men and four women over the age of 60 – are being attributed to COVID-19. Six of the deaths are associated with long-term care facility settings in New Hampshire. Since mid-November, the state’s COVID-19 death rate has rapidly accelerated. In just short of a month and-a-half, the state has recorded over 200 additional coronavirus deaths. In contrast, it took the state almost 4 months to record half at many deaths between July 21 and November 15. (Sources: WMUR and N.H. DHHS)

2. New COVID Relief Package To Send $2 Billion To N.H. An estimated $2 billion is headed to New Hampshire for COVID-related relief efforts. The money comes from the emergency coronavirus relief package that President Trump signed into law Sunday. The breakdown goes like this: Approximately $685 million will go to fund unemployment insurance and over $600 million will come in the form of direct payments to approximately 620,000 New Hampshire residents. Another $200 million is earmarked for emergency rental assistance, which people use to cover past due rent, future rent payments, and utility costs. An estimated $183 million will cover “testing, tracing and COVID mitigation funding” and around $36 million will go to COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration. Schools are also getting a significant boost, far bigger than they saw in the first federal coronavirus relief bill in April. Of the approximately $258 million earmarked for education, New Hampshire’s public school districts will receive over $156 million. Colleges and universities will also see more aid than they did in the spring – approximately $91 million. (Source: NHPR) If the IRS has your direct deposit information, you can expect to be among the first to receive your $600 payment. The money could be in your account in as soon as two weeks. Those who haven't shared that information with the IRS can expect a longer wait to get a paper check or prepaid debit card. (Source: NECN)

3. New Guidance Means 21,000 in NH Will Not Miss Week of Unemployment Benefits. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor means that 21,000 New Hampshire residents collecting unemployment through two federal programs will not miss a week of benefits. Richard Lavers, deputy commissioner of New Hampshire Employment Security, said the U.S. Department of Labor updated its guidance Monday on a call with state unemployment agencies. Previously, the labor department indicated that because of President Donald Trump’s delay in the signing the COVID-19 stimulus bill, there would be no payments through the two federal programs for the week ending Jan 2. But the department reversed course Monday. The state is still awaiting written guidance on the change, Lavers said. (Source: WMUR)

4. Kuster, Pappas Vote to Boost $600 Individual COVID Relief Payments to $2,000. When President Trump signed the bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill on Sunday, he pushed for Congress to increase the amount being sent to citizens. On Monday night, Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas did just that. Both voted for a measure that increases direct payments from $600 to $2,000. The increased payments, which passed on a 275-134 vote, face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. (Source: WMUR)

5. Unable to Obtain Trump's Miracle Treatment, Korean War Vet Hospitalized with COVID-19. A 90-year-old Korean War veteran is battling COVID-19 in a Nashua hospital after his family was unable to obtain the lifesaving monoclonal antibody therapy — one of the treatments provided to President Trump two months ago — for him in New Hampshire. Jack Meisel, 90, couldn’t get transportation to a Boston-area hospital that readily offered him the treatment, in part because wheelchair transport services didn’t want to touch someone with COVID-19, the director of his assisted living community said. Meisel’s daughter, a nurse who provides consulting services to hospitals, portrays a health care system unable to quickly provide treatment that both federal and state officials had authorized a month ago. The cautionary tale takes place in a state that struggles with the highest rate of long-term care COVID-19 deaths in the country. Meisel said her father’s Catholic Medical Center-affiliated physician approved the treatment but said the hospital does not administer it. Meisel said she contacted hospitals in Derry, Concord and Lebanon but got transferred from department to department and received no firm answers. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal published last week, two former FDA commissioners wrote that 80% of antibody treatments are sitting around unused even while hospitals fill up with COVID-19 patients. “The biggest problem is logistical,” they wrote. Patients must get the treatment soon after diagnosis, the infusion takes several hours to prepare and deliver, and it must be provided in a safe location because recipients have COVID-19. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

6. Splinter Group of Republican State Reps Sign "Termination of the State" Document Calling Sununu a ‘Tyrant’ and Dissolving the State of NH. A small group of Republican state representatives have signed onto a document that declares New Hampshire’s government illegitimate and says the November election was void. In a letter that largely reproduces the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the representatives call Gov. Chris Sununu a “tyrant” and say that it is time to dissolve the entire New Hampshire government. “We the people, the good Citizens of the State of New Hampshire declare the Nov. 3, 2020 election void for fraud and of no effect leaving no Constitutionally elected body, and further we declare that the statutory “state” and all of its affects are void for fraud,” the letter reads. The signees include state Rep. David Testerman, R-Franklin, whose wife, Karen Testerman ran unsuccessfully against Sununu in the Republican primary. The other Republican House members who signed include Rep. Jose Cambrils of Loudon, Anne Copp of Derry, Scott Wallace of Danville, Raymond Howard of Alton and Michael Sylvia of Belmont, according to a copy of the public notice. “We’re trying to put the governor on notice they are operating outside legal and constitutional authority,” Testerman said. “What’s going on with the emergency voting and emergency declarations – they are violating the Constitution.” Meanwhile Democratic House members have asked how legislators who have sworn an oath to uphold the New Hampshire Constitution can continue to serve in the House of Representatives after 1) signing a document that declares the election that put them in office to be “void”, 2) calls for the state to be dissolved, and 3) contends that they are “absolved from an allegiance to the statutory ‘state’ of New Hampshire”. “I wonder if these legislators will honor their oath to the Constitution as elected officials or their signature on this document. They can’t do both,” said Rep. Marjorie Porter, D-Hillsborough. Despite calling for the dissolution of state government, none of the representatives appeared to be resigning from their seats in the Legislature as of Monday. A Twitter post from the House Clerk Paul Smith Monday morning said that he had “not received any letters of resignation, pursuant to RSA 14-A:2.” (Sources: Concord Monitor and InDepthNH)

7. N.H. First Responders to Begin Getting Vaccines Today. New Hampshire will begin vaccinating first responders against COVID-19 at 13 sites across the state on Tuesday. First responders are part of the state's first phase of vaccine distribution. Health care workers and people associated with long-term care facilities have already begun receiving their shots. Seven of the sites will operate five days per week, and six sites will operate two to three days per week, depending on population density. In Tilton — which has most recently been the site of an outbreak at the state Veterans Home, where 36 people have died — around 90 first responders are signed up to be immunized across two separate clinics. That includes every fire and EMS worker, said Timothy Joubert, deputy fire chief for Tilton-Northfield. "I think in everybody's opinion, the pros outweighs the cons," Joubert said. "There was a little nervousness on our part, especially with the career staff, if some side effects took place ... but the side effects reported so far have been pretty minimal, and it's just a risk we're willing to take at this time." (Source: NHPR)

8. After Anti-Mask Protestors Target Sununu's Private Home, Newfields Passes Anti-Picketing Ordinance. After several weeks of protests near the private home of Gov. Chris Sununu, the town of Newfields has enacted an ordinance banning such gatherings outside private residences. The ordinance, which was introduced by the town’s Select Board on Dec. 8, prohibits “any person to engage in picketing before or about the residence or dwelling of any individual in the Town of Newfields.” Violations are subject to a $100 fine. The board, which includes Michael Sununu, the governor’s brother, passed the measure on Dec. 22. Protestors began gathering on Governor Sununu’s cul-de-sac in November after he imposed a statewide mask mandate in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to waiving signs, protestors used bullhorns to voice their opposition to the measure. The group is aligned under the name Absolute Defiance, according to media reports, and includes at least one Republican member of the N.H. House of Representatives. As to whether or not the ordinance is constitutional, the town has backing from the N.H. Attorney General’s office. “The U.S. Supreme Court recognized that one cannot weaponize the First Amendment to force your way into a home of another person,” said state attorney Matthew Broadhead. “This ordinance is near verbatim to one that the Supreme Court had affirmed in a prior case.” (Source: NHPR)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 28, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Monday, December 28

New Hampshire health officials reported seven deaths and 891 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related New Hampshire news you need to know to start your Monday.

1. Active Cases Again Top 6,900 As State Surpasses 40,000 Cumulative Cases. With the 891 new positive tests announced on Sunday, there are currently 6,994 active cases statewide and 270 residents hospitalized due to the virus—a one-day jump of more than 800 active cases. All of the seven newly announced deaths, all involved residents age 60 or older. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Worth noting is that the number of new cases reported over the holiday period—83 on Dec. 25 and 8 on Dec. 26–actually represent lows for the month of December. But the low numbers are likely a result of the closure of many test facilities for the holiday as well as reduced staffing at others. Meanwhile, public health officials remain concerned about a likely post-holiday surge in cases. Despite pleas to stay home and avoid group gatherings that were heeded by many, the TSA reports millions of other people across the country traveled to see family and friends for the holidays. On the two days before Christmas, Logan International Airport in Boston reported the highest number of travelers since the start of the pandemic. (Source: NECN)

2. Trump Reverses Course on Coronavirus Relief Bill, Signs Package He Called a 'Disgrace'. President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package Sunday, despite a remarkable video message he posted to social media days earlier in which he called the bipartisan legislation a "disgrace." "I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more," Trump said in a statement announcing he had signed the bill. The relief package provides up to $600 in direct stimulus checks to millions of Americans and extends unemployment benefits, as well as a program intended to help small businesses retain their employees during the coronavirus pandemic. (Source: USA Today) The reaction among New Hampshire’s congressional delegation was a collective sigh of relief. Congressman Chris Pappas—who warned last week that a veto of the bill would be “catastrophic”said in a tweet last night that he was pleased the president signed the bill. But he went on to chastise the president saying “he should never held up this crucial bill that Congress negotiated with his administration on a bipartisan basis.” Meanwhile, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, one of the key senators who negotiated the compromise relief package, tweeted that the focus of the administration now needs to be “to get this relief out the door” to families in NH and across America. Sen. Maggie Hassan reinforced the need to move quickly to distribute the aid and pass to pass additional relief measures, tweeting, “The administration must get this relief out as soon as possible and we will need to provide additional aid.” Although the package included more aid for FEMA that will be distributed to states for COVID-related expenses, the package signed by the president did not include any additional direct aid to state and local governments. The provision had been among the most contentious of the negotiations. House Democrats had provided $875 billion in the Heroes Act relief bill that passed the chamber in May to help states and local governments struggling with lower tax revenues due to the pandemic. But Senate Republicans resisted allocating additional aid beyond the $150 billion provided in Congress' $2 trillion relief bill in March, saying that they don't want to bail out states that have mismanaged their finances. (Source: CNN)

3. Annual Audit Shows COVID’s Impact on NH State Finances. The financial disruption wreaked by the pandemic is evident in the state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of state government’s finances. The report was released last week and revealed the state’s 2020 deficit is much less than originally anticipated during the early days of the pandemic when deficit predictions were as high as $200 million, and $400 million for the current 2021 fiscal year, which is also not going to happen. Despite a projected shortfall of over $80 million, state officials used the report to present a rosy picture of the state’s future—even noting the pandemic may have a beneficial impact in several ways, including more residents fleeing urban areas for rural environments with more space to avoid the coronavirus, and greater acceptance of remote working which allows residents to work from home although their jobs may be hundreds of miles away. Nevertheless, the report shows the state did take a significant financial hit. But the blow was softened a great deal by the federal CARES Act money, most of which has been distributed this fiscal year — 2021 — and $2 billion to $ 3 billion in other federal pandemic relief. According to the report, the state had a $271 million surplus which combined general funds and the education trust fund at the end of the 2019 fiscal year, and a $54.4 million deficit at the end of the 2020 fiscal year. That is a $325.4 million negative change. The $81.5 million deficit going into the current fiscal year includes what budget writers had projected to be a $27.1 million surplus at the end of the 2020 fiscal year, resulting in budget officials needing to find $81.5 million in savings or budget cuts in order to balance the current fiscal year budget. (Source: InDepthNH)

4. Despite Heroic Efforts, Seacoast Arts and Culture Struggle to Survive. In the words of Prescott Park Arts Festival Executive Director Courtney Perkins, this season is that of "The Lost Summer," which brought the festival a $1.2 million loss. Executive Director Anthony Ejarque, of the temporarily closed Rochester Opera House, puts a finer point to the past nine months, "We're all #%^*ed." The sector's national losses are estimated at $14.6 billion by the Americans for the Arts (AftA), based on only 120,492 organizations. To put a local face to it: Seacoast Repertory Theatre went digital immediately, and still finds itself with a $850,000 loss, and counting. For 3S Artspace, the number is $500,000, a loss of 50% of its staff, and more than 250 artists affected, even given new initiatives. New Hampshire Theatre Project lost more than $60,000 to date and projects the same for its current season. The Music Hall lost about 200 events, affecting more than 500 artists. It laid off 40% percent of its full-time staff, and nearly 70 part-time and seasonal hires. The Players' Ring theater lost $145,000. It closed in March, reopened for a few shows, and closed again. The New Hampshire Film Festival was cancelled, and the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program is entirely online. The Press Room, closed at least until spring, is a for-profit music venue. It relies on the success of its art, similar to its nonprofit equivalents. ''The whole place is founded on it," said owner Josh Sheets. "The heartbreaker is all the people it's affected, the employees; just over 30 ... and all the bands (upward of 400). And then there's the relationship between theaters, and ... other businesses." (Source: Seacoast Online) The president’s decision to sign the COVID relief package last night came as much-needed good news for NH’s performing arts community. The package creates a $15 billion grant program for live venues, theaters and museum operators that have lost at least 25% of their revenues. The money will be for specified expenses such as payroll costs, rent, utilities and personal protective equipment. (Source: CNN)

5. Berlin Mayor Attributes Jump in COVID-19 Cases to Prison Outbreak, People Not Following Mask Order. Fifty-five new COVID-19 cases were reported in Berlin on Saturday, a figure that the mayor says is concerning. Mayor Paul Grenier said Berlin has an older population, and he is worried about what this virus may mean for some city residents if it is not brought under control. Grenier says many of the city's cases are likely linked to the prisons there. The Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility is currently experiencing an outbreak. According to the state Department of Corrections’ COVID-19 web page, which was last updated Dec. 24, there have been 84 active and total cases at the Berlin facility and 160 inmates have been tested. It also lists nine current cases among staff and 12 total. The mayor said some people are also not following the mask mandate and that is contributing to the spread of the virus. "I say we have about 80% or 90% compliance, but the folks who are not complying are very, very selfish,” he said. “It really bothers me. You know in the late ‘30s, early ‘40s, if our grandparents would've been that selfish, would we have won World War II? I just don't understand the thought process. I mean this is a pandemic. This isn't a political statement." (Source: WMUR)

6. Poco’s Bow Street Cantina to Join List of 'Hibernating' Portsmouth Restaurants. Poco’s Bow Street Cantina, a city institution since 1982, will join the growing list of restaurants making the decision to “hibernate” until spring amid the coronavirus pandemic. On the restaurant's Facebook page is the following message: “After careful consideration for what is best for the Poco’s staff and local community, we have made the decision to begin hibernating for the winter, starting on Sunday, Jan. 3. We have served the community for 39-years and look forward to returning in the spring reenergized. (Source: Seacoast Online)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 27, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Sunday, December 27

New Hampshire’s nursing home death rate is the highest in the nation. Nine months into the pandemic, it remains more than double the national average. Currently, 1 out of every 10 long-term care residents who are infected by the virus in New Hampshire eventually die from it. This is five times the state’s overall death rate. (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation).

On Saturday, New Hampshire public health officials reported 11 additional deaths and 1,031 new positive tests. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Sunday.

1. NH COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 700. The 11 additional deaths announced Saturday bring New Hampshire death toll for the pandemic up to 701. All involved residents age 60 or older and 8 were connected to nursing homes or other long-term care facilities. Of the 1,031 new positive tests reported, 562 were from Dec. 23 and 280 were from Dec. 24. 135 of the new positive cases were for individuals under age 18. No metrics for the Dec. 25 holiday were reported. There are now 6,119 active cases statewide and 277 current hospitalizations. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. Unemployment Benefits Lapse for Jobless Americans as Trump Holds Out on Signing Relief Bill. Millions of jobless gig-workers and independent contractors, as well as long-term unemployed Americans, are set to lose their unemployment benefits after this weekend because President Donald Trump still hasn't signed the $900 billion relief package Congress passed last week. What's more, all laid-off workers will likely lose a week of the $300 federal boost to payments because the President didn't put his signature on the bill by midnight Saturday. (Source: CNN) The stimulus package, agreed to by Congressional negotiators Dec. 20, would extend two key expansions of unemployment assistance passed by Congress in March, all of which are set to expire Dec. 26. Because many of New Hampshire’s unemployment benefit recipients in signed up in late March, as businesses shut down and restaurants reduced staff, many of those in the system are about to hit their 39-week cap this week, according to Deputy Commissioner of Employment Security Rich Lavers. What happens next in Washington is unclear. Lavers said he and state officials in all 50 states attended a virtual conference call Tuesday afternoon held by the U.S. Treasury to walk through the expected extensions. Two hours later, Trump released a video decrying the new stimulus package. But he stopped short of promising a veto. (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. Second Family Accuses New Hampshire Veterans Home of Not Doing Enough During COVID Outbreak. When Tracy Gassek walked into her father’s room in full personal protective equipment at the New Hampshire Veterans Home, she was prepared for the worst. Her father, a dementia patient, had declined rapidly since his positive COVID-19 test. But what she saw shocked her. Her father’s hearing aids were out, the nurses seemed to have misplaced his dentures, food was smeared around his mouth and his hair stuck straight up. What haunted her the most was his quiet pleas for water. When she offered him a Gatorade, he drank the whole thing, only pausing once for air. “He was saying ‘I’m so thirsty, I’m so thirsty,’ ” she said. “I could see the crust around his mouth. I could see the elastics snapping in his mouth from the saliva and the dryness.” Labore’s family is the second one to publicly accuse the state veterans home, where the death toll now stands at 36, of neglecting their loved ones during the facilities’ COVID-19 outbreak. “Our team of employees continue to achieve our mission of serving our residents with dignity, honor and respect,” said Margaret LaBrecque, the home’s Commandant. “We appreciate the many accolades we receive from family members as well as the veterans we serve.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

4. NH Ranks #1 in COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths. One statistic from the COVID-19 pandemic makes New Hampshire stand out from all other states — the percentage of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Eighty percent of New Hampshire’s COVID-19 deaths — four of every five — have involved residents of long-term care facilities, according to state and federal data. That percentage is twice the national average. So why the high death rate. “For one thing, we are an old state,” said Brendan Williams, president and chief executive of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, a trade organization that represents the state’s nursing homes. While the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services consistently ranks New Hampshire nursing homes among the best in the country, Williams said New Hampshire’s nursing home population was the oldest in the country. Age is considered one of the biggest risk factors for serious complications associated with COVID-19. Another factor is that if you live in New Hampshire and aren’t old, statistically you are more likely to be healthy, affluent and White — all factors that point to a lower likelihood of death or serious complications from the virus. According to the most recent state count, as of Tuesday 32 long-term care facilities were experiencing outbreaks among residents and staff. Nursing home residents and staff are included in Phase 1A of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan. But Williams said nursing home residents will remain vulnerable as community transmission soars until they get the second dose of the vaccine, which he predicted won’t be until the end of February. “We are the Chernobyl of COVID-19 in New England at this point,” Williams said. (Source: Union Leader)

5. Nashua Public Health Employees Receive COVID-19 Vaccine. Three members of Nashua's public health department were the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine Saturday morning at a newly opened vaccination site for first responders and frontline health care workers. The Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services posted pictures on Facebook of Director Bobbie Bagley and public health nurses Nancy Clark and Patricia Glastetter getting the Moderna vaccine. The three are among the public health employees who work at a city-run testing site. Public health employees will also be assisting with vaccination clinics, Bagley said. Bagley said her department is aiming to send a message to the public that the vaccine in safe. "We want our public to know that this vaccine is safe, and that’s why we wanted to communicate that using our social media," she said. Nashua has been hit hard by the virus, recording more than 3,500 COVID 19 cases to date. Bagley said officials are expecting to see an increase due to the holiday. (Source: WMUR)

6. Union Leader Selects State Epidemiologist Benjamin Chan as NH Citizen of the Year. The Union Leader has chosen Dr. Benjamin Chan, state epidemiologist, as New Hampshire’s Citizen of the Year. In announcing Chan’s selection, the newspaper writes, “While Gov. Chris Sununu has been the captain of New Hampshire’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chan has been the navigator, helping to guide the ship of state through treacherous public policy waters.” A New Hampshire native, Chan has brought the science to closed-door debates among state leaders about shutting — and later reopening — houses of worship, schools, businesses, restaurants and sporting events. At the governor’s weekly COVID-19 media briefings, it’s typically Chan to whom Sununu defers to explain the data behind the decisions. “He is the best person to turn to when I want a calm, dispassionate analysis of a really tough issue,” Sununu said in a recent interview. “Any time you deal with really smart people, they can provide great advice, but it is rare to have someone able to boil it down for the rest of us laymen. And Ben does a superb job at that.” (Source: Union Leader)

7. Looking Back at 2020: Seacoast Schools and Faced Unprecedented Challenges. Few aspects of society dealt with as many challenges due to COVID-19 in 2020 as the education system and the Seacoast’s families. As both parents and school officials navigated uncharted waters after schools were shuttered in March, local school districts had to determine the best ways to quickly adapt and pivot the services that play a crucial role for their students and families. School reopening plans became a bone of contention for many parents with school officials in the difficult position of knowing that no matter which steps they decided to take, there would be no way to fully satisfy everyone. Dover and Exeter, two of the greater Seacoast area’s largest public school districts, were among those who decided to stay largely remote. In Exeter’s case, that decision led some to threaten teachers and staff. Other communities saw protests against in-person instruction or against remote learning, depending on the community. But the experience hasn’t all been negative or contentious. COVID-19 has also helped create new ways to meet students’ needs that some officials have predicted could yield great returns once the pandemic is over. “I think that social-emotional wellness is going to continue to be part of our curriculum model,” said Kyle Repucci, superintendent of schools in Rochester, whose district is among those that shifted to an almost entirely remote model ahead of Thanksgiving as local COVID-19 cases spiked. “It might look a little different, but it will be embedded into the social fiber of the school from here forward. ... It’s important so we can self-monitor and take reflective practice of where we are.” (Source: Seacoast Online) This article is one of several planned by Seacoast Online for the coming days that will look back at the impact of the pandemic on New Hampshire and its residents. In today’s editorial, Executive Editor Howard Altschiller writes: “No one escaped the impact of the coronavirus and we, living in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Maine, are no exception. While some, secure financially and able to work remotely, will have experienced the emotional toll of the pandemic, for people living paycheck-to-paycheck, working front line jobs that increase exposure to the virus, struggling to pay for food and housing, the pandemic has become a struggle for survival. It’s absolutely essential that we help our neighbors in need during these dark times.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

8. In 2020, Portsmouth’s Black Trumpet Reimagined What it Means to Serve the Community. In an op-ed in Sunday’s Portsmouth Herald, Evan Mallet, chef and owner of Black Trumpet Bistro and Wine Bar, writes that although restaurant owners like himself are navigating through unprecedented times, “we are not going to lay down and surrender to this one.” From cooking meals for Portsmouth’s Gather food pantry in a banquet kitchen provided by the Atlantic Grill to being a featured food provider at Pop-Up Portsmouth and other pop-up outdoor dining locations, serving the community and keeping staffed employed have been top priorities. Mallet says the pandemic has changed the restaurant landscape and it demands we consider what we as a culture and a community value. “If it’s restaurants that feed not only our appetite but our souls, I hope Black Trumpet will survive to provide the food and hospitality that will accomplish that goal. If it is a greater, deeper understanding of what remains broken in our food system— equity, access, and distribution challenges, to name a few — then I hope we will take a serious look at new models that will address those needs,” Mallet writes. (Source: Seacoast Online)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 26, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Saturday, December 26

Active COVID-19 case counts in southeastern N.H. communities as of Wednesday. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

On Friday, N.H. public health officials delayed COVID-19 reporting for the holiday. But on Thursday, they announced 13 additional deaths and 417 new positive test results. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. Active N.H. Cases Dip by More than a Thousand Since Last Week—Now Below 6,000. Of the 13 deaths reported by state public health officials on Thursday, all of those who died were age 60 or older and 11 were residents of New Hampshire nursing homes. Despite a recent dip in new cases, COVID-19 continues hit residents of N.H. long-term facilities especially hard. Although nursing home residents make up only 10.3% of the state’s total cases, they have now accounted for 80.3% of the deaths. (Source: N.H. DHHS https://www.nh.gov/covid19/documents/case-summary.pdf ) Officials also announced 417 more positive cases of COVID-19 with 257 reported for Wednesday and the rest for previous days dating as far back as Saturday. There are now 5,888 active cases of COVID-19 in the state. That represents a decline of over 1,000 active cases from a peak of more than 6,900 just last week. New cases have decreased 31% over the most recent 7-day period, a period that also coincided with dips in testing on several days. In Portsmouth, active cases have dropped from a high of 103 earlier in the month to 77. Current hospitalizations across the state also fell slightly on Wednesday to 298. Officials have noted that hospitalizations and deaths lag new case reports by two or three weeks. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Because there was no summary report issued by the state on Friday, Saturday’s report will include new numbers for Thursday and Friday.

2. Veterans Home Residents Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19 In Tilton. Christmas came early at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton when the first vaccines to prevent COVID-19 were injected into the arms of residents and staff. At its worst point, there were 190 residents and staff infected by the virus, and close to 40 have died. Sarah Stanley, spokesman for the home said the home for veterans began to distribute COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday. Caregivers also received the vaccine. At a press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Sununu said things are beginning to improve at the home with about 21 active cases of the virus compared to a high of 190. (Source: InDepthNH)

3. Seacoast Restaurants on Brink as 2020 Comes to a Close. Asking area restaurant owners to look back at their year, from their vibrant pasts to this bleak present, is to have them recount a great and terrifying leap over the crevasse coronavirus bore. The economic devastation of COVID-19 on Seacoast restaurants, like those around the world, was immediate, epic and continues to unfold before our eyes. Their livelihood, at this moment, hangs on a thread. The crisis economically affects not only restaurateurs and their staff, but also the ecosystem surrounding them, including farmers, food purveyors and commercial landlords. The stimulus package just passed by Congress includes critical aid for small businesses, including restaurants, but, as Peter Egelston, co-owner of the Portsmouth Brewery, points out, it comes late and is by no means a panacea. “As it is, we’re operating at about a quarter of the level of business we’d normally expect to be doing this time of year, which means a lot of our staff are working reduced hours or have been dropped off the schedule altogether, and that hurts,” he says. Several Portsmouth restaurants, including Lure and Agave, have closed permanently while the owners of Moxy, The Franklin, Jumpin’ Jays and Rudi’s have all decided to pause operations until springtime. According to Mike Somers, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, there is no hard data on how many restaurants have closed on the Seacoast, but he says the state has permanently lost more than 200. Congress’s stimulus package will bring some much-needed assistance, he says. “CARES Act and PPP funding have brought restaurants to this point and if Congress didn’t follow that up, it would have thrown that money away," he says. “Kudos to Senator (Jeanne) Shaheen and our congressional delegation for getting this done.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. President Trump Still Has Not Signed COVID Relief Package Passed by Congress—Here Are the Potential Consequences. Though Congress has passed a $900 billion COVID relief package, millions of Americans are in danger of losing important benefits just after the holidays if President Donald Trump continues to refuse to sign the bill. The legislation would extend two pandemic unemployment programs and provide the jobless with a $300 weekly federal boost through mid-March. It would send direct economic relief payments of up $600 per person. It would also reopen the Paycheck Protection Program so that some of the hardest-hit small businesses can apply for a second loan. If the president chooses to veto the aid package, not only would the $600 payments go away, but more than 12 million laid-off Americans could lose their unemployment benefits after this weekend. Also evaporating would be an extension of the federal eviction protection to January 31 along with $25 billion in additional rental assistance. Aid to help states with the cost of coronavirus vaccine distribution would also disappear. Meanwhile, December 31 would remain the final deadline for states and municipalities to spend money allocated by Congress in the original CARES Act. The relief package on the president’s desk would extend the amount of time this money may be spent for a full year. Without the extension, any money unspent as of Dec. 31 must be returned to the U.S. Treasury. (Source: CNN) President Trump was largely uninvolved with the negotiations over the legislation, but his Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, was thought to be negotiating on the president’s behalf. Earlier, Trump expressed anger that direct payments to Americans would only be $600 and insisted on $2,000 per individual. House Democrats attempted to pass a unanimous consent resolution to accommodate the request, but the move was blocked by House Republicans. On Friday afternoon, he expressed further misgivings about the legislation that awaited his signature, but he still offered no hints on his plans. The aid bill was passed along with a spending measure to keep the government funded for the remainder of the fiscal year. The cost of the combined package is $2.3 trillion. Since the COVID relief bill is part of the larger package to fund the federal government, the country will also be facing a looming government shutdown Tuesday if the bill is not signed. (Source: Boston Globe)

5. Proposed Legislation Targets Fallout of COVID-19 Epidemic in N.H. The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired several new bills proposed for the coming legislative session. Rep. Kristina Schultz, a Concord Democrat, has sponsored a handful of them. One bill would require maintenance of the state's COVID-19 dashboard, which has been recording New Hampshire's pandemic data. Schultz is also working on a bill that would create greater protections for workers who enforce mask mandates. It would come with repercussions for those who refuse to wear a mask in a place of business, Schultz said. Another proposed bill seeks to offer more protection to tenants who are unable to pay their rent due to economic strain caused by the ongoing pandemic. Despite a federal eviction moratorium that has been extended through the end of January, evictions in New Hampshire have been rising since the stateide ban ended this summer. Rep. Casey Conley, a Dover Democrat, is sponsoring that bill. He said existing programs, like CARES funds that have been made available to those struggling to pay rent, haven't been enough to keep people in their homes. "We look at what's happened over the lsat six months when the governor, to his credit, set this money aside, and we know only about $10 million of it was allocated. So there's some kind of disconnect. This aims to be sort of a simpler fix," he said. (Source: NHPR)

6. New Coronavirus Restrictions Take Effect in Massachusetts Today. For the second time this month, Gov. Charlie Baker is attempting to stem the surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Massachusetts with more stringent restrictions starting Saturday. Baker announced a series of new rules earlier in the week that crack down on gatherings and businesses and require hospitals to halt most elective surgeries. Starting Saturday and running until at least noon on Jan. 10, restaurants, movie theaters, performance venues, casinos, offices, places of worship, retail businesses, fitness centers, health clubs, libraries, golf facilities, driving and flight schools, arcades, museums, and "sectors not otherwise addressed" must limit their customer capacity to a maximum of 25%. All indoor gatherings and events will be limited to 10 people, while all outdoor gatherings and events will be limited to 25 people. Workers and staff are excluded from events' occupancy counts. The gatherings limit applies to private homes, event venues and public spaces. (Source: NECN)

7. Rapid At-Home COVID Tests: What Are the Pluses and Minuses? Recently approved at-home COVID tests could make huge strides in increasing testing access and lessening the burden for laboratories. But like other rapid tests, they’re less accurate, and since they’re done outside a medical setting, they’re also more prone to user error. “A big benefit of home tests ... is that one can get a quick answer if one is unwell, isolate immediately if positive, and break the chain of transmission going forward,” Dr. Christopher LaRocca, a family physician at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, said in an email. Despite community testing being readily available now — compared to earlier in the pandemic when test supplies were limited and reserved for front-line health care workers and other groups — it doesn’t reach everyone, LaRocca noted. A recent poll by Quest Diagnostics shows 74 percent of Americans postponed or skipped COVID-19 testing because of worries about contracting the virus, getting delayed results or not being able to pay for it. The Food and Drug Administration has approved three at-home tests since November under an emergency-use authorization. However, while these and other rapid tests are helpful, LaRocca said polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests remain the most accurate. Also potentially impacting the accuracy of home tests, according to the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, is conducting the test in an uncontrolled home environment. “Because of that, we encourage people to contact their medical providers if they test positive for COVID-19 with an at-home test, or if they test negative but have symptoms of COVID-19,” spokeswoman Kathleen Remillard said. Though they are less accurate, the benefit of home tests and other antigen tests is how quickly they can determine — with a reasonable degree of accuracy — if a patient is positive or negative for COVID-19. This is especially important for those who need to return to work or school the same day. The prices of the three FDA-approved home tests differ. And it’s unknown yet if insurance will cover at-home testing, LaRocca said. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

8. Facing Spectator Bans, Upper Valley High Schools Delve into Livestreaming Sports. Many Upper Valley high schools will dive into livestreaming school sporting events when schedules commence in January. Some vendors offer services that include statkeeping and social media posting. Some require exclusivity agreements with the buildings in which they are installed. “I don’t know if it’s an obligation, but most people would say they feel it’s real important that outside entities see the games,” Hartford High boys hockey coach Todd Bebeau said. “I don’t think you’ll find a place not offering some kind of video stream. In a lot of cases, the parents are hurting more than the kids because they want to see their kids play.” Livestreaming is nothing new to Upper Valley sports. The pandemic has simply accelerated its use. Three area skating rinks — Woodstock’s Union Arena, West Lebanon’s Campion Rink and Wendell A. Barwood Arena in White River Junction — have all joined the LiveBarn streaming network in the past three years. (Source: The Valley News)

9. Number of Travelers Down 65% at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. Airports across the country saw more than 1.2 million travelers on Wednesday, a record during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, volume remains low at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, forcing them to be fiscally creative. The Christmas season is typically one of the busiest times at the airport. But this year, travel has barely taken off. “At Manchester-Boston, we’re down 65% in holiday traffic compared to last year,” said Ted Kitchens from the airport. “And that’s a trend that’s being seen around the country.” According to the TSA, the average number of screened passengers is down by 1.5 million. As many businesses have had to do, Manchester-Boston Regional has pivoted its operations. Cutting costs where necessary and finding creative ways to increase revenue streams. “We are looking at leasing some of our vacant parking lots on a short-term basis to other entities that need to store vehicles, like UPS for example,” Kitchens said. (Source: WMUR)

10. Can Employees Be Required to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine? The short answer is: It depends. Some employers may establish mandatory vaccination policies, on account of public health concerns related to their business fields. But they need to be mindful of whether and when they must exempt an employee from a vaccination requirement. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee who requests a workplace accommodation — including an exemption from vaccination — on the basis of a disability. However, an accommodation is not required when it would present undue hardship to the employer. In this context, “undue hardship” means significant difficulty or expense — a higher standard than under Title VII. An employer also does not need to provide an accommodation if, even with the accommodation, the employee would pose a “direct threat” (i.e., a significant risk of substantial harm to health or safety) to the employee or others. An employee may also request an exemption based on sincerely-held religious beliefs. But the employee’s belief must genuinely be religious; a non-religious belief is not sufficient, no matter how strong or sincere. Employers are also in a situation where not requiring vaccinations would be considered by some employees to be a violation of OSHA workplace safety standards. Meanwhile, if a required vaccination results in harm to an employee, an employer may have to face a workers’ compensation claim. On the other hand, not requiring vaccinations or related protections may result in negligence claims. (Source: NH Business Review)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 24, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Friday, December 25

Merry Christmas! No update today. Just a photo I thought you might enjoy. Back tomorrow. Have a safe and happy holiday!

Thursday, December 24

(Source: N.H. Dept. of Safety)

On Wednesday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 21 additional deaths and 571 new positive test results for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. AG: Watch Out for COVID-19 Vaccine Scammers. New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald is warning consumers to be on the lookout for scams related to the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. In a press release, MacDonald says that any telephonic or email claim that a COVID-19 vaccination can be provided quickly in exchange for money or personal identifiable information is a scam. He advises Granite Staters receiving a call like this to hang up immediately and not to open or engage with emails from unknown sources. (Source: InDepthNH)

2. N.H. Long Term Care Facilities Begin Vaccinating Staff and Residents. COVID-19 vaccines have arrived at New Hampshire's long term care facilities and are beginning to roll out, after some concern about minimal communication and scheduling issues. Long term care facilities are getting their vaccines through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens. Nursing homes in New Hampshire have been particularly hard hit, with 79 percent of the state's deaths occurring at long term care facilities, the highest rate in the country. The New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton, an active outbreak location which has recently seen declining active cases and 36 total deaths, said it would start inoculating people Wednesday. Woodlawn Care Center, where 33 residents and 24 staff have tested positive, and four people have died, gave residents and staff their first doses Tuesday. According to the New Hampshire Health Care Association, almost all long term care facilities in the state have had communication with their pharmacy partner. But some say they're still waiting for official confirmation on clinic dates. (Source: NHPR) Residents and staffers at Strafford county’s Riverside Rest Home will begin receiving their first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine next Monday and Tuesday, according to County Administrator Raymond Bower. Residents and staff at the 215-bed facility are in the midst of an outbreak that has infected 42 residents along with 31 staff members. (Source: Seacoast Online)

3. School Nurses Will Have Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Soon, Health Officials Say. As the state continues its phased approach of administering the first COVID-19 vaccines, those who work in school settings are looking for more information on when they can get shots. Phase 1A does not include school nurses, but officials said they will have access very soon. State health officials said as long as the anticipated number of doses are delivered to New Hampshire, all of Phase 1A, which is about 100,000 people should receive their first dose by the middle of January. As of now, K-12 teachers, school staff and child care workers are set to be vaccinated during Phase 2. “We are planning to invite the school nurses to get vaccinated at one of our fixed sites that are run by us here at the health department, the National Guard and other partners and those will be at 13 different locations across the state,” Dr. Beth Daly said. (Source: WMUR)

4. 21 COVID-19 Deaths, Hospitalizations Top 300. New Hampshire health officials today reported 21 deaths from COVID-19, tying December 16th as the highest number of deaths announced in a single day. Of the new deaths, nine patients were female, and twelve were male. So far, 677 of the state's residents have died from the coronavirus. The state also announced 571 new coronavirus infections, including 63 individuals under the age of 18. The new cases span all ten of New Hampshire's counties. Hospitalizations from the virus have reached a record level, at 305. (Sources: NHPR and N.H. DHHS)

5. What Are the Chances You Will Get COVID for Christmas? Hosting a Christmas gathering is more dangerous than ever in Merrimack County. An interactive map, created by two researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, attempts to answer a deceptively complex question in tangible terms: What is the likelihood one of your holiday guests will have COVID-19? The answer is unsettling. At a 10-person Thanksgiving gathering in Merrimack County, there was a 12% chance one person showed up infected. Now, the probability has nearly tripled. There is a 30% chance one of your 10 guests will have coronavirus. If there are 15 people at the gathering, the chances someone will contract the disease increases to 41%. With 20 people around the Yule Log, there’s a 52% chance someone in the group will get COVID for Christmas. Rockingham, Belknap, and Hillsborough counties have similarly dire projections, but the statistics go down in the northern part of the state – in Carroll and Coos County there is a 15% chance; in Grafton County a 10% chance – though southern and central New Hampshire are at most risk. The safest thing to do? Stay home. If you must travel, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends keeping gatherings small and intimate. (Source: Concord Monitor)

6. President Trump Threatens Not to Sign COVID Relief Package. Threatening to tank Congress’ massive COVID relief and government funding package, President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger aid checks for Americans is forcing members of his own party traditionally wary of such spending into an uncomfortable test of allegiance. On Thursday, House Democrats who also favor $2,000 checks will all but dare Republicans to break with Trump, calling up his proposal for a Christmas Eve vote. The president's last-minute objection could derail critical legislation amid a raging pandemic and deep economic uncertainty. His action also risks a federal government shutdown by early next week. Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have resisted $2,000 checks as too costly. (Source: NECN)

7. Banks Anticipate Changes in Application Qualifications for Next Round of PPP Loans. As President Trump contemplates whether to sign (or not) the relief package approved earlier this week in both the House and Senate, small businesses in New Hampshire are gearing up to apply for a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans. But there are some significant changes in this version of the PPP loan program. This time, businesses will need to show they employ fewer than 300 people, down from 500 people in the first round. Also, restaurants and food service businesses can receive 3.5 times the average monthly payroll. “The one requirement they’ll have to have, is they’ll need to demonstrate or certify that they have had a decrease or loss of 25% of their revenue in 2020 compared to 2019,” said Bill Stone from Primary Bank in Bedford. Stone said Primary Bank anticipates the filing process to begin in the middle of January. (Source: WMUR)

8. Nashua Rejects 9:30 p.m. Curfew for Bars, Restaurants and Clubs. Nashua aldermen this week forcefully rejected a 9:30 p.m. curfew on bars, restaurants and nightclubs that the Nashua Board of Health had recommended to curb the spread of COVID-19. “I think that we are punishing too many businesses and individuals that have already suffered enough,” said Alderman Richard Dowd. The proposal was rejected by a vote of 11-4 and then tabled, meaning the issue could be brought up again later. “I think we are losing sight of what our priorities are,” said Alderman Ernest Jette, who supported the curfew. Local health experts say Nashua is in the midst of a crisis, and staying home is the safest way to slow the spread of COVID-19, he said. Under the failed proposal, no indoor activities could take place in Nashua after 9:30 p.m. at any establishment where masks could not be worn at all times — specifically at bars, restaurants and nightclubs where masks have to be removed to eat or drink. (Source: Union Leader)

9. Attorneys Sound Alarm on COVID-19 Protocol at Manchester Jail. Attorneys say the state's largest jail is keeping them in the dark on how it is managing COVID-19 risk and potential cases among its inmates and staff. Attorney Robin Melone, president of the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, says inmates at Valley Street Jail in Manchester are reporting a “flu outbreak” that has put some in quarantine. Inmates are describing symptoms that include chills, cough and fever. Hillsborough County Department of Corrections Superintendent Willie Scurry did not respond to multiple interview requests from NHPR, but he told attorneys and advocates in emails this week that some inmates reporting symptoms of COVID tested negative and are “being monitored” and in quarantine. However, Scurry says the jail is not conducting facility-wide testing for COVID-19. The scarcity of tests are not the only concern raised by attorneys and advocates. Until Wednesday, inmates were not required to wear masks outside their cell, and attorneys say some of their clients report not being given masks until last week, over a month into a statewide coronavirus surge that has hit Manchester hard. (Source: NHPR)

10. Sen. Guida Discusses Bout with COVID-19. A New Hampshire lawmaker who represents part of the Upper Valley is recovering from what he describes as “the worst head cold I’ve ever had” after testing positive for COVID-19. State Sen. Bob Giuda, R-Warren, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday after first experiencing cold-like symptoms over the weekend. While those symptoms haven’t affected his breathing, the 68-year-old former Marine fighter pilot said he suffers from fatigue that left him bedridden for more than a day. “It saps your energy,” Giuda said in a phone interview in which he periodically stopped to clear his throat. “I’m a pretty high-energy person and it really taps you out. “This is something people need to be aware of, be careful with,” added Giuda, who is entering his third term. (Source: The Valley News)

11. Keene Nonprofit Gets OK to Shelter Homeless in Bus in Downtown Keene. Cheshire county officials have granted the Keene nonprofit Hundred Nights permission to park a coach bus it plans to use as emergency shelter in a downtown lot. Under a Dec. 11 memorandum of understanding signed by Cheshire County Administrator Chris Coates, Hundred Nights will be allowed to park the bus in a county-owned lot behind the Subway at 37 Main St. until April 30, 2021. The site is opposite Lamson Street from the organization’s emergency shelter, where it provides 24 beds for people experiencing homelessness. Hundred Nights plans to offer as many as 10 beds on the bus, which must be operational by Dec. 30 to comply with restrictions on the federal funds it used to purchase the vehicle, according to Executive Director Mindy Cambiar. She said she expects Hundred Nights to use the bus as shelter for at least the next two winters, given the uncertain timelines around both the pandemic and when other Keene properties may become available. “Even if COVID is done by next winter, we won’t have another place to go into,” Cambiar said. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

12. Despite Pandemic, N.H. Small Retailers Report Stronger Than Expected Holiday Shopping Season. There’s no statewide data out on the holiday shopping season--and it’s hard to imagine COVID-19 not biting into some profits--but small businesses across the state appear to be seeing a bit of a bounce right now. “Business has been great,” says Jeni Archer, who this summer purchased Gaia’s Blessing in Peterborough, a small shop that sells spiritual and metaphysical goods including Tarot cards. “My bills are paid and I have a little leftover. I mean that’s really all you want in a small business.” In the days leading up to Christmas, some shops are also reporting an unexpected source of foot traffic: a record number of online purchases are overwhelming delivery companies and the postal service, leaving some people scrambling for last-minute gifts for under the tree. “Today, we’ve had several people in saying they were having to buy back-up gifts because everything they purchased was stuck in the mail,” says Gregg Pruitt, who along with his husband Lionel Loveless own the Collector's Eye and Route 1 Antique Shop, both on the Seacoast. (Source: NHPR)

13. Portsmouth Formally Extends Face Mask Mandate Until Summer. Moments before City Council members voted unanimously to extend the citywide face covering mandate, Mayor Rick Becksted said, “I don’t think any one of us would even question it.” Portsmouth’s face-covering ordinance, initially enacted Sept. 14, was extended until at least early summer with a 9-0 vote Monday. The council agreed the ordinance will be reviewed by councilors the week of June 30. The ordinance requires all individuals to wear face coverings inside public places, and outdoors when social distancing of 6 feet between people who are not members of the same household cannot be maintained. (Source: Seacoast Online)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 23, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Wednesday, December 23

On Tuesday, no additional deaths were reported from COVID-19 in New Hampshire, but N.H. public health officials announced 624 new positive test results. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Wednesday.

1. Shaheen, Hassan Say NH Expected to Receive Estimated $2B in New COVID Relief Funds. New Hampshire is expected to receive an estimated $2 billion of $900 billion in COVID-19 relief funding included in the more $2 trillion end-of-year government funding package, according to figures provided Tuesday by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan. Shaheen’s office said most of the figures were compiled by nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a public policy research institute that provides analysis to Senate and House committees and works for members of both political parties. Shaheen’s office said that, according to the Congressional Research Service, New Hampshire can be expected to receive an 11-week extension of expanded unemployment insurance benefits through March 14, 2021 for a state total of $685 million. The package also includes an average $300 weekly unemployment insurance benefit increase through March 14, 2021, bringing the New Hampshire average totals to an estimated $274 and $574; $614.2 million in economic impact payments of $600 for individuals earning up to $75,000-a-year and $1,200 for couples making up to $150,000-a-year, as well as a $600 payment for each additional child dependent; $200 million in rental assistance; $11 million in education relief for K-12 schools and higher education institutions; $156 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds; $92 million in Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds; $36 million for testing, tracing and COVID mitigation programs; $183.2 million for vaccine distribution and administration; $19.9 million in supplemental CARES Act child care funds; $13.7 million in rural transit funding; $41 million for highway funding; $6.8 million in airport improvement funds; and $5 million in federal funeral assistance funding. (Source: WMUR) Note: The relief package also includes a large amount of aid for small businesses, but the WMUR article did not list the specific amount New Hampshire businesses will receive. In an interview with NHPR, Shaheen said she is hopeful a future aid package will include relief for states and local communities. “I talked to mayors and municipal officials in New Hampshire last week on Thursday. And what I heard from them was they were very worried about if they don't get any assistance, they're seeing their revenues drop in communities. And the need to lay off municipal workers, teachers is a real concern. Police, firefighters. And so they clearly need some help,” Shaheen said. (Source: NHPR)

2. Pandemic Bill Rescues 21,000 Who Risked Losing Unemployment Benefits. More than 21,000 people in danger of losing unemployment benefits in New Hampshire after this week would continue getting checks under a bill Congress was working to pass as soon as Monday night. Many people collecting unemployment should receive a $300 weekly supplemental jobless benefit and be eligible for an additional 11 weeks of unemployment, if needed. Those who feared their benefits would be cut off after this week shouldn’t expect any disruption in receiving their checks. “Based upon the initial language shared with states, there would not be a gap,” said Rich Lavers, deputy commissioner at Employment Security. (Source: Union Leader)

3. No New Deaths As Active Case Numbers Fall and N.H. Hospitalizations Rise. For the second day in a row, the state reported no additional COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, but hospitalizations increased from 278 to 297. DHHS announced 624 new positive test results for COVID-19 with 327 new cases reported for Monday and nearly 300 others spread across four previous days. There are now 6,485 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire—a decline of over 400 in just two days. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

4. Sununu Says No Additional Restrictions Needed Despite Rise in Hospitalizations and Feared Impact of Holiday Gatherings. As more vaccine doses arrive in New Hampshire, hospitalizations continue to grow, and health officials are urging Granite Staters to continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said the state's test positivity rate has been stable at a 9.1% average over the past seven days. At his weekly press briefing, Gov. Chris Sununu said there is no need in New Hampshire to impose more restrictions, as Massachusetts is doing to try to address the surge in cases there. He said he expects the number of hospitalizations to continue to rise, but nothing has risen to the level of requiring a return to more restrictions. No new deaths were announced Tuesday, but Sununu noted that hospitalizations and deaths tend to lag the case numbers. He said there is some sign that new cases are leveling off. Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the state Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, said more than 4,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been distributed in the state, mostly to hospitals, where front line workers have been vaccinated. "This represents 92% of the vaccine that we allocated to hospitals last week," Daly said. "The hospitals have used this vaccine to vaccinate 3,819 of our frontline workers to prevent COVID-19." Officials said that information on how much vaccine has been distributed to hospitals and how much each hospital has administered will soon be made publicly available. (Source: WMUR)

5. NH to Prioritize COVID Testing for Teachers, Students. Testing for teachers, students and staff members will be prioritized when children head back to school in January, Gov. Chris Sununu announced in his weekly coronavirus update Tuesday. “We want to make sure that students that may require a test to get back into school aren’t being held back three, four, five, six days or even a week while they’re awaiting those results,” he said. “We want to make sure those kids can get back to class as quickly as possible.” Sununu said anyone involved in New Hampshire's schools who is symptomatic will be able to get a test within 24 hours if they identify themselves when registering for a test. He directed those affected to nh.gov/covid19 for information. (Source: Seacoast Online)

6. State Announces Outbreak at Second Portsmouth Nursing Home. On Thursday, state officials reported four additional outbreaks at N.H. nursing homes and other congregate living settings. They included the Goldenview Health Center in Meredith, Keystone Hall in Nashua (8 residents and 2 staff) , the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility in Berlin (75 inmate cases and 5 staff), and Wentworth Senior Living (2 resident cases and 3 staff) in Portsmouth. While N.H. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette also announced the closing of 5 outbreaks, with the addition of the 4 new ones there are now 32 active outbreaks in N.H. long-term care facilities, residential treatment centers, and jails. Meanwhile, the outbreak at Clipper Harbor in Portsmouth appears to have stabilized with 20 resident cases and 4 staff cases reported this week, down from 22 resident cases and 5 staff cases reported on Dec. 17. According to NHPR’s COVID Tracking Project, about 15% of Clipper Harbor’s residents have tested positive, but there have been no fatalities. (Sources: N.H. DHHS Daily Summary, NHPR and InDepthNH) Meanwhile, RiverMead, a senior-living community in Peterborough, said vaccines were given Tuesday to all staff and to residents of its assisted living and memory care units. (Source: Keene Sentinel https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/vaccine-reaches-3-800-nh-health-workers-starts-getting-to-nursing-homes/article_ae8095d6-5530-5615-a5b2-6d1a747eeb6b.html ) It is not clear from the article if the doses were provided as part of the federal nursing home vaccination program administered by CVS and Walgreens or if they were provided from the state’s supply. While Rivermead residents may transition from assisted living apartments to nursing care, new residents are not directly accepted into nursing care.

7. Portsmouth’s Music Hall to Pause Events for 6 Weeks as More Performance Venues Close During Surge. More of New Hampshire's live performance venues are pausing shows, citing concerns over the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state. The Capital Center for the Arts says it is canceling shows through the end of February. In Portsmouth, The Music Hall says it was pause in-person events for six weeks after the New Year. Other venues making changes include the Tupelo Music Hall, which is remaining closed temporarily. The new federal relief package contains funding to support live performance venues. (Source: NHPR)

8. NH State Senator and Another State Rep Test Positive. Sen. Bob Giuda, R-Warren, has tested positive for COVID-19 after exhibiting symptoms this past Saturday, Dec. 19. The senator is currently at home recovering. All family members and friends that he had close contact with have been notified and advised to quarantine in accordance with the New Hampshire Division of Public Health protocols. Because Sen. Giuda was last at the State House on December 7, which is well outside of the possible exposure window of 48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms, there is no concern for possible staff exposure. Meanwhile, at his weekly press briefing, Gov. Sununu confirmed another GOP legislator is battling the coronavirus. When asked about the lawmaker who is currently hospitalized, Sununu didn’t identify him by name and has previously said the number and names of legislators who test positive are confidential. “We send all the prayers to them and their family. We are wishing them the best,” Sununu said. A relative of state Rep. Fred Plett, R-Goffstown, posted on his Facebook page on Dec. 19 that Plett had been in the hospital since the previous Monday and was in intensive care unit with COVID-19 and pneumonia. (Source: InDepthNH) InDepthNH has filed a right to know request seeking the state to reveal the number of legislators and staff who have tested positive. House Democrats have laid out a plan that would allow legislators, many of whom are over age 65 and have health conditions that increase their risk, to meet and vote remotely. But Republican leaders have yet to agree to it.

9. Manchester VA Monitoring COVID-19 Clusters Among Staff. The Manchester VA Medical Center is monitoring clusters of cases of COVID-19 among its employees. In email to staff, Associate Director Julie Vose says the VA's contact tracing linked the clusters to unmasked employees eating and drinking in close proximity to each other. Vose says VA employees should not be unmasked within six feet of each other and recommends staff members eat alone in empty rooms, or telework if possible. The VA's online COVID-19 tracker says seven employees at the Manchester VA now have COVID-19. The VA did not respond to questions on which departments at the VA may be experiencing clusters of cases. This news comes as the Manchester VA begins vaccinating veterans living in its Community Living Center, its on-site nursing facility. The VA says no residents there have tested positive for COVID-19. The facility is among 113 VA medical centers across the nation that were provided with the Moderna vaccine by the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Source: NHPR)

10. Valley Street Jail Quarantines but Won't Test Inmates with Possible COVID-19 Symptoms. The Valley Street jail recently put several inmates in isolation after 10 reported symptoms consistent with COVID-19, but they have not been tested, the jail superintendent said. Superintendent Willie Scurry said the decision not to test followed a consultation with the jail’s medical staff. He said the jail has put the 10 under quarantine and medical monitoring. The news comes as the Merrimack and Strafford county jails and prison facilities in Concord and Berlin struggle with outbreaks of COVID-19. In a statement, the ACLU-New Hampshire said outbreaks have been detected in facilities that test. The ACLU said it’s not clear whether tests are available at Valley Street jail, which holds inmates and pretrial detainees in Hillsborough County. “It is critical that any resident of a detention facility be given the opportunity to take a COVID-19 test if that resident has any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or was exposed to someone who has tested positive, consistent with CDC Guidance,” said ACLU Legal Director Gilles Bissonnette in a statement. (Source: Union Leader)

11. 70 Inmates Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 at Berlin Prison. The Department of Corrections reported Monday that 70 residents and four staff members at the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility have COVID-19. The number of resident cases have more than doubled since Dec. 14 and that has Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier concerned. “I think it’s community spread that actually brought it (COVID-19) into the facility and from there it just took off like a wildfire,” said Grenier. “The one thing we do know is that it’s pretty much concentrated” at the Berlin state prison, Grenier said, “but some of their employees have spouses who work in nursing homes and there’s fear of community spread” from those folks into the Coos County and St. Vincent de Paul nursing homes in Berlin. (Source: Union Leader)

12. Massachusetts Inmates Will Be Among First To Receive COVID Vaccine. Massachusetts inmates will be some of the first to get the coronavirus vaccines after health care workers, emergency medical workers and residents of long-term care facilities get vaccinated. Tens of thousands of inmates will be offered the shots ahead of home health aides, seniors and medically vulnerable residents, joining people who live in homeless shelters and other congregate settings who will be vaccinated by the end of February, The New York Times reported. “We used equity as a core principle in our recommendations,” said Dr. Simone Wildes, an infectious disease specialist and a member of the state’s Covid-19 vaccine advisory group. “We have had a lot of cases of COVID in the prisons, and we wanted to make sure those at highest risk were getting the vaccine first.” Prisons have had some of the country’s biggest coronavirus outbreaks. More than one in 10 inmates around the country is over age 55 and therefore more vulnerable to the virus, said Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, co-founder of the COVID Prison Project. Inmates also have higher rates of chronic medical conditions that increase the risk of severe illness if they become infected, the New York Times reported. (Source: CBS Boston) New Hampshire’s draft vaccination plan calls for jail and prison inmates to be vaccinated in Phase 2, which isn’t expected to begin until February. Phase 2 is a large grouping that also includes teachers, people in homeless shelters or group homes, residents with medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus, and anyone age 65 or over who was not vaccinated in Phase 1. The plan doesn’t specify which groups in Phase 2 will be prioritized as the vaccine becomes available. (Source: NH DHHS)

13. Vaccination Sites to be Established Around N.H., Too Early for Public to Register. New Hampshire will begin setting up 13 vaccination sites around the state next week as several thousand doses of both types of approved COVID-19 vaccines continue to arrive in the state. Lori Shibinette, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, said Tuesday that the sites are part of the next phase in COVID-19 control but cautioned that it’s too soon for people to ask the state when they can get registered to receive a shot. The state will eventually set up an online registration system, officials said. The clinics and mobile teams will target high-risk care providers who do not work in hospitals as well as first responders. Shibinette said that details about future vaccine shipments are still uncertain but she expects approximately 9,000 doses of each of the two vaccines to arrive in the state each week. That should allow everybody in what is known as Phase 1A, including the highest risk health care workers, first responders and long-term care facility residents and staff, to get vaccinated by the end of January. The details for who will get priority in the next stage, Phase 1B, are still being worked out. Both vaccines require two doses, given about three weeks apart, to provide maximum protection. (Source: Concord Monitor)

14. Vacancies And COVID Combine To Complicate N.H. Snow Cleanup Efforts. The pandemic is adding strain to existing winter workforce challenges at the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. For one thing, it has upended the agency’s training processes for new plow drivers at a time when those drivers are already in short supply. Since the beginning of the pandemic, DOT Chief Communications Officer Eileen Meaney said, about 30 of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19. Two were hospitalized, though they have since been discharged. Dan Brennan, a highway maintainer and state DOT union steward, said the workforce shortages in the Department of Transportation would be less acute if the state offered more competitive wages. Open highway maintainer positions posted on the state’s recruiting website offer salaries from roughly $28,000 to $40,000. “The reason people are leaving in our line of work, in highway maintenance, is because they’re going to cities and towns that pay $3 to $5 more an hour,” Brennan said. But given the looming budget shortfall, he doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. (Source: NHPR)

15. Matt Louis to Close Portsmouth Restaurants Moxy, Franklin for Winter. Acclaimed Portsmouth chef and restaurateur Matt Louis announced two of his restaurants, Moxy and The Franklin, will be hibernating for the winter beginning Saturday, Jan. 2. Both restaurants posted to their Facebook pages addressing their valued guests with the same message: “After careful deliberation on what is best for our small business and our staff at this time, we have chosen to close our doors for the winter season. We will return in early spring, revitalized and renewed, ready to serve the Seacoast Community again.” With funds in the bank and cash reserves from the federal Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan and the Main Street Relief Fund, Louis said both businesses will be able to pay bills as they’re closed for the winter. For other restaurant owners, many of whom Louis has become friends with, the reality is that they might have to keep their businesses open because they don’t have similar funds set aside to survive. “What I do know is that everybody is doing what’s right for them. I know that virtually every single restaurant owner downtown, unless you’re a place like that where the takeout is the huge driver, everybody is weighing these same options,” Louis said. “There’s a lot of people in that position and that is a much more sad and unfortunate and daunting reality than the one I’m facing.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

16. N.H. Enrollment in Affordable Care Act Rose 5% This Year. About 5% more New Hampshire residents signed up for the Affordable Care Act during open enrollment this year than last year, amid the turmoil caused by the pandemic and the Trump Administration’s legal efforts to curtail the system. According to Covering New Hampshire, an outreach group for the federal health insurance program, 46,684 state residents enrolled under the ACA Open Enrollment for 2021, or 2,103 more than the 44,581 people who enrolled a year ago. Open Enrollment ran from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. “The jump in enrollment shows that Granite Staters saw through the hyperbole and opted to get peace of mind for the themselves and their families,” said Covering NH COO Jayme Simoes. “The ACA is working, and it has reduced the number of uninsured, boosted the amount of insurance for companies serving the NH market, and brought down emergency room costs for hospitals.” (Source: Concords Monitor)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 22, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Tuesday, December 22

Interactive nursing home infection data from NHPR’s COVID Tracking Project.

On Monday, as vaccinations began at the Manchester VA and tens of thousands of additional doses targeted for the elderly and front-line healthcare workers were received, New Hampshire public health officials reported 847 new positive test results for COVID-19 and no new fatalities. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. Congress Approves Long-Awaited $900 Billion COVID Rescue Package. Months of gridlock ended Monday evening when both houses of Congress voted to approve a far-reaching $900 billion COVID relief package. It promises to accelerate vaccine distribution and includes direct payments of up to $600 per adult, enhanced jobless benefits of $300 per week, roughly $284 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans, $25 billion in rental assistance, an extension of the eviction moratorium and $82 billion for schools and colleges. The White House has said that President Donald Trump will sign the legislation once it reaches his desk. (Source: CNN)

2. Hassan, Colleagues Win Approval of End to ‘Surprise Medical Bills’ in Comprehensive End-of-Year Deal. A long sought-after provision to end “surprise medical billing” co-championed by Sen. Maggie Hassan has made its way into the $2.3 trillion end-of-year congressional agreement that includes the new $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. Hassan more than a year ago joined with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana to co-author the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act. According to Hassan’s Office, the legislation would address costs that patients are billed for after receiving care unknowingly from physicians or hospitals that are out of the patients’ networks, often in emergency room situations. (Source: WMUR) More than 30 states, including New Hampshire, have already enacted some type of surprise billing protections. But New Hampshire’s law only applies to certain types of insurance and doe not apply to people who get their health insurance through self-insured employers, which tend to be midsize to large companies because they fall under federal rules. The new federal rules will end the exemption for self-insured plans. However, patients may choose to opt out of the protections and be billed at higher out-of-network rates—something some may consider doing if they want to use a service provider outside their network on the recommendation of a friend or family member. (Source: Kaiser Health News)

3. Seven-Day New Case Average Down 20% as Death Gives State a Temporary Reprieve. On Monday, N.H. DHHS announced 847 new positive test results for COVID-19, with a daily PCR test positivity rate of 7.3%. However, the combined PCR and Antigen test rate inched back up to 9.1%. While the state chose to highlight a 20% decline in the seven-day average of new cases—now at 676 cases—the 14-day average was 784.7. No new deaths from COVID-19 were announced. Hospitalizations increased from 261 to 278. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

4. NH Receives 8,775 Doses of Pfizer Vaccine With 20,000 Moderna Doses Set to Arrive This Week. On Monday, New Hampshire received its second round of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses. State officials said 8,775 doses will be distributed to health workers, older adults in residential care settings, and first responders in the coming weeks. The first allotment of the Moderna vaccine, which was approved for emergency use authorization Friday, will arrive Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects New Hampshire to receive 24,200 doses in the initial allotment of the Moderna vaccine. Last week the state received 12,675 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 300 of which went to Concord Hospital. Chris Fore, the chief quality officer at the hospital, said the hospital had far more frontline workers than available doses and would rely on future shipments. (Source: Concord Monitor)

5. Moderna Vaccinations Begin at Manchester VA, Doses Expected to Arrive at NH Veterans Home Tomorrow. An official at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manchester said receiving the facility's first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines was "like having hope delivered." Mary Jane Kellermann, chief of pharmacy services, said vaccinations started the same day. The facility was among 113 VA medical centers across the nation that were provided with the Moderna vaccine by the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Source: Seacoast Online) Meanwhile, officials at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton, which is also administered through the Veterans Administration, said they expect to get the vaccine on Wednesday. The facility has also been particularly hard hit with at least 35 resident deaths from COVID-19. In related news, State Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, sent a letter Monday to Gov. Sununu, the state Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Safety inquiring about a right-to-know request filed to learn about the state’s response to the outbreak there. (Source: InDepthNH)

6. Amid Partisan Finger Pointing, Still No Nursing Home Vaccinations Elsewhere. The Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 may be here and in the arms of some doctors, nurses and members of Congress, but getting it into the arms of the elderly and staff at nursing homes is taking more time. Advocates say it will likely be after Christmas and into January for most of the nursing home residents and staff to get the first dose of the potentially life-saving vaccine. When questioned, Jake Leon, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services wouldn’t reveal the precise timeline. “The Pharmacy Partnership Program began today (Monday), in which long term care facilities in the State are partnering with CVS or Walgreens on vaccinating their staff and residents. The vaccines arrived at pharmacies today from vaccine manufacturers. The CDC is working directly with pharmacies and long term care facilities on the Pharmacy Partnership Program.” Leon said in an email. (Source: InDepthNH) Meanwhile, the first vials of the Pfizer vaccine arrived at CVS locations Monday morning. Deliveries to more than 40,000 long-term care facilities and nursing homes in the United States will be staggered throughout this week. CVS is supplying doses to 182 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in New Hampshire. In total, 182 Granite State locations will host clinics expecting to vaccinate about 26,000 patients. But those clinics won’t begin until next week and are estimated to run through mid-January before all nursing home residents have been vaccinated. (Source: WMUR)

7. Inside the First Chaotic Days to Vaccinate America. The first push of the nation’s mass COVID vaccination effort has been chaotic, marked by a lack of guidance and miscommunication from the federal level. In more rural states, like Arkansas, the logistical gymnastics required to safely get the Pfizer vaccine to rural health care workers has involved splitting the trays into smaller shipments—which brings its own dangers. Once out of the freezer that keeps it at 94 degrees below zero, the vaccine lasts only five days and must be refrigerated in transit. In Arkansas — where over 40% of its counties are rural and COVID infections are climbing — solving this distribution puzzle is urgently critical, said Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the state’s epidemiologist. Such quandaries resonate with officials in Georgia, Kentucky, Utah, Indiana, Wisconsin and Colorado. The first push of the nation’s mass COVID vaccination effort has been chaotic, marked by a lack of guidance and miscommunication from the federal level. With Washington punting most vaccination decisions, each state and county is left to weigh where to send vaccines first and which of two vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use makes the most sense for each nursing home, hospital, local health department and even school. In New Hampshire, where the National Guard will help administer vaccines, officials last week were still finalizing details for 13 community-based sites where first responders and health care workers are due to get vaccinated later this month. Jake Leon, a state Health and Human Services spokesperson, said that while the sites will be able to administer both companies’ vaccines, most likely they’ll get Moderna’s because of its easier transport. Even as the earliest vaccines are injected, much remains up in the air. “It’s day to day and even then hour by hour or minute by minute — what we know and how we plan for it,” Leon said Friday. “We’re building the plane while flying it.” (Source: Kaiser Health News)

8. Right to Know Request Filed. InDepthNH has filed a right to know request under RSA 91a seeking the state to reveal number of legislators and workers connected to the State House who have tested positive for COVID-19. Last Thursday, Gov. Sununu refused to release the information, calling it “private’. However, the state has been publishing similar data on case counts for nursing homes and schools for months on the DHHS website. Several Republican legislators and support staff have tested positive and one, newly-elected House Speaker Dick Hinch, died as a result of a COVD-19 infection.(Source: InDepthNH)

9. COVID-19 Cases Rising in Berlin Prison, Amid Concerns from Family Members. COVID-19 outbreaks continue at the Men’s Prisons in Concord and Berlin as the number of inmates testing positive continues to rise. On Monday, some family members and prison residents themselves expressed concerns ranging from whether inmates are getting adequate medical attention, to how COVID-19 got into the Berlin facility and how the spread could have been prevented. There are currently 146 inmates at the Men’s Prison in Concord testing positive for COVID-19, that is up 33 from last week. In Berlin, 55 cases since the first one on Dec. 14 just updated to 70 Monday night. While the State Department of Corrections has told News 9 that CDC guidelines are being followed, an inmate that spoke with News 9 over the phone, but does not want to be identified, raised concerns. That inmate so far has tested negative. “There’s pods going to chow, 40 to 70 people at a time, with no masks on in the show and they got to eat together,” the inmate said. “It’s just a matter of time before someone dies.” (Source: WMUR)

10. Tracking the Data in N.H. After a slow start, the COVID-19 Dashboard operated by the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services has been the primary source for the latest metrics on COVID-19’s impact on New Hampshire. But frequent users have been frustrated by often visible lags in updating the data, questionable design decisions made by admittedly busy people when it comes to organizing data in ways that make it easier to find and understand, and notable gaps—such as the lack of a centralized area for interactive nursing home metrics similar to what the state does for schools. While users can find scattered information about nursing homes on the DHHS dashboard, it’s fragmented and there’s no one place users can go to get a quick read on the situation across the state. Given the fact that nursing homes continue to be the epicenter of the pandemic in New Hampshire as it enters it’s ninth month, this remains a critical gap. Early in the pandemic, NHPR began posting key metrics on its own dashboard because “to put it simply” according to reporter Casey McDermott, “the state wasn’t doing it.” Using the state’s data along with data from other sources, NHPR’s COVID Tracking Project presents a visual overview of the pandemic in New Hampshire that is easier to understand while filling key gaps, such as nursing home case data. While NHPR’s dashboard is still largely dependent on state data, it provides snapshots that are better organized and easier to grasp at-a-glance. You can learn more about NHPR’s approach here. (Source: NHPR)

11. While 2020 Has Been Painful for Most, Some Have Thrived. If the Great Recession that started in the last decade was a slow-churning hurricane – vast, broad and affecting nearly everyone – the pandemic-induced downturn that kicked off this decade was more like a tornado, deadly to some sectors yet offering surprising opportunity to others. Michael Benton, owner of a Londonderry-based network of health, wellness and fitness facilities, sees people starting to trickle back in despite the second wave of COVID-19. After all, he reasoned, a vaccine is on its way. “Our revenues are still way off, but I see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Benton. But for Evan Mallett, chef and owner of Black Trumpet Bistro and Wine Bar in Portsmouth, many of the diners who ate outside at his and other restaurants during the summer are now staying home. “I see the light at the end of the tunnel but also the train wreck before we get there,” he said. “It’s more like we are on the cusp of an abyss.” Food insecurity has grown by about 50% in the state, according to New Hampshire Food Bank statistics, and the number of people requesting economic assistance for housing and other services went up from about 119,000 to 134,000. Yet, a predicted eviction tsunami never took place and there have been fewer business bankruptcies in 2020 than 2019. Meanwhile, the state’s real estate market has been on fire, fueled in part by demand from people fleeing urban centers for the relative safety of rural new England and a limited supply of homes. Suffering the most has been the restaurant and hospitality industry. Year-to-date hotel occupancy rates were 43% this year, as opposed to 63% last year. In October, the height of foliage season, they were at 53%, down from 73%. Business was slow at most restaurants, even when they were able to combine outdoor and limited indoor dining with takeout. But when the temperature declined, so did the restaurant revenue at Portsmouth’s Black Trumpet, from 85% in August to 20% at the start of December. “If there is a better definition of ‘not sustainable,’ I don’t know what it is,” Mallett said. He, like many other restaurant owners, is thinking of taking a hiatus on indoor dining in January, though he quickly added that takeout, curbside pickup and delivery would continue. (Source: NH Business Review)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 21, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Monday, December 21

New Hampshire health officials reported six deaths and 947 new positive test results for COVID-19 Sunday. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Monday.

1. Congress Agrees to Stimulus Package. Lawmakers struck a nearly $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus deal Sunday that includes another round of stimulus checks and badly needed jobless benefits for struggling Americans, ending a long standoff in Washington with one of the biggest rescue bills in U.S. history. After months of impasse, negotiations came down to the wire as 12 million people are set to lose unemployment benefits the day after Christmas. The deal includes restarting a $300 boost to the federal unemployment insurance benefit, extending eviction moratoriums for renters for an unspecified amount of time and a $600 direct payment to most Americans. Also included is a tax credit to support employers offering paid sick leave, more money for food assistance, and an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, which expands eligibility to local newspapers, broadcasters and nonprofits. But even though lawmakers reached a deal, some jobless Americans could see their unemployment benefits lapse since it may take weeks for aid to reach them due to outdated state systems, experts say. The package still needs to be voted on in both the House and Senate and signed by the President. (Source: USA Today) Left out of the package was additional aid to state and local governments. In New Hampshire, depending on the economic impact of the current surge, this could result in sharp service cuts unless a future package can be agreed on after the Biden administration takes office.

2. New Cases in N.H. Hit Two-Week Average of 866–The Highest Rate of the Pandemic. If you were looking for reassurance from Sunday’s numbers that it might be safe to gather with people outside your immediate household for the Christmas holiday, you are going to be disappointed. 947 new positive tests were recorded, including new cases in every New Hampshire county. While a backlog in adding test results has given the appearance that numbers may be trending downwards, subsequent updates are often adding dozens—and sometimes even hundreds—of new cases to previously reported daily totals. For example, in Sunday’s report, 23 additional cases were added for Dec. 15, bringing the total for that day up to 806. But the number of cases first reported by the state for that day was 414. Because it’s taking as long as a week to add backlogged cases for each day, this also may have the effect of depressing the seven-day average, which stood at a more encouraging 681 for December 19. Because of the backlog, movement in the 14-day average a better indicator of whether the virus is trending upwards or downwards. Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed active cases now stands at 6,908—the highest level of the pandemic. As a point of reference, the worst day in the first wave of the virus for new cases was May 18 with 2,211 new cases—less than a third of Sunday’s total. Of the 6 deaths reported Sunday, all involved people age 60 or older and 5 involved residents of long-term care facilities. (Sources: N.H. DHHS Daily Summary and N.H. DHHS COVID-19 Trends Dashboard)

3. COVID Tracker: Some Good News When It Comes to At-Home Tests and Hospitalizations. In its weekly analysis of New Hampshire COVID-19 metrics, the Concord Monitor reports that as new cases and deaths keep setting records, there’s a bright spot: The number of hospitalizations has been largely unchanged for the last 10 days, now at 261. The state also continues to exceed the goal of performing at least 150 PCR tests per 100,000 people each day, or 2,000 tests per day. The seven day average now stands at 7,779—well over triple the number needed to know how widespread the virus is. However, as cases continue to climb, getting an appointment to get tested can be challenging if you don’t have symptoms. Results from the more common (and accurate) PCR test are also taking as long as a week to be reported back to the patient. This has spurred consumer demand for the creation of a simple at-home test people can take to see if they are infected. An Australian company, Ellume, has created an antigen test targeted at the consumer market that shows promise. But it likely won’t be available until well into 2021. (Source: Concord Monitor). Worth noting is that last week, Abbott Labs announced it plans to make its BinaxNOW rapid antigen test available to consumers for use at home. The test works with a phone app and provides results within 15 minutes. The company plans to deliver and administer 30 million of the tests to consumers in the first quarter of 2021. The cost has been set at $25 per test. (Source: Abbott Labs) The BinaxNOW test has been in use at some N.H. long-term care facilities since September for rapid testing of visitors.

4. Vaccine Still At Least 1-3 Weeks Away for N.H. Long-Term Care Facilities. Help is on the way for long-term care facilities across the state as the Pfizer vaccine is expected to arrive at some of those locations this week. CVS and Walgreens will be spearheading the process. Officials with CVS have said doses will arrive to some of their facilities as early as Monday. Brendan Williams, president of the New Hampshire Healthcare Association, said inoculations will begin for some of the association’s nursing homes a week from Sunday. Others will have to wait until the following week. But Williams said that after a grueling and exhausting several months of battling the pandemic, the vaccines are bringing some sense of relief. “I mean, this has just been a very tough period for nursing home residents and staff throughout the pandemic,” Williams said. “And so, to finally have some hope is just unbelievable and in record time. I wouldn’t have imagined just a few months ago that we’d be having this conversation today.” (Source: WMUR)

5. Police, Firefighters, Teachers Will be Next in Line for COVID-19 Vaccine. Police, firefighters, teachers and grocery workers will be among those next in line for a COVID-19 vaccine, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel decided Sunday. The committee voted 13-1 to recommend that Phase 1b include people 75 and older and front-line essential workers. Phase 1c will include people 65 to 74 and people 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions, along with other essential workers. Because vaccine supplies will initially be limited, Phase 1b isn't expected to begin until February. (Source: USA Today)

6. Sununu Blasts Kuster and Other Members of Congress for “Cutting the Line” for COVID Vaccinations. In a Twitter post, Gov. Chris Sununu sharply criticized members of Congress who have obtained vaccinations as part of a program to ensure the continuity of the federal government. “Congress has literally done nothing these last eight months. Now they are cutting the line and getting the vaccine ahead of residents in Long Term Care, nurses, and essential workers who stock our shelves. It’s outrageous. And insulting,” Sununu wrote. While Kuster chose to be vaccinated and issued a statement expressing NHPR confidence in the vaccine and encouraging her constituents to also get vaccinated, the other members of the of the New Hampshire delegation opted out of the congressional vaccine supply. Sens. Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, and Congressman Chris Pappas told NBC10 Boston on Sunday they have faith in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, but want to ensure the people who need it most are vaccinated first. (Source: NECN) Note: At last Thursday’s press conference, Sununu’s reaction to the news from the Trump administration that New Hampshire would be receiving 3,000-4,000 fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week than had been promised was met with a much more casual response. “But hey, it’s still 9,000 doses, so we’ll take it and use it,” he said. The 3,000 to 4,000 doses N.H. won’t be getting this week is enough to vaccinate every member of Congress five to seven times each. Also worth noting is that vaccine supplies for New Hampshire long-term care residents are expected to be received by the state this week (see WMUR story above) and distributed over the next three weeks as part of a federal program administered by CVS and Walgreens. So while the timing of vaccinations for nursing home residents is an issue, the supply is not and neither is “cutting the line”. But what is an issue is the design of a federal program that won’t see some N.H. nursing home residents vaccinated as long as a full month after the vaccine first became available.

7. Rayno: More Transparency Is Needed. In this analysis, veteran State House reporter Gary Rayno targeted several areas where greater transparency is needed from the governor and other state officials. Rayno says that if the information is readily available, the number of cases involving legislators should be made public as well as the number of state and municipal workers who are infected. He says another area of the pandemic needing greater transparency is those infected who are hospitalized. According to Andrew Cline, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, the state significantly under-reports the number of hospitalizations for COVID-19. “People who are ‘hospitalized after their case was initially reported’ are included in the daily hospitalization updates but are not added to the cumulative total for all hospitalizations, according to the Joint Information Center,” Cline writes. “This results in a serious undercounting of the actual number of people who were hospitalized for COVID-19. In the first 17 days of December alone, the count is off by more than 100.” He notes that from Nov. 30 to Dec. 17 shows an increase of 38 hospitalizations, while the number of people hospitalized on each of those days showed an increase of 124. “The state should fix this discrepancy as soon as possible so the public has an accurate picture of the disease’s impact,” Cline said. ”Not counting people admitted after their initial positive test result misses a potentially very large portion of COVID-19 hospitalizations.” (Source: InDepthNH)

8. Republican Legislator Who Slammed Colleagues Says More Reps Could Die. Rep. William Marsh, who is also a medical doctor, has harshly criticized members of the N.H. House Republican caucus for not following safety guidelines. Following the death of newly-elected House Speaker Dick Hinch, Marsh made national news when he tweeted, "Those in our caucus who refused to take precautions are responsible for Dick Hinch’s death.” In an interview with WMUR, Marsh said that with a fatality rate of 2% and 400 legislators, more deaths are likely—especially if some GOP legislators are successful in their efforts to force the legislature to meet with some members not wearing masks. Marsh said he supports the efforts of presumptive Speaker Sherman Packard to come up with ways to meet safely. You can watch the full interview here. (Source: WMUR)

9. Manchester Announces Three New COVID-19 Clusters in Schools. City health officials have identified clusters of COVID-19 cases in three more Manchester schools. A cluster is defined as three or more cases in the same classroom or group during the same 14-day timeframe. The three new clusters were identified at Southside Middle Schools, and Gossler and Highland-Goffe’s Falls elementary schools. (Source: Union Leader)

10. Messages of Hope on Display in Nashua. Messages of hope, courage and compassion are now lining a portion of Amherst Street as Nashua high school students transformed their thoughts on this year’s pandemic into empowering artwork. Paintings with messages such as “Rise up,” “Choose love,” “Be the best version of yourself” and “The sun will come out tomorrow,” are hanging on a chain-link fence outside Amherst Street Elementary School. The public art project will be on display at 71 Amherst St. until Feb. 14, with about 80 paintings from city students and educators. The collaborative effort, dubbed “Brave New World: Resilience in the Time of COVID,” was designed to provide teens with an artistic outlet to express their emotions with so much uncertainty surrounding them, according to organizers. “Kids have to bare their hearts and souls through their artwork, and they have to feel comfortable doing that,” said Robin Peringer, a teacher at Nashua High School South. “More than anything, this art project wasn’t about making great works of art, but rather putting meaning into it and getting across their personal messages.” (Source: Union Leader)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 20, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Sunday, December 20

Active case numbers in southeastern New Hampshire. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

Twelve additional New Hampshire residents have died due to the coronavirus, state health officials announced Saturday. The state also reported 676 new infections. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news for Sunday, December 20.

1. NH to Get More Than 24,000 Doses of Moderna Vaccine This Week. After receiving emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday night, distribution for the Portsmouth-produced vaccine is set to begin Monday. Jake Leon, a spokesman for the state's Department of Health and Human Services, said New Hampshire will receive 24,200 doses in several batches during the week. Moderna's vaccine will be the second to be distributed. Pfizer began delivering its vaccine across the United States this past week. News that doses of the Moderna vaccine will soon arrive offsets some bad news the state received on Thursday when Gov. Sununu announced this week’s expected delivery of the Pfizer vaccine will be 3,000 to 4,000 doses short. (Source: WMUR)

2. With A Dozen Additional Deaths, N.H.’s Coronavirus Death Toll Now Stands at 650. Of the 12 deaths announced on Saturday, all were 60 or older and nine were residents of long-term care facilities. State officials report that N.H.’s death rate from the virus is about 2% (rounded up from 1.8%). There are currently 258 people hospitalized with the virus. The 676 cases reported Saturday include test results from Monday through Friday as the state continues to work through a backlog. 162 of the reported new cases were for Friday—a low for December that is at least partially the result of Thursday’s blizzard closing—or making it difficult to access—test facilities. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Locally, Portsmouth has again topped the 100 mark with 103 active cases. Manchester (767), Nashua (483), Concord (398), Salem (225), Derry (175), Hudson (171), Dover (167), Londonderry (139), Windham (128), Merrimack (118), Durham (114), Rochester (108), and Pelham (103) are the other N.H. communities with more than 100 active cases. (Source: WMUR)

3. Outbreak Grows At Major N.H. Addiction Treatment Center. State health officials say there are now more than 100 cases of COVID-19 linked to an outbreak at one of the biggest residential addiction treatment centers in the state. The update comes after clients and staff told NHPR that management of Green Mountain Treatment Center in Effingham was not prepared for the now ongoing COVID outbreak there. The complains include reports of little to no enforcement of mask wearing and a lack of social distancing -- even moving COVID positive patients into rooms with people who had tested negative for the illness. Currently, there are 67 residents and 35 staff cases linked to the outbreak at Green Mountain. As bad as the numbers are, they may not fully show the scope of this outbreak, as many clients left campus after finding out there was COVID there. Meanwhile, the state says it's not investigating any of this. At Gov. Sununu’s press conference on Thursday, DHHS Commissioner Lori Shibinette said the N.H. Attorney General’s Office was looking into the complaints. But when NHPR contacted the AG’s Office, its reporter was told no investigation was in progress. Shibinette has the power to investigate health facilities on her own, but results of those investigations are kept confidential, (Source: NHPR)

4. Kuster Receives COVID-19 Vaccine As Members of Congress Urged To Get Vaccinated. U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster says she's received a COVID-19 vaccination. Her receipt of the first of two shots comes as Congress's attending physician bluntly urged lawmakers to get vaccinated. "My recommendation to you is absolutely unequivocal," wrote Dr. Brian P. Monahan, "there is no reason why you should defer receiving this vaccine." Kuster received her first dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine within 24 hours after getting Monahan's letter. "I believe in the science and I want to demonstrate to my constituents in New Hampshire that this vaccine is safe and effective," Kuster said in a statement released Friday. The coronavirus doses allotted to Congress are designed to ensure continuity in the legislative branch of government. (Source: NHPR) While receiving the vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel for people receiving it, it’s important to note that it doesn’t cover instant immunity. After receiving the first dose of the vaccine, recipients typically achieve a moderate level of protection against the virus within 8-10 days. But maximum immunity may not come until 2-3 weeks after a second dose of the vaccine, which is timed to be administered 28 days after the first. So expect to see people who have been vaccinated in the first wave, including health care workers, first responders, and members of Congress continuing to wear masks and taking precautions to protect their health and the health of others.

5. Granite Staters Asked to Avoid Holiday Travel and Gatherings, As predicted by health officials, new COVID-19 cases have surged in the weeks following Thanksgiving. Another spike is possible following Christmas, and health officials are recommending that people avoid travel, even within New England. Those who plan to gather anyway are being urged to take precautions. "We do ask that they keep it to the fewest number of people possible, that even in smaller groups, people look to maintain the social distancing and stay at least 6 feet apart from other people to the extent possible," said Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist. "Wear face masks when you're around other people that are not part of your household." Matt Sullivan of Bedford said his family won't be traveling to Massachusetts for the big Christmas dinner with upwards of 40 people. For him, the writing was on the wall once they scaled back Thanksgiving. "If the pandemic had started last month and this was brand new to us, I think it would be a lot more frustrating and new. But it's something that everyone should have seen coming, especially in New Hampshire for the past two to three months," Sullivan said. (Source: WMUR)

6. Strafford County Jail Outbreak Stretches Staff Thin. The Strafford County House of Corrections now has 29 detainees and 5 correctional officers who have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the latest test results shared by the facility’s superintendent. One additional officer was exhibiting mild symptoms, but test results for that individual weren’t back as of 4 p.m. Friday, according to Superintendent Chris Brackett. As the staff cases increase, so too is the overtime being used to cover open shifts, according to Brackett. One employee has recovered and is eligible to return to duty, but as of Friday afternoon Strafford County was still short 25 shifts a week because of the five others who are still out on COVID leave. The numbers shared by Strafford County Friday differ from the figures released by state health officials Thursday afternoon, which indicated the jail had 28 detainee cases and 21 employee cases, significantly more employee cases than the accurate number. Laura Montenegro, a New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson, said Friday that the state’s figures were erroneous, attributing the error to a “clerical” error. (Source: Seacoast Online)

7. Health Care Experts Urge New Hampshire to Be More Like Vermont With COVID-19 Prevention. Several Upper Valley health care providers and researchers are calling on New Hampshire to take more aggressive action to curb transmission of COVID-19 to prevent illness, death and overcrowding at hospitals. While some said they recognize the challenge of balancing what may seem like competing needs of the economy and public health, they argued that targeted restrictions — including several enacted in neighboring Vermont — are needed. Moreover, some said, preventing an uncontrolled surge will benefit the economy in the long run. Dr. Michael Calderwood, a Dartmouth-Hitchcock infectious disease specialist, said he expects the state will hit 300 hospitalized COVID-19 patients this week; surpassing 400 by New Year’s Day. As numbers continue to rise, Calderwood said he expects the state could soon have two out of 10 beds filled by such patients. “That’s a big number for one disease,” he said in a Thursday phone interview. It’s “really impacting our ability to give care.” Anne Sosin, the program director for the Dartmouth Center for Global Health Equity, contends that New Hampshire officials use language of inevitability when discussing the pandemic, as though little can be done to prevent more cases, hospitalizations and deaths. But she says more can and should be done before a vaccine is widely distributed. Among her suggestions: increasing restrictions on gatherings between households, indoor dining at restaurants and in-person religious gatherings, as well as closing bars. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, also a Republican, has undertaken all four. Sosin said New Hampshire could like Vermont turn to information contact tracers have learned about how the virus is spreading among community members and then target restrictions to those settings. But she said that because New Hampshire has rolled back its contact tracing efforts in response to increasing numbers of cases, the state might not have the information it needs to develop targeted restrictions. (Source: The Valley News)

8. Doctors Say a $20 Device Could Save Hundreds of Lives. Why Isn’t N.H Adopting It? With severe COVID-19 patents, doctors have noticed a peculiar issue. Seemingly, stable people who had been talking and laughing just moments before were suddenly collapsing. The cause is “silent hypoxia”, a condition where the virus deprives the body of oxygen so slowly and insidiously, the brain is able to adapt to each slight drop—until it suddenly no longer can. The solution is small, inexpensive clothespin-like device called a pulse oximeter that measures oxygen saturation and would allow patients to monitor their vitals and quickly get to the hospital if they noticed a dip before they became irreversibly ill. Vermont became the first state to adopt a plan to provide pulse oximeters to every resident that tested positive for COVID-19. While Jennifer Reed, an epidemiologist with the Vermont health department, says it’s too soon to say definitively if the program has made a significant difference, there have been several patients who have been referred to the hospital after their oximeter reported low oxygen saturation levels. Richard Levitan, an emergency medicine physician from Littleton, has tried to get other states, including New Hampshire, to follow Vermont’s lead and do universal pulse oximetry monitoring. His pleas have largely been met with silence. He said it seems like most health officials are focused on the vaccine. In the meantime, nearly 2,000 people are predicted to die of COVID-19 by April in New Hampshire, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Levitan compares the current situation to a 200-car collision he witnessed early in his career. “I’m running around trying to care for all these people who are just getting killed in this pile on,” he said. “That’s where we are with COVID. It’s like standing on the median and watching the cars pile up.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

9. Why NH Evictions Are Still Rising During COVID Moratorium. Local landlords, according to a New Hampshire attorney who represents them, are now successfully using health and safety arguments to back up their efforts to evict tenants who are behind on rent. While a federal COVID-19 moratorium prevents nonpayment evictions, tenants can be evicted for other reasons. Eviction attorney Andy Sullivan, who represents landlords, says it’s legal and a step that has to be taken. He argues property managers are getting little help from the government in staving off bankruptcy and the bleak picture he sees developing in local communities. Attorneys on the other side, like Marta Hurgin, a staff attorney at the New Hampshire Legal Advice and Referral Center, agree there are deeply problematic things on the horizon, but for different reasons. They say landlords skirting the intent of the eviction moratorium will only worsen New Hampshire’s housing crisis, given that evictions are nearing pre-COVID levels despite the moratorium. (Source: Seacoast Online)

10. NH Avoided Upfront Costs for Virus PPE and Half of Spending on Virus Gear Was Spent Locally. New Hampshire ordered $78 million worth of personal protective equipment and medical devices in the first several months of the coronavirus pandemic, with half the money going to 11 companies within the state, according to an analysis of state purchasing data by the Associated Press. New Hampshire’s records show purchase orders with 25 companies between Feb. 12 and June 11, though some of those contracts fell through, said Perry Plummer, former assistant commissioner of safety. But the state never paid upfront and thus didn’t lose any money, he said. “New Hampshire was positioned very, very well because we never fronted any money during this whole pandemic. Other states, and certainly other vendors, lost millions of dollars because they were sending money and never got the product,” he said Thursday. New Hampshire’s top protective equipment supplier was Grand Traverse Economic Development, a commercial investment entity for the Ottawa and Chippewa tribes in Michigan. It sold the state nearly $28 million worth of masks, gowns and other items this spring, turning a profit of around 10% to 15%, business development director Lauren Tucker said. The state’s second largest supplier, Manchester-based DEKA Research and Development, acted in a similar capacity, Plummer said. “They’re literally fronting millions of dollars to pay for it up front,” he said. “They weren’t in the PPE business either, but they had international connections worldwide.” The purchases from DEKA amounted to nearly $15 million, or 20% of the state’s total. Almost the same amount went to Body Armor Outlet in Salem, which specializes in protective gear for police but evolved into one of the nation’s 20 largest suppliers of personal protective equipment to states during the early months of the pandemic. (Source: Associated Press)

11. New Hampshire Faces ‘Yucky’ 2021-22 Budget Prospects. “Yucky,” said New Hampshire Administrative Services Commissioner Charlie Arlinghaus in describing prospects for the 2021-22 state budget. Speaking to the virtual New Hampshire Leadership Summit, hosted by the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire, Arlinghaus said the state budget was “in a hole and it’s probably going to get worse,” referring to the $106 million deficit expected to carry over from the current biennium to the next. “The biggest name of the game is uncertainty,” Arlinghaus continued, pointing to the economic impact of the second wave of the coronavirus now underway, which he suggested could add another $50 million to the projected deficit. On the other hand, he said that there is hope the economy will recover sufficiently to support “a zero budget instead of negative budget,” with “modest cuts,” rather than the deep cuts required amid the recession. (Source: NH Business Review)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA & RESOURCES

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 19, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• What To Do If You Are Exposed

• Where to Get a Test

• What To Do If You Test Positive

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Saturday, December 19

An entry in the Portsmouth Historical Society’s 30th Annual Gingerbread House Contest displayed (of course) in the window of Off Piste on Congress Street.

On Friday—as the U.S. recorded single-day records for new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations—New Hampshire public health officials announced 9 new deaths and 697 new infections. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. Feds Grant Emergency Use Authorization for Moderna Vaccine, Lonza On Target to Produce Doses in Portsmouth. On a day when COVID-19 hospitalizations rose to another record and cases and deaths continued to pile up in unprecedented ways, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized Moderna’s vaccine candidate for emergency use. "The emergency use authorization allows the vaccine to be distributed in the U.S. for use in individuals 18 years and older," the FDA said in a tweet. (Source: CNN) As Moderna receives approval to start distributing its COVID-19 vaccine, the Portsmouth company manufacturing the vaccine says it is on target to fulfill its part in the production of 100 million doses of the vaccine a year. “Our target is to produce 100 million doses of mRNA-1273 per year, per production line. Lonza Portsmouth has one mRNA-1273 production line,” said Lonza Biologics spokesman Glenn Myers. The other production line is at the Lonza facility in Visp, Switzerland. Lonza is responsible for making mRNA-1273, then shipping it to a separate location for what’s called “fill and finish,” the process of actually filling vials with vaccine and finishing the process of packaging the medicine for distribution. (Source: Seacoast Online)

2. Vaccination of NH Health Care Workers Continues. State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said about 2,000 health care workers have been vaccinated since hospitals began receiving the vaccine earlier this week. So far, there have been no reports of adverse reactions in New Hampshire, but there is a chance of side effects. "These side effects are usually more mild, self-limited," Chan said. "They're evidence that the vaccine is working to protect somebody from COVID-19." "It's the light of hope, the light at the end of the tunnel, the beacon of hope," said Holly McCormack, chief nursing officer for Cottage Hospital. The arrival of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is like an early Christmas gift, McCormack said. The Woodsville medical facility was somewhat spared during the beginning of the pandemic, but that has changed in recent months. "We've had in-patient cases here," McCormack said. "Our emergency department is seeing cases, and our rural health clinic is also caring for COVID patients. So, it definitely is hitting close to home now." (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, in the Upper Valley, first responders in Vermont lined up for the vaccine yesterday. But firefighters, police and emergency medical technicians on the New Hampshire side of the border will need to wait until December 29 before the vaccine is available to them. (Source: The Valley News)

3. N.H. Death Count Rises as Hospitalizations Decline Slightly. Nine more New Hampshire residents have died as a result of the coronavirus, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The new deaths bring the state's total since the start of the pandemic to 638. State health officials also announced 697 new COVID-19 infections. The new cases span every New Hampshire county, and include 71 patients under the age of 18. 273 New Hampshire residents are currently hospitalized with the virus, down from 284 on Thursday. (Sources: NHPR and N.H. DHHS) Of the 697 new cases that were announced, 414 came on Thursday—the same day a blizzard struck that shut down state testing facilities.

4. Seventh Hanover Terrace Resident Dies Since COVID-19 Outbreak Began. A seventh resident of Hanover Terrace Nursing Home in Hanover has died after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the nursing home’s administration. The outbreak includes a total of 104 people: 68 residents, 34 employees and two essential workers employed by an outside vendor. In addition to the deaths, three residents who have tested positive are seriously ill and one resident has been hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms, Coutu said. (The Valley News)

5. Currier Museum to Close Temporarily Due to COVID-19 Precautions. The Currier Museum of Art plans to close temporarily after this weekend to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Manchester museum announced Friday. The museum will be open Saturday and Sunday, but will close on Monday until at least mid-January. The museum's leaders plan to decide next month if is safe to reopen. During the closure, it will continue to offer programming and be accessible online. "Our region has recently experienced an alarming spike in cases, and the Currier Museum is doing all it can to contain the spread of COVID-19 and avoid burdening local health resources," the museum said in a news release. (Source: Union Leader)

6. N.H. Shares COVID Numbers For School And Nursing Home Staff, But Not Those Who Work At State House. Gov. Chris Sununu says he doesn't know - and doesn't think the public has a right to know - how many state lawmakers or State House staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus. Sununu says if lawmakers choose to disclose a positive test that's their business, but, "It's not like the State House is infected and if you walk in you are going to get infected with COVID," Sununu said. The state has taken a different approach when it comes to disclosing case numbers in congregate living settings and public schools, sharing those case numbers, even when they're low. Known cases this month among people who've worked out of the State House include House Speaker Dick Hinch, who died of COVID-19, House Speaker Pro Tem Kimberly Rice, a staffer in the speaker's office, and a staffer in the Governor's office. (Source: NHPR)

7. Senate and House Democrats Call for Transparency in Final CARES Act Allocations. On Thursday, during his weekly press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu went back on his previous statement that all of the CARES Act funding had been allocated and that any remaining funds would be poured into the unemployment trust fund. After originally being told that unspent allocations would be in the range of $1 million, Democratic members of the the Governor’s Office for Economic Relief and Recovery (GOFERR) Legislative Advisory Board said that the actual amount of unspent money may be as high as $200 million. “Over the past month, the public has received inconsistent figures from the Governor’s office regarding the remaining CAREs act funds ranging from $1 million, to $30 million, and in the latest report, nearly $200 million that remains unspent. Just yesterday, the Governor made new allocations totaling $23 million after Commissioner Caswell reported there was nearly no money left to be allocated.” Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy (D-Manchester), Senator Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, Representative Steve Shurtleff, D-Penacook, and Representative Mary Jane Wallner, D-Concord said the process the governor’s office has used has lacked transparency and Granite Staters deserve to know how their money is being spent. Under the rules governing Cares Act funds, all funds must be used by December 31 and any remaining funds must be returned to the U.S. Treasury. (Source: InDepthNH)

8. Republicans Nominate Londonderry Rep. For House Speaker In Wake Of Hinch's Death. Republicans in the state legislature will nominate Londonderry Rep. Sherman Packard to be the next Speaker of the House. Packard has been acting speaker in the wake of the COVID-19 death of the newly-elected speaker Dick Hinch. Sherman Packard has represented Londonderry for 16 terms in Concord. He's been House majority leader and House minority leader. (Source: NHPR)

9. Democrats Lay Out Path for Remote House Session in January. With the state continuing to reel from the effects of the worst pandemic in 100 years, House Minority Leader Renny Cushing has put forward a plan that would allow members of the House to meet and vote safely. “No legislator should have to put their life at risk to fulfill their duties,” said Cushing. In a joint memo to GOP Rep. Sherman Packard and House Clerk Paul Smith, Cushing and Democratic Pro Tempore Rep. Karen Ebel laid out ways the House could meet in session virtually. The plan is the result of the work that has been done over the past 9 months by staff, Ebel, and other legislators to shift legislative work from risky in-person meetings to remote gatherings held online. In the wake of the death of former House Speaker Dick Hinch from COVID-19, Packard has said that moving forward he is committed to having legislators meet safely. (Source: InDepthNH)

10. Food Needed: Gather, Strafford CAP See Demand Surge. Prior to COVID-19, Portsmouth’s Gather food pantry was serving roughly 100,000 pounds of food to 2,500-3,000 people a month. Since the pandemic began and more people are finding themselves food insecure, Gather has upped its monthly food distribution to 200,000 pounds to about 6,500-7,000 people, according to Associate Executive Director Seneca Bernard. M Through strong partnerships with the New Hampshire Food Bank and other meal distribution organizations, Bernard said he and colleagues statewide have become more flexible in their work to meet increasing demand. “So while there’s been a lot of challenges, some of the positives that have come out of it have certainly benefited the underlying support system that we all have,” he said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

11. UNH Plans for Students to Return to Durham - With COVID Pretests.University of New Hampshire officials are still planning to have students return to campus on Feb. 1, according to Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig. “At this time that’s the plan,” Selig said after town and UNH officials met Thursday to discuss the return of students to Durham amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. “Everybody is watching the situation very closely as the pandemic unfolds, but at this time that’s the date.” Selig reported UNH and town officials “had a very good meeting (this week) where President (Jim) Dean and his team sort of talked through a lot of his planning and some of the things they talked about for the spring '21 semester.” Selig declined to discuss all the specifics of what UNH officials are planning, but he stated, “They have a good plan in place.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

12. Concord Church Repurposed into Homeless Shelter. The Concord Coalition to End Homelessness is repurposing a historic church on Main Street into an emergency winter shelter and resource center. The expansion comes as shelters across the state struggle to balance demand with strict social distancing and other COVID-19 protocols. “Our existing shelter was built with the idea of efficiently serving as many people as possible: one big room with wall to wall beds,” says Ellen Groh, the director of the coalition. “It was the opposite of social distancing.” The coalition says the new space, at the former First Congregational Church on 177 N. Main Street, will allow them to resume offering shelter to 40 people starting this weekend. (Source: NHPR)

13. Despite Blizzard, It Was (Remote) School as Usual on Thursday. While most years a big snowstorm would cause schools to close around New Hampshire, it was business as usual on Thursday for many districts that are doing remote learning. Concord, Merrimack Valley, Hopkinton, Bow-Dunbarton, Shaker Regional, Pittsfield and Franklin school districts all declared Thursday a “remote learning day,” and held school online rather than canceling entirely. Now that districts have developed learning models for the COVID-19 era that allow them to pivot easily to remote learning on short notice, having a full snow day of canceled classes could be a thing of the past. “We considered having a true snow day, but our upper level content teachers are wrapping up units prior to the winter holidays and we also wanted to test our remote only procedures for weather events,” Bow-Dunbarton superintendent Dean Cascadden wrote in a message to families Wednesday. There are some instances in which a snow day could still shut down schools. Power outages could require districts to cancel classes, if students and staff can’t access the Internet to meet or complete assignments. Some districts declared snow days for students despite the availability of remote learning. In a letter to families Wednesday, Kearsarge School District Superintendent Winfried Feneberg wrote that while the district will typically do remote learning on future weather days, the first storm of the season is something to enjoy. (Source: Concord Monitor)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 18, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Friday, December 18

On Thursday, N.H. public health officials announced 872 new positive test results for COVID-19 and 4 additional deaths. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Friday.

1. Pre-Holiday COVID Surge Continues as Vaccinations Begin. With the 872 new cases announced Thursday, there are now 6,928 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. 414 new cases were reported for Wednesday along with updates for previous days, including:

   1. Dec. 11: 46 new cases for an updated total of 844 cases

   2. Dec. 12: 67 new cases for an updated total of 603 cases

   3. Dec. 13: 156 new cases for an updated total of 881 cases

   4. Dec. 14: 34 new cases for an updated total of 593 cases

   5. Dec. 15: 155 new cases for an updated total of 575 cases

   According to the summary, 284 people are currently hospitalized in the state for COVID-19, two shy of the record number of hospitalizations set Wednesday. Four more deaths announced, three of which were associated with long-term care facilities, officials said. There have been 629 deaths associated with COVID-19 in New Hampshire. (Sources: N.H. DHHS and WMUR) The state also reported that 3,155 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered and among those, 901 have gone to front-line health-care workers.

2. Portsmouth’s Clipper Harbor Among 8 New Outbreaks. DHHS Commissioner Lori Shibinette began her comments at Thursday’s press briefing by announcing that 4 of the 30 active outbreaks in N.H. congregate living facilities had been closed. But the good news was short-lived as she went on to list 8 new ones. Among those new on the list is Portsmouth’s Clipper Harbor—a facility that proves assisted living as well as nursing home care. According to the state’s weekly update, there are 22 active cases among residents and 7 among staff. This is not Clipper Harbor’s first encounter with infections resulting from the virus. Earlier this year, the facility went into lockdown after 8 staff members tested positive. The state’s update also revealed the worsening status of the outbreak at the N.H. Veteran’s Home where 31 residents have died and 92 have tested positive along with 98 staff members. Last week, the state reported 87 active resident cases, 81 staff cases, and 27 deaths. The 34 separate active outbreaks listed by the state represent a high for the pandemic. The other new outbreaks announced are at The Arbors of Bedford, Community Bridges in Concord, Country Village Center, Harris Hill Center, Merrimack County Jail, Mount Prospect Academy, Seacoast Treatment and Stabilization Center in Hampton, and the Strafford County Jail. (Sources: Seacoast Online and N.H. DHHS ) Worth noting is a discrepancy between the state report on the death count at the Veteran’s Home (31) that was released on Thursday and a Monday article in the Union Leader that reported the death count had reached 35 at the home. (Source: Union Leader)

3. Some N.H. Long-Term Care Facilities Say They're In The Dark On Vaccine Plans. Staff and residents at New Hampshire's long-term care facilities are slated to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens. But some facilities say they've had minimal communication with their pharmacy partners, and still don't know when they'll get their vaccines. One of those is Mountain View Community, a nursing home in Ossipee. Howard Chandler, the home's administrator, said the lack of communication has been frustrating. He believes people in long-term care settings, especially those that have had COVID-19 outbreaks, should get the vaccine sooner since they've been at such high risk. “Here you have the veterans' home in Tilton with [31] deaths," Chandler said. "You would think that the vaccine would be coming right off the plane and heading right up there to the most vulnerable people, the people at greatest risk, giving them the most immediate protection. "In a press conference Thursday, Gov. Chris Sununu said the state plans to have all of the highest-risk residents – of which there are about 100,000 in the state – immunized by the end of January. So far, 901 high risk health care workers have gotten their shots. Brendan Williams, head of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said some facilities have already scheduled their own clinics, but that others are waiting until mid-January. He has concerns about the transparency of the scheduling process. “One wonders what the criteria is for scheduling a nursing home in mid-January versus end of December," he said. "There’s a lot of it that’s very opaque that we’re trying to get answers on." (Source: NHPR)

4. NH Among States Being Shorted on Vaccine Doses. During his weekly press briefing with public health officials from the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, Gov. Chris Sununu revealed the state will be receiving fewer vaccines in the next shipment than anticipated. The state had been slated to get 12,000 to 13,000 doses, but it will now get a little less than 9,000, the governor said. Sununu noted that if the Moderna vaccine receives final approval, doses will start arriving next week. (Source: WMUR) In his remarks, Sununu attributed the shortfall “to production and how they’re managing their production, unfortunately”, pinning the blame on Pfizer, the manufacturer. “But hey, it’s still 9,000 doses, so we’ll take it and use it,” he said. Meanwhile, governors in other states are reacting less casually to the news that they will be receiving less vaccine than originally allotted. “This is disruptive and frustrating,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter Thursday after learning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the state’s allocation would be cut by 40%. “We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success.” Pfizer, the manufacturer, made it clear that as far as production goes, nothing has changed. “Pfizer has not had any production issues with our COVID-19 vaccine, and no shipments containing the vaccine are on hold or delayed,” spokesman Eamonn Nolan said in an email. “We are continuing to dispatch our orders to the locations specified by the U.S. government.” The company said in a written statement that this week it “successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses that we were asked to ship by the U.S. Government to the locations specified by them. We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses.” (Sources: MarketWatch and Business Insider)

5. Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Gets the OK From FDA Advisory Committee. An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given a thumbs up to the nation's second COVID-19 vaccine. The independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 20-0 with one abstention to support mRNA-1273, a vaccine made in collaboration with the U.S. government by Moderna, a decade-old Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. "There's no doubt in my mind – it looks like the benefits outweigh the risks from what I've seen," said Dr. Steven Pergam, a committee member and infectious disease and vaccine expert at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, expressing the group's consensus. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn could officially authorize the vaccine as soon as late Thursday, with delivery to begin nationwide on Monday. (Source: USA Today)

6. 248 State, County, Federal Inmates Have Active COVID-19. The state Department of Corrections is testing more state prison inmates since the numbers have been dramatically increasing over the last three weeks and now stand at 193 inmates and 25 staffers testing positive for COVID-19. Most of the state positive tests have been at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord where 143 have tested positive, with 47 at the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility in Berlin, according to the Department of Corrections’ website. It states 2 are at the men’s prison’s psychiatric unit and one at transitional housing. There have been no positive tests at the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Concord. The state’s news release Thursday said the Merrimack County Jail had 26 inmates and 4 staffers test positive and in the Strafford County Jail, 28 inmates and 21 staffers tested positive for COVID-19. The Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin reported 1 active COVID-19 case among inmates and three staffers on Thursday. (Source: InDepthNH) Nationally, one out of every five prison inmates (at least 275,000) have had COVID and 1,700 have died. New cases in prisons this week reached their highest level since testing began in the spring, far outstripping previous peaks in April and August. “That number is a vast undercount,” said Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex. Venters has conducted more than a dozen court-ordered COVID-19 prison inspections around the country. “I still encounter prisons and jails where, when people get sick, not only are they not tested but they don’t receive care. So they get much sicker than need be,” he said. (Source: ABC News)

7. Sununu: Number of Legislators Testing Positive For COVID-19 Confidential. At his weekly COVID press briefing, Sununu was also asked how many individuals connected with the State House have tested positive for COVID-19 in the wake of House Speaker Dick Hinch’s death to the virus last week. Sununu said that number is not public information. “I don’t get a running tally,” Sununu said, “I know a couple of staffers because I know them personally,” but he said he had no tally and it is private information. Sununu said the decision about whether or not to make their illness public is up to individual legislators. (Source: InDepthNH) Note: While the decision to disclose or discuss a personal illness with the media should always an individual decision, when it comes to COVID, the transparent thing for public officials to do is to announce it themselves. Kudos to GOP Reps. Kimberly Rice and Aboul Khan for doing so along with former Sen. Martha Fuller-Clark. But failing to make numbers (not names) available that would show how many are infected at a time when some legislators are advocating a return to in-person meetings is simply irresponsible. The simple fact is releasing information about the number of people in the legislature testing positive has no more privacy implications than the state’s weekly release of case counts and deaths in nursing homes and congregate living facilities. Numbers are provided—not names. Hiding the number of legislators who test positive makes it impossible for other legislators to make an informed decision when it comes to attending the in-person sessions and hearings the new GOP majority may decide to hold after voting against a rules change earlier in the week that would have paved the way for virtual meetings. Using a bogus privacy argument as a shield against the public’s right to know is a basic lack of transparency that is also manifesting itself in other areas. Currently 30-40 NH DOT employees have active COVID cases and two are hospitalized. You won’t find this information on any of state’s websites or dashboards. We also haven’t heard a peep about it from the governor or DHHS. Meanwhile, employees at state liquor stores have been diagnosed with the virus and the only way the public finds out about it is if they go to a store and find it “temporarily closed for cleaning”. No data is provided by the state on the number of state employees, first responders, restaurant workers, grocery stores workers, and other “essential” workers who continue to serve us in the middle of the worst pandemic in 100 years. Without the data, we can only guess at the depth of their sacrifice and it becomes more challenging to protect them. Unfortunately, one way for leaders to avoid the need to make the “tough, data-driven decisions” is to fail to collect or report the data needed to drive them.

8. Final CARES Act Reallocations Announced. Hospitals, nonprofits, and the University of New Hampshire will get what funds remain in lapsed accounts under the $1.25 billion the state received in federal CARES Act relief funds. The remaining money has to be spent by Dec. 31 and Gov. Sununu expects it to be spent down to the penny with no money returned to Washington. He said about $4 million will go to UNH, which has helped the state with COVID-19 testing. An additional $7 million will go to hospitals treating the most COVID patents. The final $12 million allocation will go to nonprofits, including hospitals, where much of it will be used to offset unemployment insurance liabilities. (Source: InDepthNH)

9. Treatment Center Taking Heat Over COVID Protocols. The outbreak of 27 COVID-19 cases at Green Mountain Treatment Center, a drug rehab facility in Effingham, has apparently doubled in size since it was first reported two weeks ago. Meanwhile, a whistleblower has told the Conway Sun that clients who tested positive for the coronavirus have been staying in a hotel in North Conway. This was also part of a NHPR report that Green Mountain has refuted. Meanwhile, a Granite Recovery staffer who is currently at home recovering from COVID-19 recently voiced concerns to the Sun about how Green Mountain and Forest Glen are being managed, claiming people who were probably exposed to the virus had been taken on shopping trips in North Conway and Ossipee. (Source: Conway Sun)

10. More People in N.H. Say They’ll Get the Vaccine, But Hesitancy Prevalent Among Some Groups. As the first COVID-19 vaccines begin to reach New Hampshire’s most vulnerable populations, a new poll through the University of New Hampshire’s survey center has found that a majority of people in the state – 61 percent – plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine once it’s offered to them. Judith Rees, a Dartmouth researcher who co-authored the study, said those numbers indicate growing trust in the vaccine among Granite Staters, likely due to new research showing the vaccine’s effectiveness. In October, only 40 percent said they would definitely or probably get a COVID-19 vaccine. Despite that, 21 percent say they will “almost certainly not” get the vaccine. Among survey respondents who identify as non-white, 33 percent said they would “almost certainly not” get the vaccine, while 45 percent said “probably not,” indicating that with more education their opinion could likely be swayed, Rees said. People of color in the state have also been disproportionately represented among COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. (Source: NHPR)

11. Staffing Shortages and COVID-19 Surge Shutting Down More Schools in Southern N.H. Most of New Hampshire's biggest school districts have gone largely remote, as coronavirus cases continue to rise. Of the state's fifteen largest districts, the majority were in virtual instruction at some point this December. Many say they're closing because of a combination of factors: more COVID-19 cases among students and staff, and growing staff shortages, as more teachers and paraprofessionals are required to quarantine for 10-14 days after exposure. In the Windham school district, around 375 students, teachers and staff were quarantining by the end of last week, prompting the district to switch from in-person to remote instruction until January. Hopkinton, Concord, and Merrimack have also recently closed school buildings, citing a combination of staff shortages and rising cases. (Source: NHPR)

12. Will Teachers be Vaccinated Before the End of the School Year? While school nurses are among the high-risk workers who will be vaccinated first, it is less clear when teachers and other school support staff will be vaccinated. The state’s vaccination draft plan, a living document that was released in October, has K-12 teachers and school staff listed in Phase 2, along with other essential workers, including those who live and work in homeless shelters, group homes and prisons. But much about the timeline of vaccine distribution in New Hampshire remains unknown. Megan Tuttle, president of the National Education Association of New Hampshire, says teachers should be prioritized to receive the vaccine early along with other essential workers, either at the end of Phase 1 or at the beginning of Phase 2. “We are considered essential workers and definitely think they should be a priority to get the vaccine,” Tuttle said. (Source: Concord Monitor)

13. Emergency Shelter to Open Next Week in Nashua, About Six Months Ahead of Schedule. Six months earlier than expected, the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter will receive an occupancy permit for its new emergency shelter on Spring Street -- possibly as early as Friday. Although the emergency shelter at the former Sacred Heart School building was planned to open in the summer of 2021, because of the pandemic and the need for social distancing at other shelters in the region, the renovation schedule was fast-tracked, said Michael Reinke, executive director of the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

14. Seacoast Safe: Businesses Pledge to Mitigate COVID-19 Spread. Adjusting to everyday operations restricted by the coronavirus, a number of Seacoast businesses have vowed to help keep employees and patrons safe with the protocols of the Seacoast Safe initiative. 132 businesses in the Seacoast region have signed on since its inception and now have the Seacoast Safe sticker displayed on their windows. Businesses can take the pledge on the Seacoast Chamber Alliance’s website, visitseacoastnh.com. It asks businesses to abide by New Hampshire COVID-19 reopening protocol, follow the state’s face mask mandate, maintain social distancing according to CDC guidelines, following CDC recommended sanitation cleaning and sanitation practices, as well as “having an alcohol-based hand sanitizer in high-traffic locations for employees and customers” and “not allowing employees with COVID-19 symptoms to work on-site.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

15. Liars Bench Beer Co. Transforms Portsmouth Taproom Into 'Bodega'. Up until now, the only retail experience Dagan Migirditch had at his Liars Bench Beer Co. was to-go beer and brewery merchandise. The uncertain COVID-19 winter has prompted Migirditch and staff to transform their taproom, housed in an old plumbing supply warehouse on Islington Street, into a vibrant community "bodega" of sorts – selling local grocery, retail and artisan items. And of course, beer. It's now called Liars Bench Beer and Bodega. Migirditch, co-founder and general manager, said they decided to direct resources that could have gone into accommodating indoor dining to instead create a marketplace that will also support other local businesses. (Source: Seacoast Online)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 17, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Thursday, December 17

(Source: N.H. DHHS)

On Wednesday, N.H. public health officials announced 21 deaths and 928 new COVID-19 cases. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. New Hampshire Reports A Record 21 COVID-19 Deaths As Hospitalizations Jump 13.4%. Just one day after state health officials announced no new coronavirus deaths, 21 were announced on Wednesday—the highest number in a single day since the start of the pandemic. The previous record was 19 deaths, recorded on May 6. Of the 21 deaths, 20 involved residents age 60 or over and one was for a resident under age 60. Meanwhile, after several days of hospitalizations hovering near the 250 mark, on Tuesday they soared to 286. Also announced were 928 new positive tests over five days, including 422 for Tuesday. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Over 112,000 people are now hospitalized nationally.

2. Mandatory COVID-19 Testing At Strafford County Jail. Inmates and staff at the Strafford County Jail in Dover are undergoing mandatory COVID-19 testing, after cases were identified there late last week. Three staff members at the jail are confirmed positive with COVID-19. Two inmates have tested positive with the PCR test, while 17 more are presumed positive after rapid antigen tests. The jail is awaiting results from the more reliable PCR test to confirm these numbers. Officials say six of the inmates are symptomic, and everyone who tested positive is under quarantine either in a cell by themselves or an isolated housing unit. (Source: NHPR) As of Wednesday, Superintendent Chris Brackett was still awaiting results from 79 PCR tests from the jail’s most recent batch of testing. Additional testing will be conducted throughout the facility in conjunction with New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services guidelines, Brackett said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

3. Where Are the First COVID-19 Vaccines Going in NH? State Officials Aren’t Saying. As the first allotments of vaccines were distributed across the country this week, neighboring states broadcast who the first recipients would be. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott informed the public on Monday that 1,950 doses were split between the State Vaccine Depot and the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington to be given to front line medical workers. Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services published a comprehensive list showing nearly 6,000 doses going to seven hospitals during the first week of rollout. Yet as the first shipment of more than 12,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in New Hampshire, state officials here would not disclose the details of where and how vaccines were being distributed across the Granite State. Jake Leon, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said the state is not saying which facilities are receiving doses and how many vaccines they will be given “out of an abundance of caution for the security of the vaccine.” Meanwhile, Vermont’s health officials said they have chosen to prioritize public awareness. “We are committed to sharing ongoing updates with Vermonters as we make plans for vaccine distribution,” officials wrote on their vaccine planning page. (Source: Concord Monitor)

4. Vaccine a Reprieve for ‘A Workforce that Probably Hasn’t Even Fully Recognized How Tired They Are’. Dr. Chris Fore rolled up his sleeve Wednesday morning to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Fore, an emergency department doctor, was the first in line at Concord Hospital to receive the shot. The hospital has no plans to make the vaccine mandatory for its employees so Fore, who is also the chief quality officer, was chosen to lead by example. He had no qualms with receiving the vaccine— he had waited for months for this exact moment. “I really can’t believe we are here prior to January 1,” he said. “The efforts to produce this vaccine is just something that people will write movies and books about for the next 100 years.” Fore said the vaccines offer hope that life might return to normal in the next year. “It does provide a bit of a much-needed reprieve to a workforce that probably hasn’t even fully recognized how tired they are,” he said. The vaccines could not come at a more crucial time for Concord Hospital. Recently, they have admitted an unprecedented number of COVID-19 patients ranging between 15 and 30 new inpatients a day, nearly twice the number they admitted during the first wave of the virus in the Spring. As of last week, the hospital’s intensive car unit was 80 percent full with only four beds available, according to federally reported data. (Source: Concord Monitor) Also on Wednesday, front-line healthcare workers at Exeter Hospital started receiving the vaccine. So far, the hospital has received 59 vials, each with five doses, for a total of 295 doses, said Deb Vasapolli, director of communications and marketing. Another shipment can be requested at the end of week. (Source: Seacoast Online )

5. Does the Pandemic Mean The End Of Snow Days In New Hampshire Schools? With tens of thousands of Granite State students now learning at home, superintendents now have to decide if a snow day is warranted. Some say it isn't. The Exeter School District told families that if inclement weather makes travel difficult, they will have a “Snow Learning Day,” with assignments posted on the district’s remote learning platforms. Mark McLaughlin, superintendent of the already-remote Merrimack School District, said power outages could cause connectivity issues for teachers and students, but school was still on.Yet other schools aren’t eager to forgo a traditional snow day. Dr. Timothy Powers, the headmaster of Pinkerton Academy in Derry, decided to call a snow day - in part, for people's mental health. "It’s a chance to go out and have fun in the snow and shovel your neighbor’s driveway or cuddle up with a book by a fire and read and watch the snow fall,” he said. MaryAnn Connors-Krikorian, Derry's superintendent, also canceled school. "It is my hope that students will have fun, take time to enjoy the outdoors, and create childhood memories," she wrote to families. (Source: NHPR)

6. Monadnock School Board Adopts Stricter Mask Policy, Opts to Stay Hybrid. The Monadnock Regional School District will continue with its hybrid model but now will mandate students and staff wear masks throughout the day, the school board voted Tuesday night. The district’s original policy recommended masks at all times, but allowed students and staff to remove their face coverings in classrooms when they were able to maintain social distancing. The board on Tuesday approved a stricter mask policy — with breaks allowed for eating, socially distanced outdoor activities and twice more throughout the day. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

7. Enhanced Powers Likely for Next NH House Speaker As House GOP Committee Members Reject Rules Requiring Masks and Harassment Training, While Also Rejecting Bans on Guns and Alcohol at Sessions. The new speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives would get emergency powers to shift deadlines, combine bills and order virtual -- rather than in-person -- committee meetings to “thwart the spread of COVID-19,” according to rules that unanimously cleared a key panel Wednesday. But the House Rules Committee broke down along party lines as GOP members refused to recommend bans on consuming alcohol or carrying guns or to require training or oversight to prevent a hostile work environment, sexual harassment or unconscious bias at the State House. The Republican-led group also rejected a requirement that all its members who attend sessions in person wear a protective face mask or face shield. Rep. Steven Smith, R-Charlestown, said the Centers for Disease Control could drop its recommendation that everyone wear masks in public once vaccines are readily available. “It’s just not ready... (it's) poorly thought out. I can’t vote for it in its current form,” Smith said. Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, offered 10 rules changes, all of which GOP panel members rejected, that would have given the next speaker broader powers to order a move to all-remote House sessions or a hybrid of in-person and virtual participation. (Source: Manchester Union Leader) Also rejected by the GOP majority was an attempt by Rep. Renny Cushing to introduce late legislation to block the introduction of late legislation that would have added hate speech, harassment and other behavior to the list of legislative ethics violations. The rejection comes after calls for legislative leaders to take action after newly elected Republican lawmaker Dawn Johnson shared anti-Semitic content from a neo-Nazi website on social media. (Source: Seacoast Online)

8. Deadline To Apply For COVID-19 Housing Relief Program Is This Friday. The deadline to apply for funding from the state's pandemic housing relief program is this Friday, December 18. The program is funded through $20 million dollars of federal CARES Act money, and provides assistance for past rent due from April 2020 forward and short-term assistance to maintain or secure permanent housing. Sign up for NHPR's Coronavirus Newsletter to get near-daily updates on the pandemic in your inbox. To qualify, applicants have to show that their ability to pay for housing has been harmed by the effects of the pandemic. Applications can be found at capnh.org. (Source: NHPR)

9. Former Manchester Police Station Now Officially a Temporary Homeless Shelter. On Tuesday night, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) finalized an agreement that would transform the former Manchester Police Station on Chestnut Street into a temporary emergency winter homeless shelter. The proposed location was announced last week after a potential location on Pearl Street quickly fell through. While the facility will be run by Families in Transition/New Horizons (FIT), which operates the city’s permanent shelter, the official tenant will be the City of Manchester. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 16, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Wednesday, December 16

Some good news on Tuesday as no new COVID-19 deaths were announced by N.H. public health officials. Hospitalizations also declined slightly as the first healthcare workers began receiving the vaccine. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Wednesday.

1. 670 New Cases Announced. Of the 670 new positive test results announced by the state Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, 386 were for Monday Dec. 14. The rest were additions made to previous daily totals as the state continues to clear its testing backlog. There are now 6,477 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. First Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine in N.H. Administered to Front Line Health Workers. The first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were administered to five front line health care workers at the Elliot in Manchester Tuesday morning. The first person in the state to be vaccinated was Heidi Kukla, an ICU nurse at the Elliot. She said she hoped volunteering to get it first would inspire those who may be skeptical to step up and get their shots once they're more widely available, which officials anticipate will be this spring. "I can assure you that there is nothing worse than being a patient on a ventilator in an ICU anywhere in this country right now with COVID. And the anguish of the family members that can't be there who are rationed to a phone call with a provider maybe once a day, because we're all so busy that we don't have the time to spend with the families that we'd like to," Kukla said. "So getting this vaccine, for me, is the first step in having all of this be done." (Source: NHPR)

3. COVID Vaccine Arrives at Exeter Hospital. The first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the first approved in the United States, arrived at Exeter Hospital late Tuesday afternoon. Staff members who are at high risk will be inoculated beginning Wednesday. Deanna King, registered pharmacist, and director of the pharmacy at Exeter Hospital, and Neil Meehan, chief physician executive at Exeter Health Resources, took possession of the first shipment, 295 vials, each holding five vaccines. “I feel so excited having them actually be here,” said King. “We are scheduling appointments for the clinics to begin tomorrow.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. Effectiveness and Safety of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Confirmed, Authorization Expected This Week. Vaccine maker Moderna is poised to win authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine days after Pfizer-BioNTech did the same. Data released Tuesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed that Moderna's vaccine appeared safe and highly effective in a study of more than 30,000 volunteers. Unlike Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine, Moderna's will be given only to adults. The company has begun testing in teenagers but has not accumulated enough data to include in its authorization request to the FDA. An independent advisory committee to the FDA will review the data in an all-day meeting Thursday. If the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee decides that the vaccine's benefits outweigh its risks, the vaccine is likely to be authorized this week by the FDA commissioner. The Moderna vaccine is being manufactured in New Hampshire at Lonza Biologics at the Pease Trade Center in Portsmouth. ((Source: USA Today)

5. Outbreak Hits Strafford County Jail. Strafford County officials say a COVID-19 outbreak has been identified inside the Strafford County House of Corrections. Sixteen detainees and three employees have tested positive, county Administrator Ray Bower and jail Superintendent Chris Brackett said Tuesday. Fifteen of the 16 detainees are located on the same unit. The outbreak is the first at the facility, which is located on County Farm Road in Dover and housed 360 total detainees as of Tuesday. (Source: Seacoast Online) The news comes a day after a report that 152 inmates in the state prison system have tested positive. (Source: InDepthNH) At the State Prison in Concord, an increase of nearly 90 positive COVID-19 cases has led to an increase in testing and a group of prisoners to be quarantined. “We had upwards of 75 individuals in a unit which we had quarantined engage in a test, so we were able to find a lot of asymptomatic positive COVID residents,” Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections Helen Hanks said. Hanks said there has been resistance among some inmates to testing because a positive result in a quarantined group restarts the clock at 14-days. Hanks said three inmates were briefly hospitalized, all returned. No one has died of COVID in the facility and health-wise, people are doing well. (Source: WMUR) With cases of COVID-19 continuing to spread through prisons across the nation, a national commission has recommended that guards and inmates should be among the first to receive vaccinations against the virus that causes the illness. Members of the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, whose members include former U.S. Attys. Gen. Loretta Lynch and Albert Gonzales, also called for an increase in the number of prisoners released during the pandemic and for some incoming inmates to be diverted from prisons in order to slow the spread of the disease. (Source: Los Angeles Times)

6. As Long-Term Care Facilities Wait for Vaccine and Test Results, FEMA Sends Staff to Assist. Much-needed help from the federal government, in the form of additional staffing, is set to be delivered to some New Hampshire long-term care facilities this month. But the vaccine will apparently take longer. FEMA is sending 10 United States Public Health nurses and two Health and Human Services support staff to facilities in Hanover, Manchester and Bedford. Staff from Hanover Terrace said four registered nurses started work on Tuesday and can stay for up to 30 days. Five residents have died from COVID-19 in that facility and more than 60 residents have the virus. As for vaccinations, Hanover Terrace said they have received a tentative date of Jan. 17 and the N.H. Veterans Home—which has seen 35 resident deaths—was still waiting to be given its date as of Tuesday afternoon. Both facilities are currently working on providing consent forms and educational materials. (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, Brendan Williams, the president of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said facilities that have been in contact with pharmacies about vaccines have received a range of dates for when their staff can get their vaccinations. Anecdotally, he heard nursing homes in hard-hit areas of Rockingham County received a vaccine date in January while other facilities that haven’t been as severely impacted by the virus received vaccine dates in December. Jake Leon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said because the program is controlled by the federal government and not the state government, he cannot comment on the timeline of the vaccines other than to confirm the rollout is beginning this week. While nursing home residents and staff wait for vaccines, many have also had delays in receiving COVID-19 test results. Luanne Rogers, an administrator at St. Teresa Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Manchester, said when her home first started testing, the state lab returned results within two days. More recently, her facility has had to wait five or six days before determining if someone had the virus. Often, Rogers received test results back just before submitting her next round of tests. Rogers said she decided to partner with an out of state testing facility to receive results more promptly. (Source: Concord Monitor)

7. State Won’t Say How Many Legislators Tested Positive for COVID-19. The state Department of Health and Human Services won’t say how many state legislators and staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 claiming that is confidential health information. InDepthNH.org also asked the department to identify the lawmakers by name, which spokesman Jake Leon also declined to answer. “We are bound by federal privacy laws from releasing an individual’s protected health information unless that information is necessary to protect the public’s health,” Leon said in an email. “That includes an individual’s COVID-19 status.” Leon said all legislators and staff determined to be a close contact of a confirmed case have been required to quarantine, similar to any other resident who is a close contact of a case. The department worked with the Legislature to make testing available to legislators, State House staffers and their families on Saturday. State Sen. Thomas Sherman, D-Rye, who is also a physician, said the state is technically correct about releasing private health information, but he believes the number should be released and lawmakers should make their test results public voluntarily. “While it is important to respect both privacy and protections provided under federal law there is a public right to know about the status of the health of our leaders especially when the public may have been exposed,” Sherman said. Republican legislators have been in the spotlight because of the refusal of some to wear masks during gatherings and the subsequent infections of at least six legislators, including newly-elected House Speaker Rep. Dick Hinch, whose death last week was attributed to the coronavirus. According to Democratic Minority Leader Renny Cushing, some Republican lawmakers have also refused to wear masks at the State House, even in offices where staffers are wearing masks, he said. “They went into a town after the governor issued a mask ordinance and the town of Durham and university have ordinances thinking they were above any regulation. That’s arrogant and selfish,” Cushing said. “Legislators do not have the right to infect other people with COVID.” (Source: InDepthNH)

8. Dartmouth Researchers Reflect on Rural Health in the Pandemic. Earlier this year, some doctors feared rural areas would be overwhelmed with too many COVID-19 patients and too few resources. In June, we reported on a study that found rural areas of New Hampshire and Vermont were doing better than expected - but things have changed quite a bit since then. Dartmouth College Professor Elizabeth Carpenter-Song said that a divergence in state policies through the fall has led to different outcomes. “We're really seeing the differences with the Vermont response being very robust at the state level. Early action...particularly some of the changes with respect to limits on social gatherings, for example, whereas on the New Hampshire side, we were the last within the New England region to issue a mandate [for masks],” Carpenter-Song said. Another Dartmouth Professor, Anne Sosin, said the decision to centralize contact tracing in Concord combined with more focus on cases in the southern part of the state “allowed outbreaks to grow more quickly than they might have had contact tracing capacity been sufficient.” (Source: NHPR)

9. Poverty Has a Learning Curve for Middle-Income Applicants During Pandemic. As more middle-income families face economic hardship from COVID-19, many first-time applicants seeking help to stay in their homes don't have the documents they need to prove they are eligible, agency leaders say. Executives with four community action programs urged U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., to relieve applicants of rigid paper documentation requirements and to deliver more discretionary money in the next COVID-19 relief package. Betsey Andrew Parker, executive director of the Strafford County Community Action Parnership, said there’s plenty of anxiety out there about what will be in place in 2021 when moratoriums on rental evictions and mortgage foreclosures are set to expire. “The underemployed people we are seeing is very significant,” Parker said. “People are really actually ruining their credit because they are trying to keep themselves afloat during this time. They are trying to keep themselves in the house. What happens past Jan. 1 really remains to be seen.” (Source: Union Leader)

10. Portsmouth Outdoor Dining to Return in 2021. The City Council on Monday voted unanimously to give struggling restaurants "a small ounce of predictability" by guaranteeing the return of outdoor dining on March 1, 2021 weather-permitting. Councilors also voted to turn the Citizen Response Task Force into a formal city Blue Ribbon Committee – a conversation that began with much pushback by some councilors but ultimately ended in compromise. Per the final vote, the task force membership will remain the same, but a city councilor will join as a non-voting member, ultimately reporting back to the City Council on the committee's work. The Health Subcommittee of the Citizen Response Task Force was also made a Blue Ribbon Committee to work hand-in-hand with the city Health Department. (Source: Seacoast Online)

11. More Manchester Students Absent and Failing During the Pandemic. The Manchester school district has released new data that shows middle and high school students are struggling during the pandemic, especially students of color. A review of grades and attendance records from the district’s first quarter of the school year - when most students were partially or fully remote - show that about 10 percent more students failed or missed classes this fall, compared to a year ago. About a third of students had five or more absences, potentially putting them on a path to truancy. More than 40 percent of secondary school students were failing at least one class. That number is even higher for students learning English as a second language, students with special education needs, and Black and Latinx high schoolers. The numbers illustrate not only the toll of disrupted and virtual schooling during a pandemic, but also the disparities that have long plagued New Hampshire's public schools, including Manchester's. (Source: NHPR)

12. Concord High School Puts Winter Athletics on Pause As New Cases Confirmed. Concord High School’s winter athletic teams held their first practices of the season of Monday. One day later, all winter sports activities were halted. The decision to halt athletic programs until January 4 was made due to increased community transmission of COVID-19, including new cases in district schools. Concord High Principal Mike Reardon and Athletic Director Steve Mello asked for families to be patient and understanding. “CHS has experienced some positive COVID cases over the last two days, some of which are associated with athletic teams,” Reardon and Mello said in a message to parents of the school’s student-athletes. “We remain committed to having our winter sports and co-curricular programs, but right now we need to pause for everyone’s well-being.” In addition to the move to pause winter sports, interim Superintendent Kathleen Murphy announced the Christa McAuliffe School and the Concord Regional Technical Center are both pivoting to remote learning on Thursday, due to impact of community transmission of COVID-19. The decision was based on availability of staff and number of students in quarantine. The schools will be remote until Jan. 19. (Source: Concord Monitor)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 15, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Tuesday, December 15

The coronavirus metrics website CovidActNow has elevated Rockingham County to “Severe outbreak” status. Hillsborough County, home to Manchester and Nashua, is the only other N.H. county reported at that risk level.

On Monday, New Hampshire public health officials reported 919 new positive tests and one additional death attributed to COVID-19. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. The COVID-19 Vaccine Is In N.H. Here’s What We Know So Far. The first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in New Hampshire on Monday, marking a turning point, but not the end, of the COVID-19 pandemic. Doctors say they’re beginning to feel excitement, and a bit of relief. According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, 12,675 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were expected in the first batch, but not all of those are being distributed this week. Close to 8,000 shots have been set aside for long-term care facilities, which will be administered through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens starting next week. Beth Daly, chief of the New Hampshire Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, said the vaccines distributed this week will only cover “about one quarter of what we need in order to vaccinate all of the high risk health workers in hospitals.” State health officials estimate that it could be six to 12 months until there is “widespread access” to the vaccine. They say they will be vaccinating those in phase 1a -- a group that includes over 100,000 people -- until the middle of January. After health care workers, people living or working in long-term care facilities, and first responders, the next stage, 1b, includes people with comorbidities that put them at significantly higher risk, and older adults living in congregate settings. If you fall into a high risk group, you could get the vaccine in the coming months, but health officials estimate the general public could begin getting vaccinated in the spring. Officials also caution those receiving the vaccine not to toss away their masks just yet. It could take one to two weeks after the second dose of the vaccine in order to achieve protection from COVID-19, and both doses of the Pfizer vaccine must be taken 21 days apart. For health workers, that means the vaccine might not provide full protection until January. “You really don’t have any sort of coverage until after your second dose,” said Jamie LaRoche, director of provider network operations at Lakes Region General Healthcare. “At that point we’re still going to be wearing masks, travel is still going to be restricted. It’s not that a magic switch gets turned on or off after you’ve had that second vaccine.” (Source: NHPR)

2. Cases Surge Even As Vaccine Arrives in State. Of the 919 COVID-19 cases announced on Monday, over 300 were updates to previous daily totals. 613 new cases were reported for Monday itself and the daily PCR test positivity rate soared from the 5.9% reported for Sunday to 8.8%. This is highest reported daily PCR positivity rate in this phase of the pandemic. Meanwhile the combined percentage of people testing positive for both antigen and PCR tests was reported elsewhere on the DHHS website at 8.9%. There are now 6,752 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire and 256 people hospitalized because of the virus—an increase of five over the previous day. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

3. CovidActNow Elevates Rockingham County to “Severe Outbreak” Level. On Monday, CovidActNow, one of the key sources for national coronavirus metrics throughout the pandemic, elevated the risk level in Rockingham County from “Active or imminent outbreak” to “Severe outbreak”. Hillsborough County, home of the state’s two largest cities, is the only other N.H. county listed as experiencing a severe outbreak. According to CovidActNow, daily cases per 100,000 have soared to 75.6, 41% of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) space is in use, and the county’s test positivity rate now sits at 15%. According to the CovidActNow, “severe outbreak” status should require the closing of bars and gyms, reductions to 25% capacity in restaurants, and a switch to full remote learning for schools. Travel and gatherings should also be avoided and masks worn whenever leaving the home. (Source: CovidActNow)

4. Portsmouth Surpasses 100 Active Cases for First Time During the Pandemic. The State Department of Health and Human Services is now reporting 103 active coronavirus cases in Portsmouth. This is the first time more than 100 active cases have been reported in the city at one time and represents a doubling in active cases over the most recent 3 week period. Dover (136) and Hampton (108) lead the seacoast area in active cases. Manchester (852), Nashua (493), and Concord (374) lead the state. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Meanwhile, the third and final reading of the extension of Portsmouth’s mask mandate through June 30, 2021 will take place at the City Council Meeting on Dec. 21. Without an extension, the mandate will expire on Jan. 4. (Source: City of Portsmouth Email Newsletter)

5. Death Toll Grows at Vets Home. The COVID-19 death toll among residents at the New Hampshire Veterans Home grew to 35 on Monday even as the first shipment of vaccine reached the state. Spokeswoman Sarah Stanley said Monday 35 residents have active infections, while 20 have recovered. A total of 22 staff members also have the virus and 72 have recovered. When the first case was reported at the home a month ago, there were 135 residents and 280 staff there. This has become the second deadliest COVID-19 outbreak in the state, behind only the Hillsborough County Nursing Home, where 39 people died over the summer. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun https://www.laconiadailysun.com/news/death-toll-grows-at-vets-home-even-as-vaccine-arrives-in-state/article_ceb97ff2-3e52-11eb-9f96-5fa9ec503dc9.html ) Meanwhile in the Upper Valley, another Hanover Terrace resident has died of COVID-19. In an email Monday, Martha Ilsley, the nursing home’s temporary administrator, said that of the 68 current residents, 63 have tested positive for COVID-19, and so far, 21 of those have recovered and five have died. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of these families and their friends,” Ilsley said in an email Monday afternoon. (Source: The Valley News)

6. Despite Arrival of COVID-19 Vaccine, Nursing Homes Will Have to Wait. Although workers and residents of nursing homes rank among the highest priority for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, nursing homes won't be getting the vaccine until next week at the earliest, and some must wait until January, nursing home officials said on Monday. That's because nursing homes are outside of the state-operated distribution system that started in earnest on Monday when state workers took possession of 12,675 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Nursing homes are part of a separate distribution system established under a public-private partnership involving the Trump administration and pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreen's, said Brendan Williams, president and chief-executive of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, the trade group that represents most of the state's nursing homes. "I think it's pretty crazy," said Williams, adding that he doesn't understand all the details of the system. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme and reason to it." Meanwhile, one of the state's largest nursing homes, the Hillsborough County Nursing Home, is not scheduled to receive the vaccine until Jan. 7 and 8, said Administrator David Ross. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine requires two doses; a second round of shots has been scheduled for the end of January at the nursing home. On Monday, the home reported that five residents and nine staff have active COVID-19 cases. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

7. 3 Hospitalized in Pines of Newmarket Outbreak. A COVID-19 outbreak at the Pines of Newmarket senior living facility has landed three residents in the hospital, according to management officials. Loree Wagner, spokeswoman for Merrill Gardens, the Pines' parent company, said as of Monday, 10 residents and five staff members had been infected with COVID-19. Three residents were transported to a hospital, she said, and none have required treatment in the intensive care unit. She said since Friday, one resident has been discharged. (Source: Seacoast Online) Note: The state will be updating the weekly status of nursing home and congregation living facility outbreaks either today or tomorrow. Meanwhile, facilities are free—if they wish—to publicly announce clusters and outbreaks on their own. In last week’s DHHS nursing home outbreak update, active outbreaks at 30 separate facilities were reported. That’s 10 times the number DHHS reported a month and a half ago (3) on October 29.

8. Long-Term Care Facilities Discuss Challenges With Sen. Hassan. In a virtual town hall on Monday, people managing and operating N.H. nursing homes told Sen. Maggie Hassan the biggest issue facing them continues to be staffing, making sure they can have the people they need at work while keeping the virus out of their facilities. Testing, testing delays and rising costs have also been challenges. Patricia Ramsey with the Edgewood Center in Portsmouth said her staff is holding up the best it can and are anxiously waiting for vaccine clinics to start. “Our families are looking for those vaccines, our residents, our staff and you know it can’t come soon enough,” Ramsey said. Financial hardships on top of devastating outbreaks have exhausted nurses for months. More help from the federal government is something Hassan said lawmakers are working hard to hammer out in Washington. Hassan said $2 billion has been set aside to help long-term care facilities in the current bill lawmakers are working on now. “We know that lives are at stake, here and we know that addressing the challenges that long-term care facilities are experiencing has to be a top priority,” Sen. Hassan said. (Source: WMUR)

9. COVID-19 Cases Among State Prison Inmates Skyrocket to 152, With 31 in Berlin Facility. In less than three weeks, the number of state prison inmates with active cases of COVID-19 has skyrocketed from six to 152, with 31 of those in the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility in Berlin, according to the state Department of Corrections’ website. The number of state prison staff on Monday with active COVID-19 was 21. There were no active COVID-19 cases at the federal prison in Berlin Monday, but they did report three staff members being positive. The biggest increase for the state prison system was at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord that reported 118 active cases, 2 cases in the prison psychiatric units and one at transitional housing units in either Manchester or Concord. Last week the National Guard was called in to help as the COVID-19 outbreak continued at the state prison. (Source: InDepthNH)

10. Nashua Board Of Health Recommends Curfew In Response To COVID-19. The Nashua Board of Health is recommending the city impose a curfew in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The 9:30 pm curfew would prohibit indoor activities at businesses including bars, restaurants and clubs. Takeout would be allowed to continue. Nashua alderman Tom Lopez said a curfew was the least the city could do, given the mounting crisis. "I don't think the public fully grasps that we are in the emergency, versus maybe looking at it further down the road,” he said. But some business owners who rely on late-night crowds say the curfew would cripple them. Others point to recent data suggesting that the majority of coronavirus transmission is occurring in family and household gatherings, rather than businesses. Doctors on the Board of Health said the curfew would not replace other public health measures, but they warned of a total shutdown if people didn’t begin to take the coronavirus more seriously. (Source: NHPR)

11. Clients, Staff Say Major N.H. Addiction Treatment Center Mishandled COVID Outbreak. Interviews with clients, their relatives, current and former staff, and internal communications suggest Green Mountain Treatment Center failed to take basic steps to protect residents from a COVID-19 outbreak that has so far, according to state numbers, infected nearly 50 people. Complaints concerning the Effingham-based facility include a lack of social distancing in company-managed transportation and the dining area; the absence of a plan to protect clients in the event of an outbreak; and a lack of enforcement of mask-wearing among both clients and staff. Green Mountain Treatment Center is managed by Granite Recovery Centers, one of the biggest providers of substance use disorder treatment in New Hampshire. It’s a residential facility on a remote, 72-acre property in Effingham that provides detox and treatment to clients from all over the country, some by court order. NHPR tried to ask CEO Eric Spofford about the complaints, but he has declined to respond. (Source: NHPR)

12. N.H. House Leadership Considers Meeting in Cars in January. The N.H. House of Representatives is tentatively planning to hold a drive-in style meeting in January at the University of New Hampshire in the wake of its speaker dying of COVID-19. The death last week of Rep. Dick Hinch prompted Democrats to call for the Jan. 6 meeting to be held virtually. Lawmakers are expected to elect a new speaker, adopt rules and introduce bills. “The Democratic Party wants to go virtual and we are having trouble with that. We are just looking at safety and getting everyone together,” Acting Speaker Sherman Packard told The Associated Press. The meeting would be held in one of the UNH parking lots, Packard said. They are trying to work out additional details, including how lawmakers would be vote. “This is a concept to see if we can do it,” Packard said. (Source: Associated Press) When the legislature last met on December 2, Republican lawmakers voted down a proposed rules change that would have allowed legislators to debate and vote virtually during the state of emergency. The rules change was voted down despite a ruling by the N.H. Supreme Court affirming that virtual meetings meet constitutional requirements. At the same December 2 session, more than 50 GOP state reps showed up and refused to wear masks despite mandates requiring them from the state, the Town of Durham, and UNH, where the session was held.

13. Manchester School Committee Approves Return of Winter Sports—With Conditions. After weeks of delay on a decision, winter sports will be returning to Manchester’s public schools in January. On Monday night, the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) approved winter sports 12-3 with a set of caveats. All student-athletes and coaches outside of competitive cheerleaders and wrestlers will be required to wear a face mask or face covering during play, there will be no fans, and student-athletes playing for varsity teams will not be able to play for out-of-school teams during the season. The student-athletes will also be required to remain in remote learning even if their peers return to in-person or hybrid instruction, with exceptions for unified sports programs for special needs students. If any student-athlete tests positive for COVID-19, their entire team will be required to quarantine for 10 days and all games and practices will be paused. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 14, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Monday, December 14

This excerpt from New Hampshire's vaccine distribution planning documents outlines the groups first in line to receive the vaccine. (Source: NHPR and N.H. DHHS)

On Sunday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 3 additional deaths and 722 new positive test results for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Monday.

1. First Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine Set To Arrive Today in New Hampshire. The state is set to receive its first shipment of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, and one local healthcare system says it could begin inoculating its frontline workers by Wednesday. According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, the state is expected to receive 12,675 doses as part of its initial round of the vaccine. The state is not disclosing the exact time or location of the arriving shipment "out of an abundance of caution for the security of the vaccine," according to DHHS spokeswoman Laura Montenegro, who is in charge of communications for the state's COVID-19 vaccine operations section. Under New Hampshire's current distribution plan, healthcare workers who are most at risk for direct exposure will be first in line for a vaccine. Future rounds will be prioritized for additional healthcare workers, as well as residents of long-term care facilities and first responders. While in a press release state officials praised news of the first shipments, they also cautioned that it will likely be six months to a year until there is "widespread access" to the vaccine. In the meantime, health experts say everyone - including those who receive the vaccine - should continue to take precautions like wearing masks and practicing safe distancing to prevent the continued spread of the virus. (Source: NHPR)

2. Community Transmission Continues to Be Key Factor in Latest Surge. The 722 new positive test results for COVID-19 announced on Sunday include cases over ranging over several days as DHHS continues to deal with a backlog:

   1. Dec. 8: 23 new cases for an updated total of 972 cases

   2. Dec. 9: 170 new cases for an updated total of 688 cases

   3. Dec. 10: 42 new cases for an updated total of 818 cases

   4. Dec. 11: 92 new cases for an updated total of 477 cases

   5. Dec. 12: 395 new cases.

   The new cases reside in Rockingham (188), Merrimack (142), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (112), Strafford (54), Belknap (30), Cheshire (24), Grafton (18), Carrol (17), Coos (11), and Sullivan (2) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (67) and Nashua (38). The county of residence is still being determined for nineteen new cases. There are now 6,560 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. Manchester (833), Nashua (493), Concord (345), Salem (192), Derry (188), Londonderry (182), Merrimack (159), Hudson (144), Dover (129), Milford (120), Bedford (119), Hampton (111), Keene (102), Hooksett (99), and Portsmouth (94) are the communities with the most active cases. 251 people are currently hospitalized in New Hampshire with the virus. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

3. Looking at The Data: The Fall Surge Continues as 440 Unexplained N.H. Deaths in 2020 Surface. In its weekly analysis of key N.H. COVID-19 metrics, the Concord Monitor reports 4 of 5 key metrics continue to trend in an unfavorable direction. Hospitalizations are double what they were during the spring surge, the two-week average of confirmed new cases has gone up 50% in December alone and is well above, total weekly new cases are well above the rate of 4 per 100,000 (or 54 per day in a state with N.H.s population) that indicates the virus is actively spreading. and the positivity rate on PCR tests is above 5%. The one plus continues to be testing, where the state is conducting tests at well above the minimum recommended level (at least 150 PCR tests per 100,000 people each day, or 2,000 tests per day.) In an interesting analysis, reporter David Brooks takes a closer look at new mortality metrics released by the CDC through late November. According to figures, 943 more people have died in New Hampshire than the average at that point in the previous five years. Subtracting the 500 deaths directly caused by COVID-19, we’re left with about 440 excess deaths to explain. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that 440 Granite Staters who died this year would have been alive if there had been no pandemic. “This is incredibly complex,” said Tricia Tilley, deputy director of the Division of Public Health. For one thing, a change of 400 deaths or about 3% of the total is not unusual from year to year and could be just normal variations that have nothing to do with COVID-19. For another thing, 2020 data is still incomplete. “Approximately 10% of New Hampshire residents who die, die out of state, and we’re waiting for the final records for some proportion of these New Hampshire residents,” said Tilley. “It takes several months for that data to be collected and entered into the New Hampshire Vital Records system.” While it will take months after the end of the year to finalize the data, Tilley said that one thing is very likely: Excess deaths won’t be felt evenly throughout society. “As we look deeper into the data, we will likely see that COVID continues to have disproportionate impact on Black and Native American people, other minorities, and lower incomes,” she said. (Source: Concord Monitor)

4. Sununu Emergency Order Suspends Privacy Opt-Out Provision in State Immunization System. As New Hampshire prepares to receive its first vaccine shipment, the state is clearing the way to ensure it will be in compliance with federal distribution requirements. An executive order issued Friday by Gov. Sununu includes steps to support data collection for the Centers for Disease Control, which is paying for the vaccine. The CDC requires the Department of Health and Human Services keep a record of “each vaccination event.” Those records will be collected in the New Hampshire Immunization Information System, and will include both medical and vaccination records. The goal is to ensure people who are vaccinated receive the same vaccine for second booster shot three to four weeks after the first one. The Immunization Information System will also remind a person when it is time for him or her to receive the second shot. The emergency order also suspends a state law that gives people receiving a vaccination the ability to opt out of providing immunization information to the state’s immunization information system. Although health-care providers are required to forward the information to the state, they do not have to if a person or parent of a minor child does not want the information in the system. The executive order suspends those provisions during the state of emergency and requires everyone who is vaccinated to allow the state to collect the needed data and share it with the federal government. The order also requires all health-care providers administering the vaccine to provide the data to the state within 24 hours. (Source: InDepthNH)

5. Rep. Marsh: Hinch's Death Caused by GOP Colleagues Who Refused to Take COVID Precautions. The vice chairman of Carroll County’s legislative delegation is blaming fellow Republicans for creating an atmosphere of “toxic peer pressure” that led to the Speaker of the House Dick Hinch’s death on Wednesday. Rep. Bill Marsh (R-Brookfield) took to Twitter on Thursday in the wake of a news release from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that said an autopsy showed Hinch, 71, of Merrimack died of COVID-19. “I just received this from the Attorney General,” said Marsh, sharing the release in a tweet. “Those in our caucus who refused to take precautions are responsible for Dick Hinch’s death.” Since then, Marsh’s comments have appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as on FOX News and ABC-TV. Marsh, a retired ophthalmologist, sits on Gov. Chris Sununu’s Economic Reopening Task Force. He is the public health officer for the town of Brookfield in southern Carroll County. Marsh was among those sworn in during an outdoor ceremony Dec. 2 at the University of New Hampshire. He wore a mask, but as many as 80 state representatives did not. “I can’t pin the transmission of disease to any particular date and time, obviously, and I’m not accusing anyone of murder, but I believe that the peer pressure put on Dick Hinch to not wear a mask and not follow fairly clear and reasonable guidelines for social distancing ... and considering the medical issues that are really his private business, which I had some knowledge of, that he was putting himself at risk,” Marsh said. “And therefore peer pressure is ultimately what was responsible for Dick Hinch’s death.” (Source: The Conway Sun)

6. Nurses Working Multiple Jobs Tied to COVID-19 Spread. A Dartmouth College study found that nurses and other long-term care staff who work multiple jobs may be more likely to spread COVID-19 among elderly residents. “With higher rates of second job-holding among direct care workers and nurses in long-term care than other workers, and many of these workers moving across health settings from their first to second jobs, this creates a potential pathway for COVID-19 transmission,” said Kristin Smith, a visiting sociology professor. Smith co-authored the study, which links the high rates of illness and death in long-term care facilities to the economic challenges of many nurses and staffers at these facilities. New Hampshire has the nation's highest percentage of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities (81%), Smith wrote, "so understanding employment dynamics and disparities in this sector could never be more timely than now.” The study found that many direct-care workers have relatively low wages and limited hours, compelling them to find extra work. In fact, according to the study, nurses and other direct-care workers are 32% to 35% more likely to hold at least one other job. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

7. Portsmouth’s Rudi’s to Hibernate Until Spring. In a Facebook post, the owners of Rudi’s in Portsmouth’s Market Square announced the restaurant will close for the upcoming winter months “with the hopes of safer times ahead.” The temporary closure went into effect Saturday December 12th. “We’d like to thank all of our customers for their support during these trying times. We look forward to seeing you all back in the spring of 2021!” The news comes on the heels of another signature Portsmouth restaurant, Jumpin’ Jays Fish Cafe, making a similar announcement early last week. Gift cards for Rudy’s are available on the restaurant’s website at https://www.rudisportsmouth.com.

8. With Restaurants Hit by COVID, Pittsfield Biodiesel Company Faces a Supply Shortage. The pandemic has scrambled the supply chain for almost every industry you can think of, and that holds true even when the supply is something that others want to get rid of. Consider Amenico, a company that for more than a decade has been sending trucks to regional restaurants to buy their used cooking grease and oil, which they process in their Pittsfield plant and sell to biodiesel plants. There was no shortage of supply in food-loving New England until COVID-19 shut down everything. In March there was an immediate plummet,” said David Ossoff, vice president of operations for the nine-person firm which buys its material from restaurants and institutional kitchens throughout Northern New England. “In summer things got better. I’d say we were off by about 40% on collections throughout the summer – wasn’t as bad as we expected. New Hampshire fared much better than Maine, Massachusetts …. we seemed to have more stability. In Massachusetts, volume fell much further.” “Then in late September things really began to drop. We will do a route with 20 or 22 stops, and every time it seems like one or two (restaurants) will have closed,” said Ossoff. “We’re very worried about this winter. I’ve seen estimates that 30% of restaurants will go out of business before spring.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 13, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Sunday, December 13

Source: N.H. DHHS

On Saturday, N.H. public health officials announced 10 additional deaths and 791 new positive tests for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Sunday.

1. NH Surpasses 30,000 COVID-19 Cases, Reaches 600 Deaths. Health officials on Saturday announced 791 new positive test results and 10 new deaths. The new numbers bring the state's total case count to 30,244 and its death toll to 600. Nine of the 10 new deaths are linked to long-term care facilities. The deaths include three men from Belknap County, three women from Hillsborough County, and three women and one man from Rockingham County. All were age 60 or older. There are currently 247 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. The 791 new cases reported Saturday includes test results reported over the past several days as the state works through a backlog. They include:

   1. Dec. 7: 4 new cases for an updated total of 808 cases

   2. Dec 8: 165 new cases for an updated total of 951 cases

   3. Dec. 9: 107 new cases for an updated total of 518 cases

   4. Dec. 10: 128 new cases for an updated total of 777 cases

   5. Dec. 11: 387 new cases

   (Sources: WMUR and N.H. DHHS)

2. How Ready Are Seacoast Hospitals for COVID Surge? Seacoast-area hospitals, like those across the nation, have seen the the number of admissions for COVID-19 surge in November and December. Spokespersons for six area hospitals confirmed they are seeing rising numbers and said they are adjusting accordingly: restricting visitors, looking at deferring non-emergency surgical procedures, upping infection protocols, and taking strong looks at staffing and bed spaces. hospital is averaging 12 to 15 cases at a time, which seems to be in line with other area hospitals. To date, according to Deb Vasapolli, director of communications and public relations, there has been no transmission between patients to staff, or staff to patients. “Our staffing is adequate right now, but we are watching how to allocate services. One problem is we are in cold and flu season. People, including staff, need to be COVID tested and quarantine to determine what they have. That may become a staffing issue.” Lynn Robbins of Portsmouth Regional Hospital said staffing is adequate right now, but a shortage of available contract labor and staff needing to manage home duties—like hybrid and remote learning—are raising concerns. Robbins said one staffing tactic the hospital will implement in January 2021 is to offer their own LNA training with curriculum from the American Red Cross. “We will pay these students to train, and once they become LNAs, they will come on staff for a one-year commitment,” Robbins said. “With the length of this pandemic and its various waves, our staff have shifted from being 'healthcare heroes' to truly 'healthcare warriors.'” (Source: Seacoast Online)

3. First Vaccine Shipment to Arrive in Days, But NH Doc Says Don't Take Off That Mask. Now that the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine, the state health department expects to receive the first shipment of more than 12,000 doses within days. FedEx and UPS planes and trucks are expected to begin moving shipments of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday, and the first doses will arrive in some states as early as Monday, according to reports. In New Hampshire, the first doses will go to frontline health care workers, first responders and residents of nursing homes, which have been hit hard by the pandemic here. New Hampshire health experts say there won’t be enough vaccine available for the general public until next spring. So even after you get your shots — both the Pfizer vaccine and a pending vaccine from Moderna require two doses — you’ll have to continue to cover your face and avoid travel and social gatherings for some time, an epidemiologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center cautions. Dr. Michael Calderwood, DHMC’s associate chief quality officer, said a lot of misinformation about the vaccines has been circulating on social media, including rumors that it causes infertility or severe allergic reactions. Allergic reactions can occur with any vaccine given to millions of people, Calderwood said, but “it’s extremely rare.” As for side effects, Calderwood said about 70% to 80% of those who received the vaccine in trials reported soreness where the shot was given, but he said that was “very short-lived.” Some people also reported viral symptoms such as muscle aches, fatigue and even fever, but those were easily managed with acetaminophen, he said. Those side effects, he pointed out, are proof that the vaccine is working. “That is your immune system responding to the vaccine and developing immunity,” he said. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

4. NH House Speaker Pro Tempore Kim Rice Tests Positive for COVID-19. Another top Republican in the New Hampshire House of Representatives has tested positive for COVID-19. Speaker Pro Tempore Kim Rice of Hudson, a close ally of the late Speaker Dick Hinch, announced her diagnosis Saturday afternoon on Facebook. In her post, Rice wrote: "I want to thank everyone for the well wishes, I'm feeling horrible but prayers are appreciated." She also asked for political battles over the pandemic to stay off her page, saying: "Please keep it on your wall not mine because I'm too busy struggling to breathe to fight with anyone." The news of Rice's illness comes just three days after Hinch died of COVID-19. She said she has been touched so far by the kind messages she has received from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. (Source: WMUR)

5. COVID-19 Testing Held for NH Lawmakers, Staff and Families Following Death of House Speaker Dick Hinch. New Hampshire lawmakers and their close contacts had the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 test Saturday after concerns were raised following the House speaker's death from the coronavirus. Drive-thru testing for the lawmakers, their staff and family was available in both Londonderry and Concord. “We're glad that the powers that be have responded. I know today some of my staff is out being tested,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Renny Cushing. Hinch died Wednesday, a week after being sworn in at Organization Day, an event held outside on the campus of the University of New Hampshire where some lawmakers refused to wear masks. A previous indoor Republican caucus meeting on Nov. 20 had been linked to COVID-19 cases. “People have a misguided belief that they have a right to infect. We do not have a right to infect. We have a responsibility to protect the health and safety not just of ourselves but of everybody,” Cushing said. Cushing said he believes moving forward that people will be much more conscious of the virus. “We're in a situation now where every member of the Legislature knows somebody who has died from COVID-19. That's the speaker of the House,” Cushing said. “And hopefully as Governor Sununu said it’s a wake-up call.” (Source: WMUR)

6. COVID-19 Outbreaks at Upper Valley Nursing Homes Take a Toll on Staff, Residents and Family. Nursing homes, which in the best of times take care of some of the most vulnerable people, have become hot zones in the COVID-19 pandemic. In New Hampshire, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have been the site of more than 80% of the state’s 600 total deaths attributed to COVID-19. The outbreak at Woodlawn Health Center, which began on Oct. 21 and officially ended last week, included a total of 57 cases; 33 residents and 24 employees. Four residents died after testing positive. Five residents were hospitalized. Elsewhere in the Upper Valley, a larger COVID-19 outbreak at Hanover Terrace Health & Rehabilitation Center is ongoing. The Hanover Terrace outbreak, which began late last month, included 97 people, as of Saturday. That total includes 68 resident infections, among them three people who died. “It just really is bone-chilling,” said Chris Martin, Woodlawn’s owner and administrator. “COVID is really the perfect killing machine. It comes in undetected (and) spreads like wildfire.” In addition to being separated from family members in some cases, nursing home employees also have faced stigma from the community related to COVID-19. Claremont resident Geoff Kroberg, Woodlawn’s dietary manager, said employees quit during the outbreak due to the harassment they experienced when getting groceries, such as being told that they couldn’t be in a store because they worked at Woodlawn. He also said people on the street would try to avoid crossing paths with Woodlawn workers during the outbreak. Family members and staff also have ongoing concerns about testing. New Hampshire initially was testing 100% of nursing home workers and 10% of residents every 10 days, said Jake Leon, spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. But in September, after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services established national standards, the state reduced its requirements and stopped testing residents absent a confirmed case in the facility. Since October 29 when the state was listing three active nursing home outbreaks, the total has exploded to 30 in the most recent weekly summary. Nursing homes in counties with a COVID-19 prevalence rate below 5% began testing just 10% of nursing home staff weekly and 100% of nursing home staff once a month. In accordance with CMS guidance, testing ramped up to once a week for nursing homes in all counties in New Hampshire as of Nov. 30, when the prevalence of COVID-19 increased above the 5% threshold across the state, Leon said. If the prevalence goes above 10%, nursing homes will increase testing to twice a week, he said. New London resident Karen Ebel, a Democratic state representative, said she was in her car when she learned that her mother, a Woodlawn resident, had tested positive for COVID-19 on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. “My heart just sunk,” said Ebel, whose 94-year-old mother, Doris, has lived at Woodlawn for 2½ years. Though Ebel’s mother ended up having few if any symptoms, she didn’t know that would be the case at the beginning. Nightly Zoom sessions with Martin, as well as regular Facebook updates, helped Ebel feel informed throughout the outbreak. “From the perspective of a family member going through this, the communication piece is about as important as anything,” she said. (Source: The Valley News)

7. Among the 28 COVID Fatalities at NH Veterans Home: The ‘Duke of Penacook Sports’. Soon after word spread that a Penacook man named Duke had died, some of the legendary sports names from Merrimack Valley High School’s rich past – coaches, players, even a team manager – gathered on Google Meet. They wanted to remember Duke, the superfan whose real name was Bill Duquette. He died earlier this month from COVID at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton, where a total of 28 residents had died as of Thursday. Duke was diagnosed two days after Thanksgiving and died earlier this month. He was 83. His role as athletic shadow gained traction more than 50 years ago. He attended MV games and practices, riding the team busses, sitting on benches as part of the team. The sports community in the Penacook region adopted him, and Duke adopted them right back. No one represented the old saying, “I never miss a game,” better than Duke, because when it came to MV baseball and basketball, coaches said, Duke, well, never missed a game. Ever. “In small communities, you have a guy who has always been around the sports scene and everyone knew him,” said athletic director Kevin O’Brien, who coached boys’ basketball at MV for 17 seasons. “He was always with us, every game. I do not think he missed one game or practice during that entire time I was coaching, until he went to the Veterans Home.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

8. New Hampshire Emergency Declaration Extended Another 3 Weeks. Gov. Chris Sununu on Friday extended New Hampshire's state of emergency declaration another three weeks, citing an increase in coronavirus cases across the state and in the region. Sununu initially declared a state of emergency on March 13 and has continued to extend it every 21 days. A further extension is needed to combat a "significant increase" in COVID-19 infections in New Hampshire in recent weeks, he wrote. Among other measures, the order continues a statewide mask mandate for everyone over age 5 when they cannot stay 6 feet away from people outside their household. (Source: Seacoast Online)

9. At UNH, Missing COVID Tests Can Result in Eviction, Mark on Permanent Record. Early in the pandemic, UNH committed to a rigorous testing regimen that required buy-in from tens of thousands of students. To stay on campus, students were required to drop-off COVID-19 tests twice a week. A failure to do so could result in eviction, a ban from in-person classes, and a strike on the student’s permanent record. Sixty-seven students have been involuntarily evicted from campus housing, said Erika Mantz, a spokesperson for the university. One of the students, Carolyn Dixon, believes she was unfairly accused of missing 4 tests that she says she actually completed. Dixon received a notice of eviction from her dormitory after a hearing with university officials that she said felt more like a trial. “It’s my word, a teenager, against all these adults,” she said. “No one’s going to believe me so the only thing I could say was ‘that’s incorrect’ and they’re like ‘yeah, okay.’ ” Dixon requested to go through hours of security camera footage to prove she had dropped off the test. She offered to bring her friends to testify on her behalf. The university did not respond to either of her requests. After Dixon decided to appeal her ruling, slowly, the charges against her began to change. The four missing tests in question became two missing tests. The other tests were dismissed because of labeling issues: “part her fault, part ours,” the letter to Dixon read. Dixon will attend a second hearing on Monday to discuss the new evidence. “She’s been at school eight weeks,” Christine Dixon, Carolyn’s mother, said. “These kids are paranoid as it is. Let’s not punish the kids and put something on their permanent record.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

10. Eviction Threat Has Single Mom In Fear. NH Expert Says 'Cliff is Coming.' Experts in the state and nationwide have been warning for months that a tidal wave is rolling in as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on nonpayment evictions nears its Dec. 31 end. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey has indicated more than 30% of renter respondents have little or no confidence in their ability to make next month’s rent payment. A recent analysis by a Columbia University economist also estimates a 40% to 45% increase in homelessness by the end of 2020 – approximately 250,000 Americans. “People are going to be in a really tough spot come Jan. 1 when a lot of landlords, I think, are itching to move forward with evictions that have been put on hold,” said Marta Hurgin, a Portsmouth resident who is handling COVID-19 housing and unemployment cases as a staff attorney at the New Hampshire Legal Advice and Referral Center (LARC). “We’re worried another cliff is coming for tenants without further assistance from the state or federal government.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

11. NH Superior Court Cancels Remaining 2020 Jury Trials. Chief Justice of the Superior Court Tina Nadeau has made the decision to cancel the remaining jury trials in New Hampshire Superior Court throughout the state through the end of December. Trials scheduled to resume in January in Rockingham County, Hillsborough County Northern District, Cheshire County, and Merrimack County are expected to continue as scheduled. “COVID-19 infection rates and cases have now risen to the level where the risk that one person in 25 will be infected in each of the remaining counties where jury trials were to take place in December is over 70 percent. As a result, based on scientific advice provided by the court’s consultant epidemiologist Dr. Erin Bromage, we can no longer conduct jury trial proceedings with adequate protections in place,” noted Chief Justice Nadeau. “However, we will continue to conduct video, telephonic and necessary in-person hearings throughout the day in all court locations subject to the chief justice’s approval.” (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

12. Experts Say COVID-Era Investment in Child Care Is a Start, Not a Solution. Roberta Royce, who services as the executive director of Winchester Learning Center says the $28,200 the center received from the New Hampshire’s Childcare Recovery and Stabilization Program for PPE and scholarships definitely made things easier. So far, efforts to sustain child care programs and providers appear to have had some success in keeping them open — but whether these strategies will make a long-term difference for the industry remains to be seen. An analysis published in April by the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C., projected that without adequate federal funding, New Hampshire was at risk of losing 37 percent of its licensed child care slots. State Rep. Donovan Fenton, a Keene Democrat and working parent with a 2-year-old son, said the pandemic has only emphasized to him the need to improve New Hampshire’s child care system. During the upcoming legislative session that kicks off in January, he said he plans to propose the creation of a study committee that would explore giving business tax credits to employers who provide child care stipends to their employees. With no income tax or broad-based sales tax, the Granite State’s options for funding child care are limited, Fenton said, which is why he sees business tax credits as a potential avenue for bolstering the field. “There’s always talk of trying to lower the [business profits tax], because they think businesses pay too much,” Fenton said. “But instead of lowering that BPT, why don’t we make it advantageous for the employer and the employee where we provide for them?” Jess Carson, a research professor of public policy at the University of New Hampshire, hopes this pandemic will reinforce the importance of child care and encourage policymakers to commit to building a better system. “I would say this is maybe one of the best possible excuses to sort of invest in that national, federal investment in child care and to treat it more as a public good,” she said. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

13. Rochester Opera House to Forego Winter Season. The Rochester Opera House has announced it has decided to cancel its winter season due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. "At the Rochester Opera House we take our responsibility to provide a safe venue for education and entertainment very seriously," Opera House Executive Director Anthony Ejarque wrote in a notice posted on the venue's website. "We had hoped to present a reduced winter season; however, with the recent turn of events, we feel it is in everyone’s best interest if we pause for a few months and reevaluate as soon as conditions improve." Ejarque said the 2020 season will end with the scheduled performances of "The Nutcracker" by Sole City Dance. (Source: Seacoast Online)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 12, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Saturday, December 12

Source: N.H. DHHS

On Friday, state health officials announced six additional COVID-19 deaths and 1,190 new infections. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. N.H. COVID Surge Continues. The 1,190 new cases reported Friday were spread across a four day period.

   1. Dec. 7: 59 new cases for an updated total of 804 (Note: in the Dec. 8 report, the total for Dec. 7 was originally listed as 268 new cases, meaning 536 cases have been added since the original reporting day.)

   2. Dec. 8: 172 new cases for an updated total of 788

   3. Dec. 9: 310 new cases for an updated total of 411

   4. Dec. 10: 649 new cases for a total of 649

   There are now 6,824 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. Of the six deaths announced, all were people aged 60 or higher. There was a net increase of 10 hospitalizations as the number of people hospitalized for treatment in N.H. rose from 248 to 258. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Meanwhile, the national news remained grim on Friday as a record 3,309 people in the U.S. died from the coronavirus. (Source: USA Today)

2. Internal Investigation Launched Into Treatment Of COVID Patient At N.H. Veterans Home. The New Hampshire Veterans Home is launching an internal investigation into accusations that the health of a resident with COVID-19 was neglected. Pam Lariviere says her uncle who lives in the home was not properly monitored and cared for during his battle with the virus, ultimately leading to life-threatening complications. “COVID isn’t malnutrition,” Lariviere said. “The nurse is explaining it to me and she’s almost in tears on the phone.” Margaret LaBrecque, the commandant at the Veterans Home, said the facility’s medical director and the director of nursing would personally investigate the allegations. Richard Rajotte, who in his youth had been stationed in Maine with the Air Force, lived in the dementia unit of the veterans home for two years before he, along with more than 80 other residents, tested positive for COVID-19. State Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, of Manchester, said he has received letters from people with family members at the veterans home who are also concerned about the treatment of their loved ones. He declined to say how many families reached out or the specifics of their complaints out of respect for the families’ privacy, but did confirm some of them specifically mentioned concerns about elder neglect. (Source: NHPR) Democratic leaders have called for a broader investigation of the handling of the recent COVID-19 outbreak at the home which has killed 27 residents.

3. 30 Clusters of COVID-19 Currently Being Monitored in Nashua. Nashua’s public health director says there are currently about 30 clusters of COVID-19 that are being actively monitored in the Gate City. “The substantial spread has gotten to the point where our containment methods have pretty much gone out the window because the spread is rising so quickly,” said Bobbie Bagley, director of public health and community services. Statewide, there are more than 419 potential clusters, which includes cases from daycares, businesses, nursing homes, hospitals and more. “Right now, about 7% of that list is representative of Nashua. There are about 30 clusters that we are looking at,” said Bagley. Mayor Jim Donchess said the city has 593 active cases of the disease. At the city’s two hospitals — St. Joseph Hospital and Southern New Hampshire Medical Center — there are currently a combined total of more than 40 COVID-19 patients, he said. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

4. Hanover Terrace Loses 2nd Resident. A second resident at Hanover Terrace died on Thursday morning after contracting COVID-19, according to the Hanover nursing home’s temporary administrator. COVID-19 was not the resident’s primary cause of death, however, said Martha Ilsley, the temporary administrator, in a Thursday email. The outbreak held steady at a total of 96 people. The total includes 68 resident infections, including the two people who have died and another resident who was discharged after testing positive. In addition, 26 workers and two essential workers employed by an outside vendor have tested positive. Of the 65 infected residents remaining at Hanover Terrace, a few are seriously ill, Ilsley said. But 11 residents are expected to be considered recovered as of Friday if they continue without symptoms, she said. (Source: The Valley News)

5. New Emergency Order in N.H. Allows Some Nursing Students A Temporary License. Gov. Chris Sununu has issued a new executive order that would allow certain nursing students to apply for a temporary license to practice. The order applies to nursing students who will graduate on or before May 31 of next year. These students would be directly supervised while providing any health care services related to COVID-19. Brendan Williams, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, says this executive order is a welcome step, especially heading into the December holidays. “Any type of help, like this particular emergency order is appreciated, but we’re going to need a lot more than that,” he said. The state’s staffing strain has been persistent. In the past two years, New Hampshire has lost about 1,200 licensed nursing assistants, according to Williams. (Source: NHPR)

6. State Officials Conduct COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Dry Run. State health officials held a COVID-19 vaccine delivery dry run Friday to make sure every agency involved in the process is prepared. There are a number of different agencies involved in this and several key steps to take in order to make sure the vaccine is delivered safely. An exact vaccine delivery date is still unknown, but the state says that should happen sometime next week, first with Pfizer's vaccine and then Moderna’s the following week. Once they arrive, they will be stored in refrigerators capable of producing extremely cold temperatures, a key factor in preserving the vaccines. (Source: WMUR) Timing and delivery dates will firm up quickly now that the FDA has authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use, a landmark in the pandemic. (Source: CNN)

7. Plummer Returns To Oversee COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution. New Hampshire will have a familiar face at the helm of distribution of its COVID-19 vaccines when they arrive in the Granite State as early as this coming Monday. Gov. Chris Sununu said he is tapping former Assistant Commissioner of Safety Perry Plummer to return to oversee vaccine distribution statewide. Plummer, who headed up Homeland Security and Emergency Management before taking the number two position at Safety, left the state’s service in June after nine years. Sununu said he was able to convince Plummer to return to state employ on a temporary basis to help with the rollout of the vaccines, which will be handled in phases and over a number of months. “He is an absolute genius at getting stuff done,” said Sununu. Plummer is a familiar face to members of the state’s emergency services, safety, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Guard, and others who will focus on the core need to quickly deploy the vaccine where it is needed most. The first shipments are headed to critical care hospitals and long-term care facilities which have been hit hard. (Source: InDepthNH)

8. Litchfield Teachers Oppose Return to Full-Time In-Person Learning on Monday. Despite concerns raised by local teachers and the Litchfield Education Association, Litchfield schools are set to reopen on Monday with full in-person learning until the holiday break. The district had temporarily transitioned to fully remote learning recently after a lack in available staffing. Superintendent Mike Jette notified staff on Thursday that in-person learning will resume Monday — a move that is not endorsed by the local teachers’ union. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

9. Why State Data on COVID-19 in Schools Doesn't Tell the Full Story. Districts are keeping track of infections and absenteeism due to the virus. And the state says it is too, on its coronavirus dashboard. But the data reported at the state level is sometimes at odds with what schools say is actually going on. According to NHPR education reporter Sarah Gibson, the concern is that what the state is saying about the actual cases just isn't accurate or includes "N/A" or out-of-date data. Many school districts have implemented their own dashboards and the metrics they show often conflict with what is shown on the state’s dashboard. State health officials say there is often a lag in reporting cases on the state’s site because a principal is going to know before the state knows, for example, whether a student or teacher tested positive. This means that the information may be available locally, but may not make it onto the state's dashboard for up to a week. Another issue is that the state's school COVID-19 dashboard only reports in-school infections. So if a school goes remote because there was a COVID-19 case within the school building and then a bunch of other kids tested positive afterwards while they were remote, that is not going to show up in the state's dashboard. At his Thursday press conference, Gov. Sununu bristled at the idea that information on the state’s dashboard is incomplete or misleading and implied that the criticism was coming from teachers unions. (Source: NHPR) Note: As someone who checks all of the state’s COVID dashboards on a daily basis, I can confirm that it often takes several days for cases reported in the media to make their way into the state’s schools dashboard. For example, on Dec. 10 the Portsmouth Herald published an article on an outbreak at Portsmouth Christian Academy that has since been updated. As of Dec. 12 at 9:27 a.m., none of the 8 active cases at PCA is being reported on the state’s schools dashboard, which only lists two recovered cases. But on the plus side, at least the state has a dashboard for schools. This isn’t the case for nursing homes despite 9 months of the virus rampaging through long-term care and other congregate living facilities. Instead of a dashboard, outbreaks, new cases, and deaths are are only released as an addendum to the daily summary report once a week. As a result, nine months into the pandemic, family members are left to collect information piecemeal across multiple PDF and interactive reports despite long-term care residents making up 80.5% of N.H.’s COVID-19 death toll. Also worth a closer look is the state’s reporting on positivity rates—the percentage of people who get tested and test positive for the virus—which is prominently featured in the daily summaries. Worth noting is the rate reported in the summaries is for PCR tests only. It does not factor-in results for antigen or “rapid” tests that tend to be used for people who are symptomatic because antigen tests have been found to be less effective in detecting people who are infected but not displaying symptoms. As a result, we have been seeing positivity rates in the daily summaries ranging around 5% for the past week, while the interactive dashboard is displaying a seven-day average of 8.7%. How can this be? It’s because the state is including BOTH antigen and PCR test results in the positivity rate being shown on the interactive dashboard. While fewer antigen tests are used than PCR tests because they tend to be less effective with people who are asymptomatic, the 7-day average positivity rate for them is much higher—over 23%. The bottom line is that the state has been choosing to emphasize PCR test positivity rates—which are lower and provide only part of the picture—over the combined PCR and antigen positivity rate, which has been significantly higher. Coincidentally, an upward-trending 5% positivity rate is the trigger recommended by public health authorities in other states for imposing additional restrictions. So emphasizing the PCR positivity rate would seem to make sense if your goal was to cast doubt on the need for additional restrictions, which the governor has repeatedly said he wants to avoid. However, a combined rate that has hit a 7-day average as high as 9% in the past week makes a different case altogether. Meanwhile, CovidActNow is reporting a one-day combined positive test rate of 12.6% for yesterday for New Hampshire. A combined daily positivity rate is unavailable on the NH dashboard.

10. 2 Assaults Over Mask Rules Investigated in Manchester. Two unrelated assaults under investigation in Manchester both involved people not wearing face masks inside businesses, police said. Police said in both situations, people were attacked for asking a customer to put on a mask. In the most recent attack on Tuesday, surveillance video shows a man throw a vase at a woman's face. The attack happened at the Holiday Inn Express on Porter Street. The employee told police she asked the man to put on a mask. He eventually did, but then threw the vase at her, police said. A similar situation happened Nov. 30 at the 7-Eleven on South Main Street, where a clerk told a customer he needed to put on a mask, leading to an argument. Police said the man later returned to the store with another man, ripped down the Plexiglas barrier and began punching the clerk in the face. (Source: WMUR)

11. N.H. Seeing an ‘Historic’ Level of Fraud on Unemployment Claims. Criminals have taken advantage of the pandemic to target state unemployment systems all over the country with false benefit claims, officials said. “The type of fraud that we've seen is all related to identity thefts, and so that's a different type of fraud than we've seen before, and it's really the result of these large scale data breaches,” Richard Lavers, deputy commissioner of New Hampshire Employment Security, said. Those breaches usually target large retailers and result in the theft of hundreds of thousands of identities. Lavers said since the start of the pandemic, New Hampshire has seen about 10,000 of these fraudulent claims, but they've been able to sniff out almost all of them. “In 99% of these cases, we've detected the fraud prior to it paying out. So other states have not been as fortunate. We've seen other states that have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars,” Lavers said. (Source: WMUR)

12. School Superintendents Test Positive for COVID. Franklin schools are in remote learning this week, after the district superintendent tested positive for COVID-19. Superintendent Dan LeGallo announced his own positive case in a letter to the school community on Tuesday. LeGallo wrote that he took a COVID test on Saturday evening, after experiencing a minor sore throat. “The contact tracing will take some time because of my presence in all three schools, and will lead to a short-term closure of the SAU,” LeGallo wrote. In addition, Laconia Superintendent Steve Tucker also has contracted the disease. Tucker told the Laconia Daily Sun he was prompted to get a COVID test when he started to feel fatigued after exercising. (Source: Concord Monitor)

13. Dartmouth Kicked Out 86 Students Over COVID-19 Violations. Dartmouth College acknowledged this week that it removed 86 students from campus during the fall term for violating the school’s COVID-19 safety guidelines. The school has kept the number of students removed from campus shrouded, in an effort to protect their identities, but on Wednesday Provost Joseph Helble reversed course and provided details. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

14. Hundreds Line Up for Food Pantry in Manchester. More than 700 families showed up in Manchester on Friday for the New Hampshire Food Bank's latest mobile food pantry. Organizers said people started lining up at 7:30 a.m. to get the boxes of food. The food bank has held 62 of these mobile food pantries since the start of the pandemic at locations all around the state. (Source: WMUR)

15. COVID-19 Testing Available for Legislators After Hinch’s Death. Drive-thru coronavirus testing will be available for New Hampshire legislators this weekend. The senate president and acting house speaker announced those plans Friday afternoon, just two days after House Speaker Dick Hinch died of COVID-19. Legislators and their families and staff can go to the National Guard testing sites in Concord and Londonderry on Saturday. Those seeking testing do not need an appointment. Members of the public can also get tested at those sites from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday. Hundreds of legislators may have been exposed when the legislature gathered at UNH for Organization Day, where dozens of Republican legislators refused to wear masks even though at least 4 GOP members had tested positive after a caucus in late November. (Source: WMUR)

16. Even After Hinch’s Death, Some Conservatives not Pleased with Sununu’s Mask Warnings. A day after newly elected state House Speaker Dick Hinch, a fellow Republican and strong Sununu ally was found dead in his home from COVID-19, the governor called his friend’s unexpected death “a tragic and cautionary tale” and took aim at other GOP state lawmakers who’ve resisted wearing masks at large gatherings. But a top conservative in the House who wants to replace Hinch as speaker, state Rep. Al Baldasaro, maintains that “the governor’s wrong.” Baldasaro, the longtime state representative from Londonderry who was a state co-chair of President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, called the governor’s comments “a shame.” “He should be supporting the Republicans,” Baldasaro said of Sununu. But State Senate majority leader Jeb Bradley praised Sununu, saying on Friday that "the governor has shown extraordinary leadership during the entire pandemic." And he emphasized that "all of us have a personal responsibility to protect each other." Baldasaro said he didn’t think the death of Hinch would change the minds of some on the right when it comes to their resistance to masks. “Not at all – because Hinch always wore a mask,” he said. “It’s not a mask issue.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 11, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Friday, December 11

On Thursday, state officials announced 695 new positive tests for COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths. Here is the other coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Friday.

1. 14 New COVID-19 Deaths Bring N.H. Pandemic-Related Death Toll Up to 584. The 14 deaths announced by state officials on Thursday mark the second-highest number of deaths reported since May 6, when 19 deaths were announced. Of the new deaths, 13 patients were associated with long-term care or residential facilities. All were in people over the age of 60. According to state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan, community transmission continues to spread across the state. Current COVID cases number 6,303, an increase of almost two thousand from a week ago. The overall test positivity rate has also soared, from 7% a week ago to 9% as of today's report. Hospitalizations have doubled in that period, with 248 residents currently hospitalized with the coronavirus. (Source: NHPR https://www.nhpr.org/post/coronavirus-update-nh-announces-14-more-covid-deaths-695-new-infections-14-new-outbreaks#stream/0 ) Meanwhile, of the 695 positive test results announced, 101 were for Wednesday with the rest consisting of updates from previous days:

   1. Dec. 3: 1 new case, for an updated total of 890

   2. Dec. 5: 8 new cases for an updated total of 649

   3. Dec. 6: 127 new cases for an updated total of 738

   4. Dec. 7: 287 new cases for an updated total of 745

   5. Dec. 8: 171 new cases for an updated total of 617

   (Source: N.H. DHHS) On Wednesday, the U.S. recorded 3,124 deaths, the highest one-day total yet, according to Johns Hopkins University. Up until last week, the peak was 2,603 deaths on April 15, when New York City was the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak. Wednesday’s toll eclipsed the 2,500 American deaths on the opening day of the Normandy invasion during World War II. It also topped the death toll on Sept. 11, 2001, as well: 2,977. (Source: Associated Press) Meanwhile, on Thursday, the total number of people in the U.S. who have died after contracting COVID-19 surpassed the number of Americans who died in combat during World War II. (Source: Newsweek)

2. How Are N.H. Hospitals Weathering This COVID-19 Wave? New Hampshire hospitals are seeing more COVID-19 patients than at any other point in the pandemic. As of Thursday, 248 confirmed COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide, according to the latest numbers from the New Hampshire Hospital Association. Another 39 patients suspected of having COVID-19, though not yet confirmed, were also admitted on top of that. Officials at several of the state’s largest hospitals said most of the COVID-19 patients they’re seeing lately are being treated without intensive care, putting less strain on ventilator capacity or other resources in their ICU units. But hospitals across the state also told NHPR they’re feeling some kind of staffing strain, as they have been throughout the pandemic and for years prior, due to persistent healthcare workforce shortages. In some cases, the strain is exacerbated directly by COVID-19 exposure and increasing community spread. In others, it’s due to a lack of childcare options for frontline workers who are parents. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon for many of the state’s hospitals: The forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine doses that are expected to start going to frontline medical workers in the month ahead. (Source: NHPR)

3. New Outbreaks Announced at 14 Different Nursing Homes. At Thursday’s weekly COVID-19 press conference, Lori Shibinette, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said three outbreaks in long-term care facilities had been closed, but there are 14 new outbreaks, meaning there are now 30 separate active outbreaks at congregate living facilities across the state. As recently as October 29, the state was reporting only three active outbreaks. According to Shibinette, it is nearly impossible to track exactly how the virus first gets into a facility. But, once it does, it runs rampant due to the fact that residents cannot distance themselves from their caregivers. "Do we know how it gets in, no," Shibinette said. "It's more likely than not an asymptomatic staff member brought it in unknowingly but it also could be asymptomatic visitors or residents going out to a hospital and being exposed as well or at a doctor's appointment." (Source: WMUR) One of the new outbreaks is at Strafford County’s Riverside Rest Home where 18 residents and 11 members have tested positive. (Source: Seacoast Online) For a complete list of all 30 facilities currently experiencing outbreaks, see Thursday’s DHHS summary.

4. Sununu Says Vets Home Will Pass Federal Review. A federal outside review will conclude that plans and procedures were properly followed to control the COVID-19 outbreak at the Veterans Home in Tilton that infected 168 residents and staff and killed 28, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday. The Department of Veterans Affairs Committee inspection team sent 17 staff at the governor’s request, including the national director of its infection control team. The group will do a follow-up report that analyzes all the home’s practices in dealing with the outbreak, the governor said. Democratic legislative leaders have criticized Sununu for too slow a response to the outbreak and for vetoing a bill that would have required an outside investigation into the handling of COVID-19 in long-term care settings. Once the outbreak is completely under control, the state will do its own “after action assessment,” Sununu said. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

5. Autopsy Shows N.H. House Speaker Dick Hinch Died of COVID-19. Rep. Dick Hinch, who was elected Speaker of the New Hampshire House just one week ago, died from COVID-19. Attorney General Gordon MacDonald announced the cause of death Thursday afternoon with the consent of Hinch’s family, following an autopsy by New Hampshire Chief Medical Examiner Jennie Duval. Hinch, a 71-year-old Republican from Merrimack, was poised to lead his party in the House of Representatives. His death was announced Wednesday evening in a statement from his office. Hinch was formally elected House speaker Dec. 2, at an outdoor ceremony held on an athletic field at the University of New Hampshire due to coronavirus concerns. Earlier that same week, several Republican House members were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an indoor GOP caucus meeting where Hinch was present. After state officials confirmed COVID-19 caused Hinch's death, Acting Speaker Sherman Packard and Senate President Chuck Morse said they plan to consult with state health officials and other authorities about "any additional, specific steps we should take, beyond our on-going COVID-19 protocols and contact tracing, to ensure the continued protection of our legislators and staff." (Source: NHPR) Speaking at his weekly press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu called Rep. Hinch’s death from COVID-19 a “tragic and cautionary tale.” (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

6. Speaker’s Death Calls Into Question the Refusal by Many House Republicans to Wear Masks. The announcement that New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch died of COVID-19 upended state politics Thursday, throwing into question how the state’s 400-member legislative body plans to meet next year, how elected officials and staff might be protected, and why some lawmakers have refused to wear masks as the pandemic has hit its second wave. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate immediately called on Gov. Chris Sununu to provide testing to all State House staff and lawmakers that attended Organization Day, the Dec. 3 in-person event at which members were first sworn in. Republican legislative leaders pledged they would look at “any additional, specific steps we should take” around COVID-19 protocols in light of the news of Hinch’s death. Rep. William Marsh, a Republican and opthalmologist, took a stand against members of his own party Thursday. “Those in our caucus who refused to take precautions are responsible for Dick Hinch’s death,” Marsh said. At a press conference Thursday, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette said that the state is investigating the speaker’s death and conducting contact tracing to determine whether others had been exposed. At a press conference Thursday, Gov. Chris Sununu condemned the behavior of the Republican Chairman of the Belknap County legislative delegation and other GOP representatives who have chosen to conduct meetings not wearing masks. “It’s incredibly, incredibly irresponsible,” Sununu said at the press conference. “The number of individuals out there that want to thwart the rules and the guidance that we’ve put in place for people’s safety for the sake of thwarting them is a disservice not to themselves, but to those that they’re surrounding themselves with, in their ability to transmit this virus, often as we now know very unknowingly.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

7. State Officials Gear Up to Receive Pfizer Vaccine Shipments Next Week. More than 12,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive next week, targeted at the highest risk people at hospitals and long-term care facilities. “We’re going to continue to receive vaccines on a weekly basis, both Pfizer and Moderna,” Dr. Beth Daly said. “We’re standing up fixed sites across the state,” Daly said. “I believe it’s 10 of them or so that will be operating every day across the entire state to be able to vaccinate thousands of people.” For the general population, the timeline now is to start vaccinating in March or April. But, officials cautioned, all the COVID-19 precautions will remain. “We will not get out of our community mitigation strategy for quite a while,” Dr. Elizabeth Talbot said. “People should not toss their masks away or expect they won’t be put on quarantine or social distancing and etcetera.” Gov. Chris Sununu announced on Thursday that former longtime public safety official Perry Plummer has been chosen to lead the state’s massive logistical challenge of distributing the vaccine. (Source: WMUR) Also on Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted to recommend the agency grant emergency use authorization to Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine. The next step is for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to decide whether it recommends that the vaccine be deployed for use. A meeting to decide is scheduled for Sunday. Operation Warp Speed officials say they will start shipping the vaccine within 24 hours of FDA authorization. (Source: CNN)

8. 50 Inmates Test Positive for COVID-19 in 2 Facilities. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly among New Hampshire’s inmate population with 31 testing positive at the State Prison for Men in Concord, and Merrimack County House of Corrections in Boscawen reporting 19 positive inmates. On Dec. 4, the Merrimack County Department of Corrections was notified that five inmates tested positive for COVID-19 as a result of testing conducted by the NH National Guard earlier in the week. Since that time, they have identified 14 additional positive cases for a total of 19. The state Department of Corrections on Thursday reported 30 inmates testing positive at the men’s prison and one at transitional work and housing units in Concord and Manchester. The state Department of Corrections reported 18 positive staff members and has called in the National Guard to help. (Source: InDepthNH)

9. Portsmouth Christian Announces 8 COVID Cases. Portsmouth Christian Academy at Dover announced eight positive COVID-19 cases at the school since last Friday. There have been six positive cases at PCA’s Upper School - which houses grades 9-12 - as well as two cases from other staff members, officials said in a statement released Thursday night in response to inquiries from Foster’s Daily Democrat. Despite the positive COVID cases, the Upper School opened as normal Thursday for both on and off-site learning, PCA officials said. The school has implemented additional health and safety protocols to further limit the risk of any possible spread on campus, officials said. (Source: Fosters Daily Democrat)

10. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise Again in N.H. As the weather cools and the pandemic heats up, unemployment claims in New Hampshire and the nation are on the rise, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Labor. Initial unemployment claims in New Hampshire jumped sharply. Some 2,923 were filed in the week ending Dec. 5, 941 more than the number the federal government previously reported. It is also up by 615 over the previous week’s now-official number, which was revised upwards. Either way, people are getting laid off at six times pre-pandemic levels. Last week’s surge came after a drop in claims the previous week, which followed a more substantial increase the week before. (Source: NH Business Review)

11. Former Manchester Police Headquarters to be Site of New Homeless Shelter. On Thursday Families in Transition announced plans to lease two floors of the former Manchester Police Station at 351 Chestnut St. as an emergency winter shelter. They will be able to house 45 to 50 people on two floors for a total of 10,000 square feet and will have room for day programming as well as sleeping quarters through March 31. They will need to hire more staff to oversee the space, as by the new year they will continue shelter up to 113 people at their main location on Manchester Street and an additional 39 at Angie’s Place on Union Street. Although Families in Transition initially found this building to be unsuitable due to size and configuration, the search for another building was fruitless. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

12. Loudon Business Fined for COVID-19 Violations, Not Requiring Masks. The state Attorney General’s Office has now fined eight businesses for violating the governor’s COVID-19 emergency orders. On Thursday, one of those businesses told News 9 that despite paying the fine, they are not admitting guilt. The Loudon Country Village Store was fined $2,000 for failing to wear masks. One of the store’s owners, Dawn Plourde, said they want a hearing to contest it. She said they were following social distancing guidelines. “Let us use some common sense and let us use our head and that’s what we’ve been standing on from the very beginning,” Plourde said. “It’s not as a business or personally that we disbelieve COVID. We do use caution. Do we require the masks? No.” (Source: WMUR)

13. PUC OKs Boost in Aid to Low-Income Gas Customers. The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission recently approved changes to the Residential Low Income Gas Assistance Program, which provides a discount to low-income Granite Staters who are struggling to afford their gas bills. The changes are intended to better serve residential customers as they face colder weather and an ongoing health and financial crisis due to Covid-19. The program will now provide eligible customers a discount of 45% on certain bill charges between Nov. 1 and April 30, 2021. Previously, the program provided a discount on a customer’s bill for the entire year. However, this change will result in a greater discount during the winter months when customers experience higher costs and will result in an overall increase in the total annual savings. (Source: NH Business Review)

14. Jumpin' Jay's of Portsmouth Latest Restaurant to Hibernate for the Winter. This Saturday, Dec. 12, will be the final night to enjoy the smoked seafood chowder and haddock piccata paired with a local brew at Jumpin’ Jays Fish Cafe in Portsmouth before the restaurant goes on a winter hiatus. Announced on Facebook on Tuesday, the restaurant's staff thanked the community for its continued support and promised to “return in early spring, revitalized and renewed.” “The numbers aren't adding up. We were staying open just for our employees and losing money. Some of our employees said, ‘It's just not working, and we see that. We appreciate what you're doing.’ We were trying to give it a go to the end of the month, but Saturday will be our last day, and the last night, 'til probably sometime in March,” said Jumpin’ Jay’s owner Jay McSharry. (Source: Seacoast Online)

15. Portsmouth Elks Club Closes Temporarily Due to COVID. A posting on the Facebook page of Elks Post #97 in Portsmouth announced the temporary shutdown of the facility after a member tested positive for COVID-19. Because of the risk of exposure to staff and other members, the post’s Board of Directors made the decision to temporary close the club from Friday December 11 (today) through Sunday December 20. According to the announcement, deep cleaning will be performed during that time and the club will reevaluate how it enforces social distancing guidelines. “We the Board of Directors at Portsmouth Elks #97 take this pandemic very seriously and want to protect the safety of our employees, Members, and our community,” the announcement said. (Source: Portsmouth Elks)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 10, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Thursday, December 10

(Source: N.H. DHHS)

On Wednesday, New Hampshire coronavirus hospitalizations increased to 232. 1,006 new positive test results and four deaths were also announced by state health officials. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. Hospitalizations Up As Active Cases in N.H. Soar. Wednesday’s 1,006 new positive test results announced by N.H. DHHS represent cases spread across several days:

   1. Dec. 4: 87 new cases for an updated total of 938

   2. Dec. 5: 197 new cases for an updated total of 682

   3. Dec. 6: 86 new cases for an updated total of 611

   4. Dec. 7: 190 new cases for an updated total of 458

   5. Dec. 8: 446 new cases for a total of 446

   There are now 6,509 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. The new cases reside in Rockingham (248), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (190), Merrimack (94), Strafford (69), Belknap (54), Grafton (22), Cheshire (18), Carrol (17), Coos (8), and Sullivan (5) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (142) and Nashua (98). 232 people are now hospitalized for COVID-19 in N.H. The four additional deaths all involved people over age 60. (Source: N.H. DHHS )

2. Limited Amounts of Vaccine Will Start Arriving in N.H. Next Week. The first shipment of vaccine could be in New Hampshire by the middle of next week, in limited amounts. There will be 12,675 doses of the Pfizer vaccine allocated to start, with a larger allocation of the Moderna vaccine the week of Dec. 21, according to Dr. Beth Daly of Health and Human Services. “Then we will continue to receive weekly allocations thereafter,” Daly said. “We do not know the exact amount of what that will be.” Residents and staff at long-term care facilities will be prioritized along with at-risk health workers. Officials also issued a reminder that with little known about the transmissibility of the virus, once someone has gotten the vaccine, we need to keep our guard up. “Tempering our collective enthusiasm, there’s really good news here, but we still need to maintain all the different strategies we’ve put in place to prevent transmission,” Dr. Elizabeth Talbot said. (Source: WMUR) Even after the vaccine is is administered, the CDC cautions it could take as long as long as several weeks for people receiving it to build immunity. This means that even people who have been vaccinated can still contract the virus if current precautions like mask wearing and physical distancing are dropped too soon. (Source: Centers for Disease Control) Meanwhile, with vaccines initially in short supply, healthy adults under age 65 may not be able to get vaccinated until as late as June. (Source: CNN ) As early as today the FDA is expected to start greenlighting a number of vaccines under emergency use authorizations. But leading health experts warn that after a devastating December the nation is only at the start of a winter that's projected to be one of the most difficult in the nation's history. "We are in a totally unprecedented health crisis in this country. The disease is everywhere -- Midwest, West Coast, East Coast, North, South. Health care workers are exhausted, hospitals are totally full," former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “COVID-19 vaccines are a "really significant light at the end of the tunnel," Sebelius said, but in the coming months it's crucial that Americans stay vigilant and follow safety guidelines, like wearing face masks, social distancing and staying away from indoor gatherings. "We've got to take what we've learned in the last eight months and really put it into practice, so we don't continue to have this unthinkable death toll and disease toll," she said. (Source: CNN)

3. Exeter High School to Be NH COVID Vaccine Site for First Responders. Exeter High School will serve as a regional hub for the New Hampshire National Guard to administer COVID-19 vaccines to first responders through at least March. Mary Cook, public health emergency preparedness manager for the Seacoast Public Health Network, said the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the National Guard, along with her organization did a walk-through of the campus Monday. She estimated the vaccine will be ready to be given to fire, police and EMS personnel by either the end month or early January. (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. House Speaker Dick Hinch Dies a Week After Being Sworn In. The state’s newly-elected House Speaker Richard W. Hinch, R-Merrimack, has died. The 71-year-old was sworn in to a job he called the honor of his life on Dec. 2. Hinch attended a virtual meeting with legislators on Tuesday, but had reportedly been feeling ill after spending most of the cold day Dec. 2 outdoors for Organization Day. Hinch was first elected to the legislature in 2008. Governor Chris Sununu called for all flags in the state to be flown at half-staff. (Source: InDepthNH)

5. N.H. Hospitals Forced to Make Changes to Protect Staffing Levels as COVID-19 Cases Rise. With nursing staff already stretched thin, the surge in COVID-19 cases has forced some hospitals to make changes. Hospitalizations reached an all-time high on Wednesday at the Elliot Hospital in Manchester, with 285 patients, 46 are COVID-19 positive. Surge capacity plans are being considered and nurses are taking overtime-shifts. Portsmouth Regional Hospital is watching staffing issues closely, staff leadership have opted to block beds to protect staffing levels. “I think universally, there is less staff at the table, and there is less ability to pull staff from different areas,” Wold said. The hospital is exploring opening an in-house training program for licensed nursing assistants, it is also exploring a team nursing model to capitalize on their more experienced nurses. (Source: WMUR)

6. DHMC Child Care Center Closed Due to COVID-19. The closing of the child care center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center due to cases of COVID-19 has affected about 50 D-H employees, according to a D-H spokeswoman. Bright Horizons, the Massachusetts-based company that runs the center on the DHMC campus in Lebanon, said in an emailed statement that it closed the center in accordance with guidance provided by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and “as we work through confirmed cases of COVID-19.” (Source: Concord Monitor) DHMC is the largest hospital in the state and also houses one of the state’s largest COVID testing labs.

7. Nashua Board of Health Weighing Curfew in Response to COVID-19 Surge in N.H. The city of Nashua is weighing a potential 9:30 p.m. curfew as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in New Hampshire continue to surge. At a Board of Health meeting Wednesday, city officials said the current recommendations like mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing are no longer enough to slow the spread of the virus. While the board hasn't yet made a recommendation, some business owners say they're concerned. "We are not the problem. Everybody blames the restaurants and the bars," said Kurt Mathias, owner of the Boston Billiards Club and Casino, "and I think it's grossly unfair that we now are going to have another restriction of being closed at 9:30 p.m. It just makes no sense whatsoever." If the Board of Health recommends the curfew, it will have to go to the Nashua Board of Aldermen for a vote. (Source: NHPR)

8. COVID-19 Outbreak Grows at NH State Prison for Men. A coronavirus outbreak continues to grow inside the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord. Twenty-one cases of COVID-19 are now confirmed in the general inmate population, and over 160 of the inmates are now in quarantine. The Department of Correction says 16 staff at the prison are not coming into work after having recently tested positive, and that members of the National Guard are being trained for positions at the prison to ensure it remains properly staffed. The state's secure psychiatric unit, also in Concord, is reporting seven current cases among its residents. (Source: NHPR)

9. Of 70 Residents at NH Nursing Home, 66 Are Infected. The Hanover Terrace Health and Rehab in Hanover logged a grim milestone this week as it recorded its first COVID-related death in an elderly resident. The facility is dealing with a coronavirus outbreak that’s reached more than 90% of its elderly residents. Martha Ilsley, the acting administrator at Hanover Terrace, said they’ve done everything possible to keep COVID at bay, but the virus got in late last month, and now it’s spreading like wildfire. Of the 70 residents who live at Hanover Terrace, 66 are fighting COVID-19. (Source: NECN)

10. Health Officials Urge School Districts to Implement Mask Policies if Not Already in Place. During their weekly call with New Hampshire school nurses, officials from the Department of Health and Human Services urged schools to implement mask use if they have not already. When the school guidance was written this past summer, the COVID-19 cases in the state were much lower. State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said, “We are in a very different situation now than we were back over the summer,” Chan said. “So, I just want to use this as an opportunity to encourage school districts, Superintendents, to re-look at their mask policies and if not already, implementing mask requirements in classrooms and in schools that they should seriously consider doing so.” (Source: WMUR) State health officials also told school nurses they will be in the highest priority phase for receiving the coronavirus vaccine. Officials say the very first vaccines, anticipated next week, will go to high-risk hospital workers. By January, they expect to have enough vaccines for others in the priority phase, including school nurses. The state estimates its vaccine distribution for that phase will last through February. (Source: NHPR)

11. COVID-19 'Long Haulers' Have Been Sick for Months. In N.H., More Care May Be On The Way. Doctors are calling it “post-acute COVID-19 syndrome”—one or more ongoing symptoms in some COVID-19 patients that are lasting for months. Doctors are calling it “post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.” As Dr. Jose Mercado, an assistant professor of medicine at Dartmouth, explains, those lasting effects can vary widely. There are heart and lung complications, abnormal blood clotting, “...the loss of smell and taste. And together with that is the difficulty with concentration or brain fog as well as memory problems.” Doctors are also seeing mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Medical researchers still don’t know why it happens to some people, and not to others, or how long it lasts. But some institutions are creating post-COVID care clinics, where people with lasting effects can go to get help from a variety of doctors. According to the nonprofit SurvivorCorps, an organization of people who have survived COVID-19, 29 states have post-COVID care centers. Mercado says he and others at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health are looking at creating one in New Hampshire. But for now, the closest one is in Boston. (Source: NHPR)

12. Who Got Paycheck Protection Program Loans in New Hampshire? Until this month, the federal government shared only limited information about the companies receiving loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. But thanks to a coalition of news organizations who sued the government to gain access to the data, we now have a fuller picture of where the money went — in New Hampshire and elsewhere. In many cases it's unclear how many jobs were actually supported by each PPP loan — even some of the largest ones — because that information isn't reflected in the SBA's data. As reported by the Washington Post, this problem isn't unique to New Hampshire. "Many companies were reported to have 'retained' far more workers than they employ," the Post reported. "Likewise, in some cases, the agency’s jobs claim for entire industries surpassed the total number of workers in those sectors. For more than 875,000 borrowers, the data showed that zero jobs were supported or no information is listed at all, according to the analysis." You can see the full list here. (Source: NHPR)

13. As More Ski Areas Open, N.H. Leaders Detail COVID-19 Precautions. New Hampshire ski areas are reopening for winter with new safety precautions amid the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Jessyca Keeler of Ski NH says a lot of slopes are instituting reservation systems for lifts and lodges, limiting capacity overall and putting in place socially distanced systems for getting on and off the mountain to prevent the spread of the virus. She says they know people are eager to get outside for their own mental health. But she says resorts will need visitors' cooperation and careful planning – including following the state’s mask mandate except when physically skiing – to make it work safely. “The more homework you do, the more prepared you are, the better an experience you’re going to have," she said during a roundtable Wednesday with U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas and others in the recreation industry. Several ski areas in New Hampshire are already open. They include, for cross-country skiing, Bretton Woods Nordic Center, Great Glen Trails, and Jackson Ski Touring. Alpine ski areas open, as of Dec. 9, were Bretton Woods, Loon Mountain, and Waterville Valley. Many mountains will launch this ski season this weekend. (Source: NHPR)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 9, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Wednesday, December 9

Source: N.H. DHHS

On Tuesday, state health officials announced 807 new positive test results for COVID-19 and no new deaths. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Wednesday.

1. Hospitalizations Surge Past the 200 Mark. The number of people in New Hampshire hospitalized with COVID-19 rose from 146 on Friday to 211 on Monday—a 38% increase over a three-day period. While no new deaths were reported, 807 positive tests were announced including:

   1. Dec. 3: 91 new cases, for an updated total of 889

   2. Dec. 4: 222 new cases, for an updated total of 852

   3. Dec. 6: 226 new cases, for an updated total of 526

   4. Dec. 7: 268 new cases, for a total of 268

   The new cases reside in Rockingham (262), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (145), Merrimack (93), Strafford (68), Belknap (24), Cheshire (21), Grafton (19), Carrol (14), Coos (12), and Sullivan (5) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (89) and Nashua (35). (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. Hospitals May Have to Deploy Surge Plans to Increase Capacity as COVID-19 Cases Rise. Health officials predict hospitalizations will continue to climb in the coming weeks and say surge centers may have to be opened, but they are a last resort. “I think many of our hospitals are feeling the strain,” state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said. “I think many of our hospitals are dealing with staffing shortages.” Dr. Greg Baxter, President of the Elliot Health System said the trajectory the state is on is concerning and that Manchester specifically is a challenge. He said New Hampshire hospitals cooperate and support each other but surge planning is a daily discussion now. The duration of hospital stays is a few days shorter now than at the start of the pandemic. Baxter said that is because fewer patients are requiring the ICU, which is a relief because ICU beds are limited. (Source: WMUR)

3. More Than 70% of Residents at Hanover Terrace Positive for Coronavirus. A COVID-19 outbreak at Hanover Terrace nursing home has grown to include more than 70% of its residents. Seven more residents and two additional workers tested positive as of Monday afternoon, bringing the Hanover Terrace outbreak’s total to 77 people infected, according to Martha Ilsley, the facility’s temporary administrator. The total, for the largest outbreak so far reported in the Upper Valley, now includes 53 residents, 22 workers and two outside contractors. Dr. Daniel Stadler, a Dartmouth-Hitchcock geriatrician who has been checking on residents daily, said that so far most of the residents have not developed serious symptoms. He’s uncertain whether this means that they may have had a low exposure to the disease or if their illness will worsen with time. (Source: The Valley News)

4. NH Nursing Homes Upset at Latest COVID-19 Federal Awards. The state’s nursing home lobby and congressional delegation are protesting another round of federal COVID-19 grants to New Hampshire that are well below the national average. The average grant of $21,750 was less than half the $58,000 average grant for all states, and less than half what facilities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut received. “This is utterly outrageous. The Trump administration needs to stop playing politics with nursing home aid,” Brendan Williams, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said in a statement. “In New Hampshire, the nation’s best quality nursing homes are being left for dead by the federal response.” Williams noted states with powerful Republican leaders got significantly more money in this latest round, which was intended to reward states with nursing homes that improved their COVID-19 infection rates. Nursing homes in Kentucky, the home state of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, received nearly $79,000 apiece. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

5. Hampton Community Rallies Around Nursing Home Hit Hard by Pandemic. The Oceanside Center in Hampton is in the midst of an outbreak that’s claimed six lives and infected 43 residents and 25 staff members. But people in the community want the residents and staff to know they won’t be forgotten—especially during the holidays. Members of the community have established a holiday card challenge to deliver some joy and show the center support during these trying times. A gift card challenge was also established for Oceanside staff. “I’ve already collected almost 100 and it’s just a small token of appreciation from the people in this town,” Hampton Chamber and Select Board Member Rusty Bridle said. (Source: WMUR)

6. National Guard Called In To Help With COVID-19 Outbreak at State Prison. The National Guard has been called in to help as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread rapidly at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord. There were 17 inmates, half in the psychiatric units, and 27 staff members who were positive with the virus on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Corrections’ website. National Guard members began training for posts that do not provide direct supervision of residents, including control room and observation posts, according to Tina Thurber, spokesman for the Department of Corrections. Augmenting DOC staff with members of the National Guard allows certified corrections officers to continue the direct supervision of residents. (Source: InDepthNH)

7. NH Towns Along Massachusetts Border See Rise in Positivity Rates. Doctors in southern areas of New Hampshire have said their proximity to Massachusetts has played a role in higher percentages of people testing positive for COVID-19 in border communities. With more people moving indoors, Dr. Neil Meehan Chief Physician Executive of Exeter Health Resources said we can expect COVID-19 cases to continue to rise. “The fact that we’ve had people in congregated areas like cities and towns, it’s bound to happen,” Meehan said. Rockingham County has been hit hard by the pandemic compared to other New Hampshire counties. Kensington tops the list of towns in that area with a 30% positivity rate over the last seven days. That’s more than triple the statewide 7-day positivity rate of 9.2% that is being reported by N.H. DHHS this morning. Plaistow is sitting at 18%, and Londonderry at 16%. “We still haven’t seen the peak from Thanksgiving,” Medical Director Physician Practices at St. Joseph Hospital Dr. Donald Reape said. “We’re going to have to deal with Christmas and New Years and peaks after that. It’s going to be interesting to see how we do come January.” (Source: WMUR)

8. Massachusetts Rolls Back Reopening, Imposing New Rules on Restaurants, Gyms, Offices. With the spread of COVID-19 continuing to accelerate, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday that the entire state will revert to Phase 3, Step 1 of its reopening plan beginning on Sunday. "The rate Massachusetts residents are getting infected and the rate at which they are needing medical care, if all continues to move at this pace, is simply not sustainable over time, and our health care system will be put at risk," Baker said. "We have to do more." The return to Phase 3, Step 1 will result in the closure of certain Step 2 businesses, including indoor performance venues and certain high-contact indoor recreational businesses. Baker also announced that the state is reducing capacity for "pretty much everything" -- including gyms, libraries, museums, retail stores, offices, houses of worship, movie theaters and lodging -- from 50% to 40%. Mask guidance is being strengthened for gyms, office spaces and restaurants, and restaurants will be forced to reduce table size from 10 to six per party and place 90-minute time limits on dining. (Source: NECN)

9. CDC Recommends Universal Use of Face Masks When Indoors. For the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending universal face mask use indoors. And Cheshire Medical Center in Keene agrees with the guidance, said family physician Dr. Christopher LaRocca. He added he believes the recommendation is feasible, as many people are already used to masking regularly. The CDC’s new guidance, issued Friday in the agency’s Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report, is the strictest to date and comes when COVID-19 cases in the state and country are at an all-time high. The agency is asking people to don face masks everywhere they go — not just in public settings, as previously recommended — to help prevent further spread of the virus. The only exception is inside one’s own home, as long as no household members are infected or may have recently been exposed. It also recommends communities develop a distribution plan for face masks to specific populations who might experience barriers to access. You can read the CDC guidance here. (Source: Keeen Sentinel)

10. Renewed Push from NH Business Lobbying Group for Safe Harbor Legislation to Protect Businesses from COVID-19 Lawsuits. New Hampshire’s Business and Industry Association says it is pushing for the passage of “safe harbor” legislation next year in order to protect businesses from legal liability related to COVID-19. In a video forum Monday evening, BIA President Jim Roche said the group would renew its efforts to establish the protections after initially advocating for them at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in spring. “We’re queuing this up again for the Legislature when it begins again in January,” Roche said. Under the BIA proposal, business could only face damages in cases where gross negligence, willful misconduct, or intentional criminal conduct can be proven with “clear and convincing evidence – a high legal burden of proof. But the provision has proven controversial, with Democrats in New Hampshire calling it “a grave mistake,” arguing it could erode worker protections. For his part, N.H. Attorney General Gordon MacDonald has argued it may not be necessary. In late May, MacDonald issued guidance arguing that New Hampshire employees would already be blocked from suing their employer over a COVID-19 positive case under New Hampshire’s worker compensation law. According to MacDonald, employees must seek damages through the worker’s compensation program and are statutorily blocked from suing for personal injuries as long as they remained employed. (Source: Concord Monitor) The renewed push for the legislation at the state level comes as negotiations continue on a new federal COVID relief package where legal liability protection has been one of the sticking points between Republican and Democratic negotiators. (Source: CNN)

11. GOP Members of Belknap County Delegation Defy Mask Order. In defiance of Gov. Chris Sununu’s mask mandate and contrary to the advice of a county attorney, the Belknap County Delegation held a public meeting Tuesday night during which wearing a face covering was optional. “To hold an in-person meeting with limited space and no remote access is incredibly irresponsible and flies in the face of open government while putting public health at risk,” Sununu said. Hours before, County Commission Chairman Dave DeVoy said there would be no public-access TV livestreaming of the meeting because there was no assurance that COVID-19 safety measures would be followed. But the delegation later agreed to provide a public audio stream of the meeting after the Laconia Daily Sun requested the Attorney General intervene, New Hampshire Public Radio reported. While County Attorney Paul Fitzgerald noted there is an exception in the governor’s mask mandate emergency order for “political’ presentations, he said, “...I believe it (the exception) was intended to apply to political caucuses, rallies and similar events and not to the routine carrying out of public business.” (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

12. North Conway Hospital Shifts COVID-19 Testing Off Site Amid Increased Demand. A surge in people looking for COVID-19 tests has prompted Memorial Hospital in North Conway to stop offering drop-in COVID-19 testing at their emergency department. Instead, starting Thursday, anyone who wants just the test and not to be seen by a physician will be directed to their nearby coronavirus testing center.“The goal is to free up the emergency room staff to be able to take care of emergency department patients, continue to test everyone who needs to be tested. There will be a screening process in the testing center for patients who are symptomatic,” said Will Owen, of Memorial Hospital. (Source: WMUR)

13. November State Revenues Continue Upward Trend Despite COVID-19 Surge. COVID-19 may be surging in New Hampshire, but it is having a marginal effect on state revenues which continue to perform better than budget writers anticipated. Although November is not a large month for state revenue collections, state levies produced $141.3 million, or $27.8 million more than the budget plan for the month. For the year to date, the state has received $815.7 million, which is $76.4 million more than anticipated or 10.3 percent above plan, and $75.1 million more than a year ago at this date. Business tax receipts are less in November than many other months, but did produce $32.5 million, which is above estimates by $22.1 million. For the year to date, business taxes have produced $258.7 million, which is $55.8 million more than a year ago, and $60.5 million above the budget plan for a balanced budget at the end of the biennium June 30. (Source: InDepthNH)

14. Enrollment Period for Health Insurance Ends Next Week. Open enrollment for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act ends at midnight Dec. 15. As in recent years, three health care providers – Anthem, Ambetter and Harvard Pilgrim – are offering plans on New Hampshire’s Marketplace. Most people who apply will be eligible, depending on their income, for subsidies to reduce or in some cases cover all out-of-pocket costs for a wide range of plans. Even those who are keeping the same insurance from last year should check out the options, as coverage or costs may have changed. If you lost coverage through your job because of the pandemic and have been uninsured, this is a good opportunity to start the new year with coverage for you and your family. For more information and to enroll, go to healthcare.gov. (Source: Concord Monitor)

15. Portsmouth Council May Postpone Its Ban On Single-Use Plastics Due To Pandemic. Portsmouth is closer to postponing its first-in-the-state ban on certain single-use plastics, after the city council voted in separate 5-4 votes Monday to advance the proposed delay to a final reading later this month. The new rules were set to take effect at the end of this year and would be the first municipal ban on plastics in New Hampshire, and one of a growing number in the country. One ordinance bans most city businesses from giving out polystyrene containers in most circumstances. The other prevents the distribution of most single-use plastic straws, bags and containers, but only on city property. Portsmouth Mayor Rick Becksted proposed pushing the rules' start date back to December 2022, saying enforcing them starting in January would be too great a burden for the council and local businesses during the pandemic. City councilor Deaglan McEachern voted against Becksted’s move saying he had yet to hear from a single business in support of a delay. “I can’t support moving this forward because it doesn’t seem to be solving a problem that is in front of us,” he said. “It seems as though it’s trying to relitigate a problem that we’ve already decided.” (Source: NHPR)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 8, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Tuesday, December 8

The Portsmouth City Council votes to extend the city’s mask mandate to June 30, 2021.

State health officials announced two new deaths from COVID-19 and 1,045 new positive tests on Monday. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. Hospitalizations Surge Upwards As Another Daily New N.H. Case Record is Set And Active Cases Statewide Top 5,000. On Monday, December 7, N.H. DHHS announced 1,045 new positive test results for COVID-19. There are now 5,386 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. Of the results reported, 78 new positive test results are from Wednesday (for a new daily record total of 1,157); 244 new positive test results are from Thursday (for a new daily total of 798); 423 new positive test results are from Saturday (for a daily total of 485); and 300 new positive test results are from Sunday. As has become the pattern, the state reports that test results for previous days “are still being processed” and the total number of new positives for those days is likely to increase. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 rose across the state from 169 on Saturday to 185 on Sunday. The state’s 7-day positivity rate also hit 9% for the first time. Manchester leads the state in active cases (832) followed by Nashua (391), Concord (232), Salem (165), Derry (146), Hooksett (110), Wyndham (96), Goffstown (93), and Merrimack (92). Portsmouth has 52 active cases. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. COVID-19 Deaths in NH Expected to Keep Climbing Into 2021. As community transmissions continue to rise across New Hampshire, state health officials are now advising against travel even within the New England region. “The number of people we see typically die from influenza during a typical entire flu season is around 40 or 50 people,” state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said. COVID-19 claimed the lives of 40 people in New Hampshire in just the last week. The caseload is so large, upwards of 5,300 active COVID-19 cases in the state and an average of more than 600 new cases per day in the last week, that there is a backlog in getting the results published. “At some point, contact tracing and public health investigations that we do have decreasing efficacy at being able to control spread of COVID-19,” Chan said. “We know how this virus spreads, it spreads person to person through close contact,” Chan said. “People need to continue to avoid gathering with others that are not in their immediate household.” The state is not doing comprehensive tracking of asymptomatic cases, but the close monitoring of long-term care facilities and schools revealed that in New Hampshire, 40-50% of COVID-19 cases are in people that have no symptoms but are still able to spread the virus. (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, as the U.S. nears a national average of 200,000 new cases per day, Dr. Anthony Fauci says Americans have yet to see the full impact that Thanksgiving gatherings likely will have on rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. "The blip from Thanksgiving isn't even here yet," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS' Norah O'Donnell during the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit on Monday. "So we're getting those staggering numbers of new cases and hospitalizations before we even feel the full brunt of the Thanksgiving holiday," Fauci said. (Source: CNN)

3. NH Veterans Home COVID-19 Death Toll Climbs to 28. The New Hampshire Veterans Home on Monday marked a grim event, the death of its 28th resident from COVID-19. Based on the results of testing of residents and staff done on Dec. 4 by the New Hampshire National Guard, there were 46 actives cases among residents, said Sarah Stanley, program information officer at the Veterans Home. Stanley added that while 13 residents had recovered, 28, had died due to the coronavirus. Stanley said 45 staff members also tested positive and that 37 had recovered. (Source Manchester Union Leader) Meanwhile, Human Resource staff at the Home were sorting through at least 60 responses Monday to a weekend call to the public for staffing help at every level. “LNA’s, LPN’s and RN’s, we’re really looking for and the licensed positions,” Commandant Margaret LaBrecque said. “We’re looking for some housekeepers just to go around, sanitize, remove the trash.” The Department of Safety is helping the hiring process, expediting criminal background checks. (Source: WMUR) An editorial on Sunday in the Manchester Union Leader called for an independent review of COVID deaths associated with the Veterans Home outbreak and suggested that Gov. Chris Sununu should welcome it. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

4. As Federal COVID-19 Relief Nears End, Shaheen Among Those Working On Compromise Package. Many of the federal emergency aid programs implemented earlier this year in response to the pandemic are due to expire at the end of December. New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has been among those working on a compromise plan to extend relief into 2021. In an interview with NHPR, Shaheen said the short-term package would include housing assistance, aid for small businesses, a temporary extension of federal unemployment benefits, and aid to state and local governments. But Shaheen said the package likely won’t include the $1,200 stimulus checks that were one of the most popular features of the first package passed earlier in the year. Broader aid—including potential stimulus payments that have been sticking points for Republicans—will have to wait until after the transition in order to get a package through Congress now. “We're looking at what can we do to help get the economy moving again. So I'm hopeful that there will be an interest in doing that,” she said. Shaheen would also like to see a future aid package expand broadband Internet access and fund roads, bridges, and public buildings to create jobs and get the economy moving again. (Source: NHPR)

5. Keene Walmart Sees Unspecified Number of COVID Cases. A Walmart company spokeswoman on Monday confirmed COVID-19 cases related to the Keene store, but declined to specify the number. Spokeswoman Rebecca Thomason did not indicate whether the cases involved staff or customers, but said the number connected to the Keene location is not "overly concerning." She deferred to the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services on the question of how many cases there are, saying that with states taking different approaches to reporting COVID-19 cases, the company is "leaving it up to the local health department" to provide this information. When asked about the cases, a spokesperson for the state health department said the agency does not release identifiable information about people who've tested positive due to privacy concerns. "Businesses have always been encouraged to self-report cases within their establishments," the spokesperson said in an email Monday evening. "If there is a need for public notice, [the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services] will issue a press release." (Source: Keene Sentinel)

6. Staffer for NH Gov. Sununu Tests Positive for Coronavirus. A staffer at New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s office has tested positive for the coronavirus, the administration said Monday. Sununu’s office said the staffer tested positive Monday but had not been on the premises since last Wednesday. The staffer came down with a fever on Thursday and immediately began to quarantine. Contact tracers deemed only one person within the State House to be a close contact and ordered that person to quarantine. (Source: NECN)

7. N.H.'s Hospitals, Long-Term Care Facilities Prepare for First Vaccine Doses. New Hampshire's hospitals and long-term care facilities are preparing to get their most vulnerable staff and residents vaccinated soon. Since the state will only get a small batch of the vaccine in the next few weeks – anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 doses, according to Gov. Chris Sununu – the state has asked institutions to prioritize the most at-risk people to get it first. At Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, Associate Chief Medical Officer Keith Stahl said staff who work directly with patients daily, like nurses, physicians and respiratory therapists, are on the list to be vaccinated first. "We anticipate that the allocation that we will be getting will probably be just enough to cover that initial group,” Stahl said. If the FDA approves Pfizer's vaccine this week, state officials anticipate that first doses for front-line health workers could arrive in New Hampshire by Monday. (Source: NHPR) As vaccine manufacturers rush to get doses into distribution; compressed timelines; public health departments running on fumes; lack of testing in critical groups such as pregnant women; and other potential potholes all present risks that public health officials will need to successfully manage as the pandemic continues to surge. (Source: StatNews)

8. Volunteers Needed Across New Hampshire to Help Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine to General Public. State officials are looking for volunteers to help with distribution of COVID-19 vaccines when they become available. “We need health care workers, registered nurses, we need doctors, paramedics, EMT’s, anyone available to vaccinate. But, we also need non-medical people to staff mobile clinics,” Strafford County Emergency Preparedness Manager Mary Kerr said. “They could do things like registration to vehicle flow to security as well as other administrative-type positions.” The need for volunteers is statewide. Health officials are asking those looking to volunteer to sign up at nhresponds.org. (Source: WMUR)

9. Yes, Your Boss Can Fire You If You Refuse to Get a COVID Vaccine. Some experts argue the hardest part of fighting the coronavirus will be convincing the U.S. population to take the vaccine. But some companies aren’t interested in debating the merits of vaccination with employees. Instead, they’re planning on requiring it as a condition of employment. And with some exceptions, labor lawyers say it will be perfectly legal. Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law, said that private businesses have pretty extensive rights. "Requiring a vaccine is a health and safety work rule, and employers can do that," said Reiss. There are, however, a few notable exceptions to this kind of blanket requirement. If a work force is unionized, the collective bargaining agreement may require negotiating with the union before mandating a vaccine. Anti-discrimination laws also provide some protections. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, workers who don't want to be vaccinated for medical reasons are eligible to request an exemption. In this case, an employer would have to provide reasonable accommodation, such as allowing the employee to work remotely. (Source: NECN)

10. Portsmouth Council Votes to Extend City’s Mask Mandate to June 30. The unanimous vote at Monday night’s meeting extends the mask ordinance passed earlier this fall beyond its original January 4 expiration date to June 30, 2021. The vote came after a prolonged debate over the best approach to extending the mandate. Councilor Cliff Lazenby proposed an amendment to the current ordinance replacing the January 4 expiration date with language extending the ordinance until the council voted to terminate it. However, Councilor Petra Huda objected saying she preferred a firm end date of June 30. Councilor Deaglan McEachern agreed with Huda, saying he didn’t like the idea of a open-ended mandate and also preferred a specific end date. Huda’s amendment passed 7-2. James Peterson of the Citizen’s Response Task Force, former Councilor Josh Denton, Task Force member Andrew’s Bailey, and Rep. David Meuse spoke in favor of extending beyond the January 4 expiration date. You can view the entire debate starting at 2:09:00 and ending at 2:51.00 here. (Source: Personal Notes and YouTube)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 7, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Monday, December 7

Source: CovidActNow. Note that the displayed positive test rate is higher than the daily rate reported by N.H. DHHS. This is because CovidActNow includes tests and positive test from both antigen and PCR testing, while DHHS only factors in the results of PCR tests.

5 additional deaths and 656 new COVID-19 cases were reported by state health officials on Sunday. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Monday.

1. Hospitalizations Jump to 169 As Newly Added Cases See N.H. Top 1,000 Cases in One Day for the First Time. The 656 new positive test results for COVID-19 announced on Sunday included 296 new positive test results from Wednesday. This boosts Wednesday’s previous total to 1,079–which also sets new daily record for New Hampshire. The new cases reported on Sunday also include 3 new positive test results from Thursday (for a new daily total of 554) and 295 new positive test results from Friday (for a new daily total of 630). Only 62 positive results were reported for Saturday, which is due to a combination of incomplete reporting that saw only a handful of cases reported from two large labs (UNH and Dartmouth-Hitchcock) and the effects of a severe winter storm that may have discouraged some people from getting tested. The five additional deaths reported were all individuals over age 60. There are currently 169 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19–a net increase of 23–or 15.7%—over the previous day. The sudden bump in hospitalizations ends a brief period that saw hospitalizations stabilizing for nearly a week and then declining to a seven-day low of 146. On the positive side, the state’s rate of new hospitalizations per 100,000 people over the past 14 day remains a relatively low 0.7. Of more concern is the seven-day positivity rate of 8.2%, which is a strong indicator that the virus continues to spread at an alarming rate. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. COVID Tracker: Anticipating an Immune System Boost That Actually Works. In its weekly analysis of N.H. COVID-19 metrics, the Concord Monitor reports the state is now failing to meet four critical goals that are indicators that the virus is under control. The one bright spot is testing where at least 150 PCR tests per 100,000 people—or 2,000 tests per day—are being conducted. But rather than focus exclusively on the bad news, the Monitor also sheds light on how vaccines work and the fact that each vaccine candidate will likely have advantages and drawbacks, including what groups of people they help the most, how easy they are to make, store and transport, the type and amount of side effects, ease of administration, and so on. For example, mRNA vaccines (such as the ones under development by Pfizer and Moderna) are easier to make (that’s why they are furthest along) and usually create fewer side effects. But they’re fragile, which is why they have to be stored at super-cold temperatures, and we have less experience with their long-term effectiveness. According to the Monitor’s analysis, part of dealing with COVID-19 will involve deciding which vaccines to emphasize for which places and which groups at which time. And who’ll pay for it all. (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. The COVID Vaccine is Coming to NH and Maine. What You Need to Know. The states of New Hampshire and Maine are furiously preparing to receive their first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines within the next two weeks, just as a growing wave of new COVID-19 positive cases is cresting across both states. While state officials in New Hampshire do not know the exact number of doses that will be received in the first shipment, they expect to receive 10,000 to 15,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the third week of December and 15,000 to 24,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine a week later, in the fourth week of this month. Beth Daly, chief of the New Hampshire health department's Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, has said the first phase will include high-risk health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff and first responders. Daly estimated there are about 100,000 people who need to be vaccinated in this first phase. Distribution to the general public could begin in the spring, she said. Maine officials conducted a planning survey of hospital systems to determine who should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination in its first phase to support the critical medical infrastructure. Preliminary results from the survey identified about 19,900 high-risk health care personnel – that's about 53% of the state's 37,700 health care personnel who work in a hospital setting – who should be prioritized, according to the state's interim draft vaccination plan. Front-line health care workers would be vaccinated first in Maine followed by "nursing homes - vulnerable people and those who provide care to them in partnership with commercial pharmacies," said Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah on Friday. "This is just the first week's allocation. This is week one of many, many weeks." (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. Regional COVID-19 Numbers Paint Worrisome Picture. In a deeper look at New Hampshire’s COVID-19 metrics, veteran state house reporter Gary Rayno says that while neighboring states Maine and Vermont have the two lowest infection rates in the country, New Hampshire at 46 per 100,000 new cases is about in the middle of the pack for along with Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Maryland, but above, California, Texas and Florida, known COVID-19 hotspots this summer. Of the five New England states, New Hampshire has the highest positivity rate at 7.3 percent [up to 8.2% since this article was posted], Massachusetts 5.2 percent, New York 4.7 percent, Vermont 2.4 percent and Maine 2.2 percent. Rayno writes that while Gov. Chris Sununu likes to talk about the data driving public health decisions for the Granite State, there are some very troubling data points that should concern everyone with the vaccine coming soon. “While it appears the governor wants to ride out this surge without additional restrictions, that may cost lives before the vaccine arrives and that would be tragic,” Rayno concludes. (Source: InDepthNH)

5. Manchester Consolidates Mobile COVID-19 Testing Sites to Centralized Location. As the need for testing increases as the pandemic worsens, Manchester officials are taking steps to ensure tests can take place more efficiently during the winter months. Starting Tuesday, the city will move its mobile COVID-19 testing operations to a single, centralized location – the back parking lot of the SNHU Arena at 555 Elm St. “One location will be more efficient for us to maintain a twice-weekly testing site through the winter season,” said Jaime Hoebeke, chief strategy officer for the Manchester Health Department. “Some of the primary benefits include streamlined snow removal, reduced wear and tear of equipment, and improved traffic control and flow.” For months, the Manchester health and fire departments, along with the Office of Youth Services, have offered mobile testing at two sites in the Queen City every Tuesday and Thursday – JFK Memorial Coliseum on the East Side and West Side Arena on the West Side. According to Hoebeke, the current plan is to offer the mobile testing site behind SNHU Arena Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of January. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

6. Another COVID Complication—Pedestrian Fatalities Rise. The number of pedestrians killed by motor vehicles in 2020 to date is nearly double last year’s toll — another apparent side effect of the pandemic, safety experts say. So far this year, 15 people have been struck and killed by motor vehicles in New Hampshire, including a 29-year-old Littleton woman who was hit by a pickup truck while crossing a street in Tilton last week. In 2019, eight pedestrians were killed by vehicles. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

7. ‘Once Past the Sadness, It’s Time to Help Others’. Early in the pandemic, Catholic Charities saw a 134-percent increase in requests for help with rent, shelter, food, clothing, mental health. It set up an Emergency Assistance Program and created a separate bank account to help those most affected. Donations have reached more than $300,000 after an initial goal of $250,000. The charity has seen a 38 percent increase in desperate requests for meals, and that’s meant the delivery of 97,000 pounds of food since last spring. Elsewhere, it has provided help for families facing eviction, people who lack money to pay critical bills, and seniors, many of whom have been impacted this year in a sad and profound way. “A lot of seniors were isolated before the pandemic,” said Michael McDonough, Catholic Charities’ executive director for marketing and communication, “and now they have an extra layer on top of that. They can not see family or friends or go to the recreation center, they’re so isolated and emotionally distraught.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 6, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Sunday, December 6

New Hampshire health officials announced seven new COVID-19 deaths Saturday along with 457 new cases, which includes positive test results from several days last week. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Sunday.

1. As NH’s Death COVID-19 Death Toll and Case Count Increase, Hospitalizations Dip Slightly. The 457 new cases announced on Saturday include 12 new positive test results from Monday (for a new daily total of 659 cases); 77 new positive results from Tuesday (for a new daily total of 715 cases); 32 cases from Thursday, 12/3 (for a new daily total of 551 cases); and 336 cases are from Friday. Once again, the announced counts remain incomplete because test results for previous days are still being processed and the total number of new positives is not yet complete. With the seven new deaths, the state’s overall death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 559. As of Friday, 146 people were being treated for complications from the virus in N.H. hospitals. This represents roughly a 10% drop from the level of hospitalizations reported for much of last week. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. In-Person Belknap County Delegation Meeting to Go On Despite Legal Advice. The 18-member Belknap County Legislative Delegation will hold a public meeting in a room at the county complex on Tuesday without provision for remote participation despite a contrary legal opinion. The meeting was set up by Delegation Chairman Mike Sylvia, who was among a small group of Republican House members pursuing a resolution to investigate impeaching Gov. Chris Sununu over actions the governor took in response to the pandemic, including mandating COVID-19 precautions such as mask wearing. Sylvia said he doesn’t intend to wear a face mask at the 6 p.m. Tuesday meeting. Paul T. Fitzgerald’s legal opinion for the county is that masks are required under an executive order from Sununu and that a remote meeting is needed in order to preserve participation by people not comfortable coming to an in-person session. The attorney said that during the pandemic many meetings have been held electronically with relative ease and reliability. Some government bodies are meeting this way exclusively. “To be meaningful, the public's right to attend and participate in a public hearing should not be diminished by the fear (or reality) that such attendance would expose the participants to an unreasonable risk of physical harm, including illness,” he said. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun)

3. Lebanon Gym’s ‘Herd Immunity’ Party Called off After Inquiry, NH AG Says. The owner of a Lebanon gym who planned to hold a self-described “herd immunity” Christmas party next week has called off the gathering, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Crom MMA & Fitness on Mechanic Street planned to throw the party on Dec. 12. The event, which was still listed on the gym’s Facebook page Friday afternoon, advertised “food, drinks and smoke provided.” It drew criticism from city officials who worried that large gatherings could increase the spread of COVID-19. State officials reached out to the gym’s owner, Marc Garza, on Nov. 30 to “discuss our concerns with whether this event would comply with the Governor’s Emergency Orders,” Associate Attorney General Anne Edward said in a statement Thursday. (Source: The Valley News)

4. NH Veterans Home Puts out Call for Help for Staffing. The New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton put out an all-hands-on-deck call for help in the fight against COVID-19. Officials there say the pandemic is taking its toll, and they're asking for people to do what they can to help those who have served our country. They're looking for everyone from registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to nonclinical positions like laundry workers, business maintenance, security officers and food service workers. “We need more people to step up and help our veterans get through this,” said Margaret LaBrecque, Commandant of the NH Veterans Home. “This is an all-hands-on-deck response. We are shifting resources and making all the necessary changes to achieve our mission, including calling in federal resources to assist, but some positions remain to be filled.” If you are in a position to help, you can email your resume and contact information to helpnhvh@nh.gov. (Source: WMUR)

5. School Nurses Face Mounting Challenges to Ensure the Safety of Students and Staff. With many New Hampshire schools still open for in-person learning, nurses have been at the center of COVID-19 prevention and response. With the stakes so high for communities, school nurses are working longer hours and have taken on many more responsibilities than a typical year. One of the biggest responsibilities is evaluating students who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. The guidance from New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services says school nurses should treat any symptom like it’s a positive case. But because COVID symptoms are so similar to those of a common cold, strep throat or allergies, it doesn’t take much to have to send a child home from school. “It’s really hard to make a phone call to a parent and say ‘Hey, your kid has a runny nose. Can you please come get them?’ ” Kotkowski said. “It’s a really hard phone call to make as a school nurse, and I’m sure it’s hard as a parent to hear that.” Jenni Lawrence, school nurse at Merrimack Valley High School, says they factor in a student’s medical history when making the decision about whether to send someone home. A potential COVID symptom like a headache or a runny nose could be explained if the student has a history of allergies or migraines. Lawrence estimates that she sends 1 to 2 students home per day due to COVID-like symptoms. “Our stance on that is that we would rather be cautious and tell people that we do need to quarantine instead of the opposite and find out after that they did need to quarantine,” Lawrence said. (Source: Concord Monitor)

6. Opinion: 2018 N.H. Teacher of the Year: “Our Schools Do Not Need to ‘Dig Deep’”. In a column appearing in today’s Concord Monitor, 2018 N.H. Teacher of the Year Heidi Crumrine pushed back on Gov. Sununu’s statement last month that “schools need to dig deep” so we can continue to support in-person learning. “I beg your pardon, Governor, but schools need to ‘dig deep’?” writes Crumrine. “Schools, which were running on fumes pre-pandemic, which have been the victims of systemic, structural, and economic inequities due to an outdated funding system, need to dig deeper? Schools, which are already overcrowded, struggling to find substitute teachers, and relying on GoFundMe and Donors Choose in order to buy markers and paper, are the ones who need to step up to the plate?” Crumrine writes that schools need everyone else to dig deep. “This is the moment when our schools need our communities to step up and to show us that they value the children and the adults who work inside of them. This is the moment when our communities need to show the passion for in-person learning that they claim to have by doing everything in their power to allow that to happen.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

7. DHHS: COVID-19 Exposures at Establishments in Manchester, Keene, Seabrook. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has identified potential community exposures related to multiple food and beverage establishments throughout the state. At least eight people who tested positive for COVID-19 visited Filotimo Casino & DraftKings Sportsbook, located at 1279 South Willow Street, Manchester, while potentially infectious. The other restaurants where people may have been exposed include MacDougall’s Tavern in Keene and the Chop Shop Pub in Seabrook. Any individuals who went to the above named establishments during those days and times may have been exposed to COVID-19 and should seek testing. (Source: InDepthNH)

8. New Restaurant Owners: NH's COVID-19 Aid Left Us Out. The husband-and-wife team Doug and Kim Clark, who took over a historically family-owned diner dating back a century, Young’s Restaurant, say there is one gaping hole in how the state awarded grants out of the Main Street Relief Fund (MSRF) in the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery, or GOFERR. Both rounds of the Main Street Relief Fund, first $400 million and now $100 million, left out all businesses that opened after May 29, 2019, because it required establishments to anticipate their losses for 2020 based on tax year 2019’s gross receipts. “The PPP saved businesses because it was easy and they said, ‘Let’s get you through three months to keep your employees working.’ It did not require comparative receipts,” Kim Clark said. “The rigidity in the Main Street Relief Fund doesn’t make any sense for the world we live in today. There’s no compassion and there is no caring for small, independently owned, new restaurants.” More than two dozen restaurants posted on the Facebook page "Seacoast Eats" and reported being in a similar position as Clark's because they opened after the May 29, 2019 cutoff point. (Source: Seacoast Online)

9. More Holidays Are Coming, COVID-19 Contact Tracing Isn’t Working. Seacoast virologist Ben Locwin says with contact tracing help from the state nearly non-existent and some still refusing to respect the virus, it’s up to us to protect ourselves. Locwin says that case identification and tracing largely isn’t happening anymore. This has meant that since about mid-October, there have been known outbreaks in Seacoast area restaurants and bars and retail locations which were never traced, and the businesses were not closed. He adds that this means that people who patronized those locations were unknowingly exposing themselves to risk of transmission which was not identified nor externally communicated. Ultimately, what this means is that we are all (and have been) responsible for our own health and wellbeing, and should take individual responsibility to continue to enact the right behaviors to stay safe. Another issue Locwin says is becoming more common is people who receive confirmation that they are positive for COVID-19 NOT isolating, and then continuing to go about their business and lifestyle. (Source: Seacoast Online)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 5, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Saturday, December 5

N.H.’s revised COVID-19 Schools Dashboard makes it easier to see which schools have active cases and whether education is taking place in those schools remotely, in-person, or using a hybrid model. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

Eight additional deaths and 782 new COVID-19 cases were announced by state health officials on Friday. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. COVID Surge Continues As 782 New Cases Announced Across Four Days. Of the results reported Friday, 29 new positive tests are from Monday (for a new daily total of 650 cases); 74 new positive results are from Tuesday (for a new daily total of 639); 158 cases are from Wednesday, (for a new record daily total of 783); and 521 cases are from Thursday. Officials say test results are still being processed and the total number of new positives are not yet complete. Updated case counts for prior days will be reflected on the state’s COVID-19 interactive dashboard. https://www.nh.gov/covid19/dashboard/trends.htm#dash While the daily PCR positivity rate for Thursday declined to 4.3%, the state’s 7-day average positivity rate leaped to 8.2% after new cases from earlier in the week were processed. The eight new fatalities reported were all in residents over the age of 60. 159 people are currently hospitalized across the state with hospitalizations having flattened over the past several days. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. State Readies for Arrival of COVID Vaccines. State health officials are targeting the week of Dec. 14 for the first round of coronavirus vaccine distribution. “We're expecting in our first week's allotment to get between 12 to 13,000 doses of vaccine and then the next week to get approximately 37,000 doses,” Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, said. Daly said the first doses will go to the most high-risk people, especially those who live and work in long-term care facilities. She said almost all of those places in the state have signed up with a federal program where Walgreens and CVS pharmacies will help distribute the vaccine. (Source: WMUR) However, the decision to prioritize residents of long-term care facilities is not without its critics. According to Dr. Helen Talbot, of Vanderbilt University, there is risk because the vaccine has not been tested on the frail elderly in trials, many of whom are residents of long-term care facilities. Talbot was the only member of a panel of 14 doctors advising the CDC on vaccine distribution to vote “no” on providing the first doses to the country’s long-term care population. "Since they haven't been studied in people in those populations, we don't know how well the vaccine will work for them. We know that most vaccines don't work nearly as well in a frail elderly person as they would in someone who is fit and vigorous, even if they happen to be the same age," Moore said. Moore said she is also concerned about public confidence in the vaccines potentially deteriorating if the frail elderly who are first in line for it continue to die of complications from the virus even after being vaccinated. (Source: CNN)

3. NH General Public Could Get COVID-19 Vaccine in Early Spring. The general public likely will begin to get the COVID-19 vaccine in March or April, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday. Sununu, who believes most New Hampshire citizens will want to receive the vaccine, said the state plans to conduct a public service campaign stressing the safety and effectiveness of the shots. “Hopefully we are getting near the end, but we are not at the end. It’s not going to be over Jan. 1 just because it’s the new year. We’ve still got some months to go,” Sununu said. “Even after the vaccine is here, the virus is going to remain with us. The state expects to receive up to 45,000 initial doses from Pfizer and Moderna in the next month, which will cover fewer than half of the 100,000 people in the first phase of the state’s vaccination plan. Besides health care workers, the first phase includes residents and staff in long-term care settings and first-responders. “It’s going to take a number of weeks to vaccinate everyone in Phase 1-A,” said Beth Daly, chief of the state’s infectious disease bureau. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

4. CDC Advisor Says Kids Could Get COVID Vaccine in the Second Half of 2021. Children and young teens could get a Covid-19 vaccine in the second half of next year, an advisor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Dr. Jose Romero, the chair of the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, said he hopes to see trials testing Covid-19 vaccines in young children beginning in the second quarter of 2021. If the vaccines prove to be safe and effective, children under the age of 18 could get their shots in the second half of next year, he said. A vaccine cannot be distributed to children until it's been rigorously tested in children in clinical trials. Pfizer, which submitted an emergency use application to the Food and Drug Administration for its coronavirus vaccine on Nov. 20, is already testing kids 12 and older. Moderna, which submitted an emergency use application for its vaccine earlier this week, is preparing to test at least 3,000 children as young as 12, according to a posting on clinicaltrials.gov. (Source: NECN)

5. Revised Schools Dashboard Shows 3 Active Cases at Portsmouth’s Little Harbour School. The Little Harbour Elementary School in Portsmouth has joined the list of N.H. Schools with active cases. This morning, the state’s reworked COVID-19 Schools Dashboard shows that the most recent of the three active cases was reported on Nov. 30. Released earlier in the week, the changes to the dashboard make it easier to see which schools have active cases and which ones are teaching in-person, remote or hybrid. Users can search by school, district or town; see results for all communities; and filter results down to schools with active outbreaks. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

6. Demand for Testing High in NH as Post-Thanksgiving COVID-19 Surge Continues. As predicted by health officials, New Hampshire is seeing more and more COVID-19 cases following the Thanksgiving holiday, which is driving demand for testing. The New Hampshire National Guard announced it has collected its 100,000th COVID-19 test in what the guard describes as "an unprecedented activation." "Just a huge milestone. It represents a ton of hard work by men and women, soldiers and airmen,” Maj. Daniel O’Brien, of the New Hampshire National Guard. The guard has 56 soldiers and airmen between two fixed sites and its mobile mission. Over the last three weeks, they have conducted more than 13,000 tests. "In essence, this has been a first for all of us in terms of fighting this kind of enemy,” O’Brien said. (Source: WMUR)

7. Seacoast Infectious Disease Expert Comfortable With 10-Day Quarantines But Notes Lack of Sufficient Testing Materials. In efforts to help minimize the impact on individuals and employers, the Centers for Disease Control is lowering the required quarantine time for a person who may have been exposed to COVID-19 but is showing no symptoms from 14 days to 10 days. The CDC is also offering states a seven-day quarantine option should the person get a negative COVID test within that time frame. On Thursday, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan announced New Hampshire will reduce its quarantine time to 10 days, but for now at least, will opt out of the seven-day test out of quarantine option. Dr. David Itkin, an infectious disease expert at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, said part of the reason the state chose to opt out of the seven day test out option is due to the lack of sufficient testing materials. He said there may be a special condition for that testing option for critical personnel like healthcare workers. “The test has to be a PCR test, not an antigen test, for more definitive accuracy,” said Itkin. But Itkin says he understand the hardship a 14 day quarantine period imposes on businesses and individuals and is fine with shortening it to 10 days. “I think this can be safely shortened because the incubation period will not change much in those extra days,” Itkin said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

8. 'This Is Not How We Want Our Veterans To Pass': N.H. Vet Home Head Discusses COVID Response. The past few weeks have taken a heavy toll on the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton. More than 20 veterans have died of COVID-19 there since mid-November, with several more still sick. In an interview with NHPR, Commandant Peggy Labrecque said that after 8 months of keeping the virus out of the home, community spread allowing staff members to contract the virus outside of work is what finally brought it inside. “Our staff members, they live in the community,” said Labrecque. “They go to the grocery stores. You know, they have their children and their loved ones who are working out in the community. So I think truly that an asymptomatic staff member who did not realize that they had the virus brought it in. We have been testing the public health guidelines. So it's a very sneaky virus, I guess I would say.” The Veterans Administration is providing temporary help with staffing. According to Labrecque, there are currently 41 active cases among the residents. (Source: NHPR)

9. Change in Testing Policy Led to Discovery of Inmate Cluster at State Prison. November’s COVID-19 surge saw the first outbreak of cases among inmates of the New Hampshire state prison system, including 10 cases in a Concord unit that treats mental illness and substance use disorders. Although multiple prison employees had tested positive for COVID-19 before then, no evidence had surfaced indicating that the virus was present and circulating in the prison population. Soon after, the state Corrections Department tweaked its testing policy. During much of the pandemic, the policy has been to test “residents who are symptomatic and any resident identified during contact-tracing to have had close, prolonged contact with an infected person.” But the announcement of the inmate cases came after a change in the policy to adopt “point prevalence testing” where individuals who have recently been exposed to an infected person and may be asymptomatic individuals are also tested for the illness. The switch in policy comes several months after a CDC review of 16 prisons and jails found that COVID-19 prevalence increased by a multiple of 12 after symptom-based testing—which does not test individuals who aren’t displaying symptoms but may be asymptomatic—was replaced by mass testing. Prisoners also are especially vulnerable because of their “restricted movement, confined spaces, and limited medical care,” the New England Journal of Medicine reported in April. Nationwide, nearly 198,000 inmates of state and federal prisons have tested positive for COVID-19, and 1,454 have died, according to a Nov. 17 tally by the Marshall Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that reports on the U.S. criminal justice system. (Source: Concord Monitor)

10. COVID is the Latest Obstacle to Having Enough People to Plow the State’s Roads. As New Hampshire gears up to keep the roads clear during snowstorms, the possibility of COVID-19 sidelining drivers looms large, particularly because there aren’t as many drivers as there once were. “Each and every year it’s getting tougher to get contractors,” said David Gray, winter maintenance program specialist for the state Department of Transportation. “It’s a dying industry; nobody wants to drive trucks any more.” It’s not just snow-plow truck drivers, either. The American Trucking Association estimates the U.S. has at least 50,000 fewer drivers for commercial trucks than are needed. The state Department of Transportation has 93 sheds around the state where trucks, equipment and salt or sand supplies are kept. Each has between three and 15 DOT workers, Gray said, although that number can double with contractors. If one of those employees gets COVID-19 it’s possible that everybody will have to quarantine for a week or two. “If COVID goes into a shed and wipes out a shed, then we’ve got to figure out some way of getting that road taken care of. If you’ve got 10 operators, you’ve lost 10 trucks,” Gray said. “You have to sanitize the shed, find new operators to go into these seats.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

11. Wentworth-Douglass Hospital: 'Essential Visitors Only’ as COVID Cases Rise. Wentworth-Douglass Hospital is implementing new restrictions in its visitor policy as of Monday, Dec. 7 as COVID-19 cases continue to increase statewide. The new guidelines will only allow “people who are considered essential visitors” to come to the Dover hospital. A statement on the hospital's website says, “Out of an abundance of caution due to increased COVID-19 cases in our community, new visitor guidelines will go into effect December 7.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

12. NH Superior Court Cancels Jury Trials in 4 Counties Through January. In light of rapidly rising COVID-19 infection rates and limited air circulation in four county courthouses, Chief Justice of the NH Superior Court Tina Nadeau has made the decision to cancel jury trials in Sullivan, Strafford, Hillsborough Southern District, and Belknap counties for the month of January 2021. “In our monthly meeting with Judicial Branch expert, Dr. Erin Bromage, he reported that the months of December and January will be particularly challenging in terms of increased COVID-19 infection rates and cases. As a result and in light of suboptimal air filtration and ventilation systems in some counties, the Court is canceling jury trials and grand jury proceedings in Sullivan, Strafford, Hillsborough Southern District and Belknap counties for the month of January 2021,” noted Chief Justice Nadeau. “However, ventilation in the four affected county courthouses is still adequate to safely conduct smaller, necessary in-person hearings and the courthouses will remain open for current limited operations. In addition, we continue to conduct video and telephonic hearings throughout the day in all court locations.” (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

13. Manchester’s Palace Theatres Close Venues for the Rest of the Year. A difficult year for N.H.’s performing arts venues has taken another turn for the worse with the Palace Theatres announcing that it is closing its venues for the rest of the year and beyond, citing the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. “After careful consideration of current circumstances, the Palace Theatres announce an intermission in our live performances for December and into the New Year,” the nonprofit said in a statement Friday morning. The Palace Theatres operates its flagship theater at 89 Hanover St. in Manchester as well as the Spotlight Theater next door, the newly restored Rex Theatre on Amherst Street and Forever Emma Studios on Pine Street. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

14. Lincoln Tavern Owner Frustrated Over COVID-19 Fine. The owner of White Mountain Tavern is challenging a $1,000 fine he received after a guitar-playing couple performed there in violation of COVID-19 regulations. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office alleges that on Nov. 21 David Culhane and his business hosted a musical performance, a video of which posted online Nov. 22 “clearly shows two guitarists performing indoors close together.” In a Nov. 25 letter to Culhane, Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards wrote that no bands are allowed to perform indoors at restaurants or function halls. Only “disc jockeys and solo artists” may perform inside, she said. Culhane said the guitarists are a couple and the social distancing language in the governor’s order is ambiguous and arbitrary. “I just believe it’s an error in the guidelines that needs to be corrected,” Culhane said. “It’s not like we had a five-piece band. It’s a couple that lives together.” (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

15. CDC: Masks Are Critical to Reducing the Spread—Even at Home. Masks are "critical" to controlling the spread of coronavirus, and that includes at home sometimes, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. A CDC review of what works makes it clear that mask use, physical distancing, avoiding crowds and washing hands all could help control the spread of the virus -- and would allow kids to go back to school and businesses to reopen. "Consistent and correct use of face masks is a public health strategy critical to reducing respiratory transmission of SARS-CoV-2, particularly in light of estimates that approximately one half of new infections are transmitted by persons who have no symptoms," the CDC summary of guidance reads. The CDC has gradually been strengthening its recommendations on mask use. "Compelling evidence now supports the benefits of cloth face masks for both source control (to protect others) and, to a lesser extent, protection of the wearer," the CDC's Margaret Honein, Dr. Henry Walke and colleagues wrote. (Source: CNN )

16. Affordable-Housing Council Gets to Work; Report Due Dec. 14. Collaboration on solutions to homelessness in New Hampshire began anew Friday with the first meeting of a council tasked with addressing broad issues around housing affordability and stability. Gov. Chris Sununu created the Council on Housing Stability last month after state police cleared a homeless encampment outside a courthouse in Manchester. It represents a revamping of the existing Interagency Council on Homelessness and has been instructed to update the state’s homelessness plan. A preliminary plan is due Dec. 14 and could include recommendations for executive orders and legislation. (Source: Concord Monitor)

17. NH Department of Revenue Encourages Heightened Tax Security Awareness Amid Pandemic. During the IRS’ Annual National Tax Security Awareness Week, which runs from November 30 to December 4, the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (NHDRA) is sharing tips to help New Hampshire residents protect themselves against tax-related identity theft and fraud. With an increase in taxpayers and tax preparers working from home, identity thieves have increased scam efforts during the pandemic. “In the thick of holiday shopping, the approaching tax season, and as people across the state continue to work remotely, we encourage New Hampshire residents to instill an amplified sense of awareness around potential scams,” said NHDRA Commissioner Lindsey Stepp. “There has undeniably been heightened fraud activity during the pandemic, especially surrounding unemployment and other state benefits. NHDRA even had our telephone number ‘spoofed’ to appear as if we were calling people, when in reality, it was a fraudster.” If a taxpayer is concerned about the legitimacy of a call they have received purporting to be from the NHDRA, the taxpayer can take the caller’s information and then hang up and call the NHDRA’s Call Center at (603) 230-5000 to confirm the identity of the caller and the legitimacy of the telephone contact. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 4, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Friday, December 4

Source: N.H. Department of Health and Human Services

On Thursday, N.H. public health officials announced seven more COVID-19 deaths, bringing New Hampshire's death toll to 544 since the start of the pandemic. 625 new COVID-19 cases were also announced, bringing N.H.’s total active case count up to 4,342 coronavirus cases. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Friday.

1. As NH Announces 7 New Deaths, Dr. Chan Says Data Shows COVID-19 is Much Deadlier Than Flu. While announcing the deaths of seven more Granite Staters as a result of the coronavirus, New Hampshire's state epidemiologist said data suggests that COVID-19 is much more deadly than a typical seasonal flu. A total of 544 people have died in New Hampshire since the pandemic began. Chan said that typically, about 40-50 people die of the seasonal flu each year in the state, so the data shows that COVID-19 in nine months in the state has been at least 10 times more deadly than the flu typically is in a full year. "This is what happens when we have a new virus, whether it’s the novel influenza virus or a novel coronavirus introduced into a population that has very little immunity. (Its impact), especially on our vulnerable population, is significant and severe," Chan said. (Source: WMUR) In addition to the 7 deaths, all people over age 60, state officials announced a new one-day record of 625 new COVID-19 cases. New Hampshire's hospitalizations and active case counts are now higher than at any other previous point in the pandemic. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Nationally, the U.S. recorded 217,664 new cases of COVID-19 and 2,879 related deaths on Thursday -- the most infections and fatalities in the country in a single day since the pandemic began. Thursday's figures raised the country's totals to at least 14,139,577 cases and 276,325 related deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.(Source: CNN)

2. Officials Announce Seven New COVID-19 Outbreaks at NH Congregate Living Facilities. State health officials announced seven new institutional outbreaks of COVID-19 in New Hampshire Thursday, and warned that rising caseloads in the broader community are driving higher death rates among vulnerable populations in group living settings. 16 people have died of COVID-19 over the past two days, the majority of them residents of long-term care facilities, including nursing homes. New outbreaks were announced Thursday at the following facilities: Grace House in Windham (infections among 3 residents and 5 staff members); Green Mountain Treatment Center in Effingham (13 residents, 14 staff); Hanover Hill in Manchester (15 residents, 2 staff); Benchmark Senior Living at Nashua Crossings in Nashua (14 residents, 14 staff); Hanover Terrace in Hanover (21 residents, 15 staff); St. Joseph Residence in Manchester (9 residents, 3 staff); and at the New Hampshire Department of Corrections Secure Psychiatric Unit in Concord (10 residents, 3 staff). (Source: NHPR) You can find a complete list of all active outbreaks at N.H. nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, including the number of infections and fatalities, on the second page of the state’s Thursday summary. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

3. COVID Rips Through Vets Home Bringing Death Toll Above 20. The COVID-19 vaccine is coming, but not soon enough for more than 20 residents at the New Hampshire Veterans Home who have succumbed to the virus in the last two weeks. As of Wednesday evening, 45 residents had active cases of COVID-19, six had recovered from the virus, and 21 residents had died, which is about one-sixth of the total number of residents at the Tilton facility. Thirteen of those deaths have come this week alone. Margaret LaBrecque, the facility’s commandant, said the outbreak is devastating. “We started to prepare for this the day the governor shut our doors,” she said. “We knew it’s not a matter of if it’s coming in, it was when. Unfortunately, when was November 10.” The outbreak rapidly tore through the home and its residents since it was introduced in early November, likely from a staff member who brought it inside. Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy and Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, both of Manchester, sent a letter to the governor Thursday saying they are deeply disturbed by what they view as a lack of action at the 250-bed nursing home in Tilton. The senators called for the implementation of a plan to prevent further spread of the virus, address staffing shortages and ensure the availability of personal protective equipment. “The staff at the New Hampshire Veterans Home are risking their health and safety simply to do their jobs and care for our veterans,” they wrote. “This is unacceptable.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

4. Wife of WWII Vet Who Died of COVID Has 1 Request: Wear a Mask in Honor of Marty. Martin Oppenheimer survived the early years of the Holocaust, fled Germany with his family for America, enlisted in the U.S. Army and served at the end of World War II. Martin was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Nov. 10. He died six days later, without his wife of 66 years, Ellen, by his side. “I wasn’t even there to say goodbye, or hold his hand, or kiss him, or tell him how much I love him,” she said softly. “Listen to the experts,” Ellen said. “We’re not taking anything away from you, we’re trying to give you a gift, and that’s the gift of life.” There are still 46 veterans at the nursing home fighting the virus, officials said. (Source: NECN)

5. Sununu Blasts GOP Caucus Over COVID-19 Exposures. On Thursday, Gov. Chris Sununu announced shortening COVID-19 quarantine time, criticized House Republican leaders for lack of transparency related to exposure to the virus Nov. 20, and outlined how the state will prioritize the first shipments of vaccine when they arrive in a matter of days. Sununu, a Republican, chastised the GOP caucus for the lack of information provided to the rest of the House, its staff, and others about Nov. 20 in which the House Republican caucus gathered inside the ski lodge at McIntyre Ski Area in Manchester. Sununu said at least four of the attendees tested positive for COVID-19 but that it appears there was little notification to the Democrats in advance of “Organization Day” held Wednesday outdoors at UNH. “It was horribly managed. Horribly managed,” Sununu said. “You had a lot of individuals there. Our understanding is there were a lot of individuals there not wearing masks. You had them trying to socially distance but with an open buffet as well.” (Source: InDepthNH)

6. Sununu Says He Has No Plans to Impose Tighter Restrictions. As outbreaks have spiraled across the country in recent weeks, many states have again begun imposing tighter restrictions on public assembly and have taken steps to shut down their economies. But Gov. Chris Sununu said he has no plans to do that in New Hampshire at this time, in part because of the economic toll such a shutdown would likely take. "I'm not saying it could never happen, but I gotta tell you, we're nowhere near that, and there's no plans for that right now because of those negative effects,” Sununu said at a Concord press conference Thursday. (Source: NHPR)

7. Not All People in High Risk Groups Will Be Able to Get Vaccinated in N.H. Right Away. New Hampshire’s initial shipments of coronavirus vaccines will protect fewer than half of those identified as the most critical recipients, state officials said Thursday. The state’s vaccination plan prioritizes health care workers, nursing home residents and first responders. Together, they add up to about 100,000 people, but the initial shipments are expected to include enough vaccine for 10,000 to 40,000 people, according to Gov. Chris Sununu. “There is a prioritization even within (that group). We’re going to target those high-risk health care workers in hospitals, then moving to ambulatory care settings and other settings like home health care providers,” said Beth Daly, chief of the state Bureau of Infectious Disease Control. (Source: Associated Press)

8. N.H.'s COVID-19 Vaccine Plans Move Forward, Despite Lack of Statewide Tracking System. As Moderna and Pfizer apply for emergency FDA approval of their COVID-19 vaccines, New Hampshire is making more plans for distribution. But the state still lacks what experts say is a key tool in that distribution process: an immunization registry. New Hampshire remains the last state in the nation to set up its vaccine registry. Experts say tracking the COVID-19 vaccine is particularly important because it is administered federally and in two separate doses. State health officials have been working on the registry for years and say it should be ready by mid-December. By then, officials say, the state may have already received a limited batch of the vaccine. "We currently have a process in place for providers to be able to order vaccines and track the vaccine status of their patients," said Jake Leon, communications director for the Department of Health and Human Services. "The registry will support the current process and the efforts by DHHS and healthcare providers to notify patients when their second dose is due." (Source: NHPR)

9. Required Quarantine for Those Exposed to COVID-19 Decreased from 14 to 10 Days in NH. On Thursday, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan announced that the guidance in New Hampshire for someone who has potentially been exposed to COVID-19 is decreasing from 14 to 10 days. This is in line with the CDC’s new guidance, but New Hampshire will not be adopting the seven day test out of quarantine option. “With each step down in quarantine time period there is some increased risk of a person with COVID-19 being missed and spreading it to others,” Chan said. “But, that risk is relatively minimal when you’re talking about going from a 14-day to a 10-day quarantine. The risk goes up even further if you’re looking at seven day quarantine, even if there is a test required to get out of quarantine after seven days.” There is still a seven day test out of quarantine option for travel only. (Source: WMUR)

10. COVID Numbers in Concord Schools Continue to Rise. Nine more students and staff members of Concord area schools have tested positive for COVID-19 as the number of cases surges across the state and Merrimack County. Three adults and one student have tested positive for the disease at Rundlett Middle School in Concord, interim Superintendent Kathleen Murphy announced in a message to families Thursday. The capital city of Concord currently has 128 active cases of COVID-19. (Source: Concord Monitor)

11. Exeter Hospital: Wear Masks to Help Keep Healthcare Workers on Frontlines’. Exeter Hospital officials are asking the greater Exeter region to mask up to prevent a scenario where scores of frontline healthcare workers are forced to quarantine after being in contact with COVID-19 positive individuals out in the community. Debra Vasapolli, director of community relations at Exeter Hospital, said the administration’s greatest concern at this time is the well-being of the frontline staff working in the hospital, amid daily record-setting numbers of new infections around New Hampshire and nationally. “What we’re seeing is consistent across the state and because of the community spread of COVID, it creates challenges with our staff who are coming into contact with people positive in the community or their family,” Vasapolli said. “We have not seen any indication of patient to staff transmission or staff to staff transmission. The rising cases are results of wide-spread community spread. It puts strain on our healthcare system if our employees are unable to come to work.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

12. New Hampshire’s Weekly Unemployment Claims Drop in Latest Report. After a big step backward, New Hampshire took a small step forward last week on the road to economic recovery. Some 1,980 Granite Staters filed initial claims during the week ending Nov. 28, a decrease of 358, or 15%, from the number the federal government previously reported. It is also down by 529 from the previous week’s now-official number, which as usual, was revised upwards. In addition, continuing claims continued their slow decline. There were 20,618 people still collecting benefits during the week of Nov. 21, 721 fewer than the previous week and 1,128 fewer compared to the revised rate. (Source: NH Business Review)

13. COVID-19 Exposes Policies that Have Contributed to Long-Standing Homeless Problem in NH. As of October, there were 6,780 applicants waiting for affordable housing through the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. The majority of them will wait seven to nine years for subsidized housing. Many other families are newly housing-insecure, after pandemic job loss undermined their fragile ability to pay rent. While there is currently a federal moratorium on evictions, housing experts are concerned that come January — when that expires — there will be a wave of new families facing eviction and homelessness in the height of the New Hampshire winter. “I’m really nervous about what’s to come,” said Stephanie Savard, director of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness. Issues around homelessness and affordable housing are not new to the Granite State. In January 2019, there were nearly 1,400 people — including 206 families — experiencing homelessness on any given day. Since the pandemic, more families have been reaching out to homeless shelters around the state, indicating a likely increase in homelessness. Although data is not yet available about how the pandemic has affected the number of homeless Granite Staters, experts say it’s likely the number has increased. Census Bureau data from September shows that nearly 24% of Granite Staters reported having difficulty paying their normal household expenses because of the pandemic. If people begin to fall behind on their rent, they could face eviction when the federal eviction ban lapses. There’s another timeline at play as well. The state must use funding from the federal CARES Act by Dec. 30. On that date, unspent funds must be returned to the federal government. The state could use funds to provide relief to tenants — and, therefore, landlords — to help avoid widespread evictions in the New Year. But that policy would have to be enacted soon, said Phil Sletten, senior policy analyst with the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. “The state, should it decide to provide aid to tenants and landlords — the window for that is closing,” Sletten said. (Source: NH Business Review) In related news, the Fiscal Policy Institute also released a report earlier in the week on another key issue facing many Granite Staters who have lost their homes and/or jobs during the pandemic—food insecurity. The report concludes that the current COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately impacted the economic stability of more vulnerable Granite Staters, and may lead to further increases in food insecurity levels, potentially greater than those experienced during the Great Recession and recovery. It says policies and programs that provide support to individuals and families during times of economic decline will be critical to respond to increased needs during and after the current crisis. You can read an issue brief and access the full report here. (Source: N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute)

14. 'Best father,' Retired Hampton Officer Dies in COVID-19 Outbreak. Community members are mourning the loss of retired police officer and former selectman Richard Bateman, who died last week in an outbreak of COVID-19 at Oceanside Center. Bateman, 72, who died Nov. 26, was a part-time officer in Hampton from 1971 to 2012, known to friends in law enforcement as the consummate community police officer. He was also elected to the Board of Selectmen for one term in 2008, and also served on the Planning Board and Cable TV Committee. Bateman was a resident at Oceanside and tested positive for COVID-19 in November when the facility began experiencing an outbreak of coronavirus, according to his son Shane. He said he got a call from Oceanside at 8:15 a.m. Thanksgiving morning informing him his father had died overnight in his sleep. He said despite the tragedy, their family found comfort their father was no longer suffering. (Source: Seacoast Online)

15. Bruins Explore the Idea of Playing at Fenway Park in the Upcoming Season. The Boston Bruins are exploring a fresh-air approach to this coming NHL season’s home schedule: possibly staging games outdoors — maybe even before fans — at Fenway Park. Talks with the Red Sox and city and state officials have only been exploratory, as the Bruins try to avoid extended time indoors at their usual TD Garden home, where COVID-19 would be more easily transmitted. “All of it is preliminary, looking at different scenarios, crunching the numbers,” said Bruins president Cam Neely. Neely emphasized that both the state and the city would have to approve such a move, which he said the Bruins have been discussing with the Red Sox for 2-3 weeks. (Source: Boston Globe)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 3, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Thursday, December 3

Newly-elected and re-elected members of the N.H. House of House gather to be officially sworn-in outdoors at the UNH on Wednesday. While all came dressed for the chilly weather, not all came attired for a pandemic.

State health officials reported nine COVID-related deaths Wednesday, and 566 new infections. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. Nine Deaths, 566 New Cases, and 162 People Hospitalized Statewide. Community-based transmission continues to occur in New Hampshire and has been identified in all counties. Along with the report of 566 new cases came yet another warning from state health officials that test results for Tuesday “are still being processed and the total number of new positives for that day is not yet complete”—meaning the final total will climb higher than 566. Also climbing higher was the 7-day average testing positive rate which now stands at 5.7% after Tuesday’s daily rate reached 6.1%. All nine of the new deaths were in residents age 60 or older. 66 of the new cases were in residents age 18 or under. The new cases reside in Rockingham (139), Merrimack (82), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (64), Belknap (40), Grafton (36), Strafford (33), Carroll (22), Cheshire (10), Sullivan (3), and Coos (2) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (64) and Nashua (33). (Source: N.H. DHHS) The spike in deaths in N.H. came on the same day the U.S. toll climbed over 2,800 deaths—the highest level of the pandemic. (Source: CNN)

2. Death Toll Rises at Three N.H. Long-Term Care Facilities. The New Hampshire Veteran’s Home in Tilton said 15 residents have died since their COVID-19 outbreak started Nov. 10 and 46 residents and 40 staff members currently have the virus. The veteran’s home said they are receiving help from FEMA. “We have five staff members that showed up on the 21st and then five more on the 28th, they are on what they call a 14-day tour of duties or deployments,” Commandant of the New Hampshire Veteran’s Home Margaret LaBrecque said. In Hampton, Oceanside Center said nine residents have died and 43 residents and 27 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Further North in Coos County, Nursing Hospital in West Stewartstown said 11 residents have died within the last month, due to COVID-19. Also, an additional five residents died, that they cannot directly attribute to the virus. The administrator at Nursing Hospital said staffing was an issue, but now quarantined employees are starting to return. (Source: WMUR)

3. 18 staff in COVID-19 quarantine at Elliot Hospital in Manchester. The Chief Medical Officer at Elliot Hospital in Manchester said 18 staff from surgical areas are quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure. The hospital capped their elective admissions for procedures at nine per day. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kevin Desrosiers said the staff directly related to their ability to care for admission in the surgical environment are in quarantine. “Really, it has to do with the ability to make sure you have the appropriate number of staff on the floors to maintain and take care of the patients when they come out of surgery,” Desrosiers said. Normal operations are expected to resume at the Elliot Hospital by Monday according to Desrosiers. (Source: WMUR)

4. First COVID-19 Vaccinations in N.H. By Christmas: Sununu. Gov. Chris Sununu said New Hampshire’s citizens who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection will be able to get the first dose of the vaccine by Christmas. Once the vaccine arrives, it will be totally up to the state to determine who will receive it in the first round, Sununu said. In New Hampshire, the state Department of Health and Human Services said in a draft policy that the first phase to get the vaccine will include older adults living in residential care settings like nursing homes and assisted living facilities, first responders and high-risk workers in health-care facilities. One week after the Pfizer vaccine of about 10,000 doses is distributed, Sununu said he expects the Moderna vaccine with 20,000 or more doses. “They haven’t given us exact numbers but that’s the ballpark we are looking at,” he said. Both the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines require two doses, either 21 days or 28 days after the first. Sununu said he vast majority of the population will be able to receive the vaccine in February and March as more vials become available. (Source: InDepthNH)

5. State Health Officials Discuss New CDC Guidance on Quarantine, But Say No Plan in the Works for Testing at Schools. State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan spoke to school nurses on Wednesday about new information released by the CDC and took questions from school districts. Several nurses asked about availability of the Binax-Now rapid COVID-19 test which can display results in as little as 15 minutes. They said schools need that kind of access to fast results to be able to keep kids in school and not send them home and have them wait for a test. Chan said he has made similar arguments about getting them into schools, but right now, it does not appear there is any plan to do that. As far as the CDC’s new guidance reducing the length of quarantine from 14 days to 10 days (or 7 with a negative test), Chan said no decisions have been made locally. “We literally have just read this guidance ourselves and so we will be meeting further and discussing this and trying to figure out how best to adopt the new information that the CDC has put out and how best to apply it to New Hampshire’s situation,” Chan said. He said now, the guidance for quarantine in New Hampshire remains at 14 days. (Source: WMUR)

6. Major N.H. Addiction Treatment Provider Dealing With COVID-19 Outbreak. One of the largest providers of substance use disorder treatment in New Hampshire is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak. At least 27 clients and staff of Granite Recovery Centers have tested positive since Saturday, according to a statement from CEO Eric Spofford. Spofford said there are currently 14 positive cases of COVID-19 among staff members, and 13 positive cases among clients. (Source: NHPR)

7. NH Legislature Gets Off to a Chilly Start. The newly elected New Hampshire Legislature, officially now in Republican hands, got off to a chilly start on several fronts on Organization Day at the University of New Hampshire. After what newly elected Speaker Dick Hinch, R-Merrimack, characterized as a “very small number” of House Republicans tested positive for COVID-19 following an in-person caucus at the McIntyre Ski Area in Manchester on Nov. 20, nearly a third of the new House members — most of them Democrats — decided not to show up. While the remaining legislators will be sworn in virtually at 10 a.m. today, they were not allowed to participate in voting for House offices or on rule changes rammed through by Republicans House members that erased a State House gun-carrying ban and mandatory in-person sex harassment training that Democrats had adopted when they took over the House two years ago. The votes on rule changes were an unusual break in tradition for the House. Ordinarily, the House convenes on Organization Day, the first Wednesday of December, to swear in state representatives and senators, and elect party leaders and state officers only. Any rule changes for the new Legislature are usually made on Convening Day, the first week of January, after the House Rules Committee has a chance to meet later in December and make a recommendation. House Democratic Leader Renny Cushing of Hampton, who opted not to attend because of a history of cancer, criticized new House Speaker Dick Hinch for permitting several dozen House Republicans to sit in a separate section on the field while not wearing face coverings. “The blatant disregard for public health is unconscionable, especially as daily case numbers in New Hampshire are the highest they have ever been,” Cushing said after the session. “Granite Staters are sick, dying, and struggling to pay bills and provide for their families this holiday season. While Granite State businesses are working around the clock to adhere to ever-changing safety protocols and stay afloat, House Republicans are unabashedly clinging to their senseless and dangerous anti-science narrative.” Hinch argued that he worked with state health officials to plan the session and said that none of the GOP members who contracted COVID or who were in close contact with them at a GOP event in November—which was held indoors and where attendees went maskless—were present. A proposed rules change by Rep. Andrew Bouldin, D-Manchester, that would have allowed legislators to participate in future sessions remotely was defeated despite the N.H. Supreme Court ruling earlier in the month that legislators who attend sessions virtually are “present” under the N.H. State Constitution. (Sources: Manchester Union Leader, Concord Monitor, and InDepthNH) During Wednesday’s session, House Clerk Paul Smith pointed out that while the Supreme Court’s ruling cleared the way for virtual sessions, no House rules have yet been adopted permitting them. While Rep. Bouldin’s motion was defeated, similar changes can be considered later in the month by the House Rules Committee and voted on when the legislature next meets on Convening Day. But to cast a vote on any changes, legislators would be required to attend the session in-person in the middle of a raging pandemic where maskless legislators are once again likely to be present.

8. Inmate COVID-19 Cases at State Prison Double to 12 in a Week. The number of COVID-19 positive inmates at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord has doubled in a week and stands at 12 who are currently infected, with most of them housed in the psychiatric units. On Nov. 25, the state Department of Corrections’ website reported six positive tests, also mostly at the Secure Psychiatric and Residential Treatment units at the men’s prison in Concord. There were also 23 active cases among staffers in various state prison facilities.)

9. Trajectory of Positive COVID-19 Cases in 20-29 Age Group Rising. Latest COVID-19 case numbers show that some of the greatest increases are in the young adult demographic between ages 20-29. The number of cases in that group has jumped from 23 cases on Nov. 1 to a seven-day average of nearly 100 new cases a day. “I think they’re probably traveling more, probably out and about a bit more and they’re probably a little bit more risk-takers as far as getting together with colleagues,” said Dr. Thomas Wold, Chief Medical Officer at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. With community spread rampantly now and a general vaccine possibly months away, experts said the numbers indicate we need to double down. “It also points to how resilient the virus is to taking advantage of situations where we do let our guards down,” Wold said. (Source: WMUR)

10. Blue Moon Evolution to ‘Hibernate’ as COVID-19 Cases Rise. Exeter restaurant owner Kath Gallant said due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the region and a downtick in business over the past several months, she has made the hard decision to close her Blue Moon Evolution restaurant and “hibernate” through the winter. Gallant made the announcement in a Facebook post Saturday and said her 22 employees of the farm-to-table restaurant have been furloughed until April 1, 2021. However, she said if conditions regarding the pandemic improve, then she is leaving the possibility of reopening earlier next year. “The pandemic has really put the restaurant industry through the wringer,” Gallant said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

11. New Hampshire Real Estate Closings Jump 21% in October as Inventory Shrinks. People are continuing to buy more New Hampshire homes for more money amid the pandemic and shrinking inventory, according to statistics released by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. In October, the number of closings rose 21% from a year ago and median sale price jumped 17.5%, to $350,000, from compared to last year, when the price was just under $300,000. In other words, the median homeowner gained $50,000 in equity in the last year, not a bad little nest egg in a year where unemployment had climbed to record highs. There were only 2,164 single-family homes for sale in October, a number that has been shrinking all year and is now 58.5% of what it was last year. That translates to 1.4 months worth of inventory compared to October 2019, when there were 3.5 months. That’s a 60% decline. With such low inventory, if no homes were to come onto the market, there would be no homes for sale by Christmas. (Source: NH Business Review)

12. State Certifies Biden Victory in Pandemic Presidential Vote. New Hampshire certified its presidential election results Wednesday in favor of Joe Biden. In a unanimous vote, the N.H. Executive Council voted to certify the results in the record-setting election. Biden defeated President Donald Trump 424,921 votes to 365,654. Secretary of State William Gardner said there were 814,092 ballots cast, surpassing the record set in the 2016 general election by more than 58,000 ballots. During the election, the state temporarily expanded eligibility for absentee voting this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Just under a third of voters took that option. (Source: Concord Monitor) Any permanent changes to make absentee voting easier will be up to the new legislature. Gov. Sununu vetoed a bill passed by the previous legislature that would have made no-excuse absentee voting permanent in New Hampshire.

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 2, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Wednesday, December 2

Source: CovidActNow

On Tuesday, N.H. public health officials announced 772 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Wednesday.

1. Test Positivity Rate Soars to 6.2% As COVID Surge Tests the Ability of DHHS to Accurately Report Numbers Within 24 Hours. For the first time, New Hampshire health officials reported more than 600 new COVID-19 cases in a single day on Tuesday. The 772 new positive test results for COVID-19 reported include 150 new positive test results from Sunday and a new single-day record of 622 new positive test results for Monday. The state noted that results for Monday are still being processed and the total number of new positives for that day is not yet complete—so expect the numbers to move even higher tomorrow. The 6.2% positivity rate for Monday is the highest level seen to date during the current surge. It also helped raise the state’s 7-day average positivity rate to 5.1%, above the 5% level regarded by many public health experts as a threshold for tightening pandemic restrictions. The new cases reside in Rockingham (189), Merrimack (110), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (104), Belknap (57), Strafford (38), Cheshire (27), Carroll (16), Grafton (10), Sullivan (6), and Coos (4) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (126) and Nashua (44). (Source: N.H. DHHS) You can find more information on the meaning and importance of positivity rates (or “percent positive tests”) here. (Source: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)

2. Some GOP Reps Test Positive For COVID-19 Prior to Swearing-In Ceremony, Angering Dems Who Weren’t Told. Members of the New Hampshire House Republican caucus were exposed to the coronavirus Nov. 20 at McIntyre Ski Area in Manchester and some have tested positive, according to state health officials. But plans are still on to convene all 400 House members and 24 Senate members later this morning for the Organization Day ceremony outside at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. A number of Democratic House members, including Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton, Minority Leader-elect, say they will not attend Organization Day because of the threat of COVID-19. “Republican leadership did not inform any Democratic members that multiple members of their caucus have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an in-person reception less than two weeks ago,” Cushing said. “With the number of cases rising rapidly in New Hampshire, hiding information is negligent and dangerous to communities across the state. Members of the House Democratic Caucus will be weighing their risk in attending Organization Day at UNH knowing that there will be members of the House GOP who were likely exposed and will be there unmasked,” Cushing said. Members of the House who do not attend the session will instead have the option to take their oath of office virtually on Thursday. (Source: InDepthNH) Spoiler alert: I will not be attending this event and plan on taking my oath of office virtually on Thursday. While this is a personal choice for every legislator, I don’t feel it is responsible to attend an event where as many as half of the participants should still be in quarantine under CDC guidelines because they have been in close contact with people confirmed to have COVID. Over 80 Republican legislators have also said they will refuse to wear masks, further increasing the risk level. While holding the event outdoors is certainly better than holding it indoors, the decision to allow this event to move forward in a way that accommodates legislators who think they are above the law and immune to mask mandates imposed by their state, the town of Durham, and our hosts at the University of New Hampshire is callous, irresponsible, and reckless given the risk of community spread in a state with a 5%+ positivity rate.

3. CDC Panel Says Health Workers, Nursing Homes Will Get COVID-19 Vaccine First. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel voted 13-1 on Tuesday to give health-care workers and long-term care facility residents the first coronavirus vaccine doses once it's cleared for public use. There are roughly 21 million health-care workers and 3 million long-term care facility residents in the United States, according to a presentation during the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an outside group of medical experts that advises the agency. Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said most states and local jurisdictions expect it to take three weeks to vaccinate all of their health-care workers. Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines require two doses about a month apart. The meeting comes as states prepare to distribute a vaccine in as little as two weeks. Although states don't have to follow the CDC's guidance, it gives them a framework to work with and that many states adopt, Dr. Karen Landers, spokeswoman for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said in a recent phone interview. "This guidance will be extremely helpful because it will be science-based, and also will give us the framework to be able to ensure that our guidelines are consistent with what is recommended by support staff," she said. (Source: NECN) In New Hampshire, the plan is for the state Department of Health and Human Services and two large pharmacies to lead the first wave of vaccines in New Hampshire, which will likely focus on health care workers, emergency responders and people in nursing homes. CVS and Walgreens have been awarded contracts by the CDC to vaccinate residents of long-term care facilities and their staffs. According to DHHS spokesman Jake Leon, once more vaccine comes to New Hampshire, “essential workers” will likely be next to receive vaccines, along with people whose health conditions put them at high risk for complications from COVID-19, and those over the age of 65. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

4. With More Than Half of NH Schools Maintaining Some Level of In-Person Learning, Teachers Union President Makes Case for Teachers to Be in First Groups for Vaccinations. As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, new numbers show that most schools in the state are still trying to maintain some in-person learning. A little more than half of the state’s 629 schools responded to a recent survey, among them, 189 are hybrid, 128 mostly in-person, 28 mostly remote and eight evenly split. But, keeping staff and students in school has its challenges. In Portsmouth, learning at the high school still mostly remote after a cluster and recently a middle school group shifted to remote because its teachers had to quarantine. Resulting disruptions are unfortunately common as COVID-19 numbers rise. Megan Tuttle, President of the New Hampshire Chapter of the National Educators Association, says that in addition to being required to quickly shift between in-person and remote learning from one day to the next, “Now, we have educators and staff who are actually doing the contact tracing and that’s not right.” Tuttle also made a case for teachers, many of whom are older or have conditions that put them or a family member at a higher risk for serious complications from the virus, on the short list to receive vaccinations once they are available. “If we’re really essential workers like we’re being told we need workman’s comp and we need the vaccinations in the first groups,” Tuttle said. (Source: WMUR)

5. Portsmouth May Need Volunteer Vaccinators. The city of Portsmouth will soon put out a public push for volunteers who can administer vaccines, as the first deliveries of anticipated emergency-authorized COVID-19 vaccines likely near. "We would like Portsmouth to be positioned the best we possibly can," Health Officer Kim McNamara told the city's Health Subcommittee Tuesday. McNamara said if she gets a phone call about "x number of doses coming to Portsmouth," the city needs to be prepared. The Portsmouth Fire Department has already certified 48 emergency medical technicians to become vaccinators. McNamara said the city may be looking for 12 to 20 additional vaccinators, which they'll likely solicit via a public outreach campaign. "In this community and the surrounding communities, we could probably find plenty of people if they're willing to do it," she said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

6. AstraZeneca Doses Were Correct for COVID-19 Vaccine Trials in Portsmouth. After reports last week that some volunteers in trials for AstraZeneca’s vaccine for COVID-19 (AZD1222) may have received incorrect doses, the company conducting trials for the vaccine on the seacoast says that has not been the case here. According to Terry Stubbs, president of ActivMed Research Clinic in Portsmouth, one of many trial locations in the U.S. for the AstraZeneca vaccine, the data that was called into question was from the European trials, not from the U.S. trials. The company is still looking for volunteers to participate in local trials. (Source: Seacoast Online)

7. First Responders Going the Extra Mile to Avoid Catching and Spreading the Virus. First responder agencies around the state are fighting to keep their employees healthy and face unique challenges because of the job they do. Temporary screenings at the door, a daily four-question survey and personal protective equipment are all in place. But, for first responders, 6-feet social distancing is not an option when making an arrest or treating a sick person in the back of an ambulance. “It’s a struggle, it’s a struggle for police, fire, EMS to maintain our numbers,” Manchester police Chief Allen Aldenberg said. “Maintain our strength so we can remain operationally effective.” There are 230 police departments in New Hampshire. Most are a fraction of the size of the Manchester department. Some said an outbreak could shutter an entire department. The Police Chief’s Association monitors that possibility closely. “All departments have mutual aid and agreements with the entities and agencies that surround them,” president of the association Chief Charlie Dennis said. “The State Police is available to play a role, especially for smaller communities.” (Source: WMUR)

8. Concord Feels Weight of Pandemic As Additional Cases Reported in Schools, Police, Prison, and Businesses. Students in area schools, members of the Concord Police Department as well as staff and inmates at the State Prison for men have all tested positive for COVID-19, state officials said. Six new students at Concord High School have tested positive for COVID-19, according to updates from Concord’s interim Superintendent Kathleen Murphy and the state Department of Health and Human Services. But to date there has been no evidence of transmission within the school itself. Meanwhile, nine staff members at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week along with four Concord police officers. (Source: Concord Monitor)

9. A Hopeful Sign: N.H. Turnpike Traffic Fell Sharply Over Thanksgiving Weekend. Many New Hampshire residents seem to have listened to public health officials and not visited family and friends over Thanksgiving break – or told their out-of-state relatives to stay home – judging from traffic the turnpike system, which declined sharply over the five-day period. Traffic volume has been lower in New Hampshire since the pandemic began, but over Thanksgiving traffic fell even more. On the holiday itself, the state’s E-ZPass system at eight toll booths on the turnpike system registered 118,000 trips, which is less than half the 265,000 trips registered at the same tolls on Thanksgiving 2019. For the five-day break from Wednesday through Sunday, the system recorded a total of 1.03 million trips, a drop of 34% from the 1.55 million trips registered last year. (Source: Concord Monitor)

10. Hampton Nursing Home Outbreak Up to 70 COVID-19 Cases, 9 Deaths. A COVID-19 outbreak at Oceanside Center on Tuck Road has resulted in nine deaths, according to state officials, with a total 70 people testing positive for the coronavirus. The state Department of Health and Human Services reported the totals Monday, showing there were 43 residents and 27 staff who tested positive for COVID-19. Oceanside was one of 12 New Hampshire institutions listed as having a current COVID-19 outbreak, and many more have hit long-term care facilities in the state and nationally throughout the pandemic. Dr. Richard Feifer, chief medical officer for Oceanside, said they currently have 29 residents at Oceanside in recovery. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to those impacted by COVID-19 during this difficult time, especially the families of the nine residents who passed away,” said Feifer. Feifer said the facility is testing staff and residents three to four times a week and screening residents and patients for symptoms three times daily. (Source: Seacoast Online)

11. Shaheen, Hassan Join Bipartisan COVID-19 Relief Offer. A $908 billion COVID-19 relief package aimed at helping states and citizens get assistance through next March was unveiled Tuesday by a bipartisan team including New Hampshire's two U.S. senators. The plan marks the first breakthrough of any kind after months of stalemate and followed private talks among lawmakers through the Thanksgiving weekend. But one of its authors, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, emphasized many hurdles lay in front of a final agreement before a lame-duck Congress heads home for the holidays in a few weeks. "A number of my colleagues have talked about this being a victory for the American people. If we pass it, it’s a victory for the American people. This is step one. We have a lot of steps going forward,” Shaheen said at a Capitol Hill news conference. The plan would provide $160 billion in additional aid to state and local governments and restart for four months another $300-per-week of additional benefits for the unemployed. It would also offer private business owners temporary protections from coronavirus lawsuits for a few months while letting lawmakers in each state decide on their own liability reforms. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

12. Nashua School Board Extends Remote Learning Into 2021, Approves Winter Sports Plan. The Nashua Board of Education has voted to keep students in all grades fully remote through Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 18. The board also approved a plan for winter sports. All basketball and hockey players must wear a mask to and from facilities, during practices, on the bench and during games. No fans are allowed from visiting teams. “We have 397 active cases right now and 419 contacts. It's a lot, but it's good news, too, because the case-to-contact ratio is about one to one,” Angela Consentino, Nashua’s epidemiologist, said. Consentino said the one-to-one ratio suggests the virus is not spreading to large groups, and that people are taking the surge seriously by limiting contacts and cutting back on social activities. (Source: WMUR)

13. Broadband Projects Funded With CARES Act Money Are On Track To Be Completed On Time. Earlier this summer, the state of New Hampshire allocated about $14 million dollars in federal CARES Act funding to projects that would provide high speed internet to underserved communities across the state. With the December 15 fast approaching, some towns say they should be done with their projects just under the wire. “It’s gonna be a close one,” said Nik Coates, Bristol’s town administrator. Bristol requested about $2 million to build out 24 miles of fiber internet to about 400 residences. Coates says all the fiber cable has been strung, and now it’s a matter of putting in the right equipment so that the fiber can be connected at people’s homes. The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, another recipient of the Connecting New Hampshire Emergency Broadband Program, says it’s also on track to complete its project by the December deadline. (Source: NHPR)

14. Another Coronavirus Headache: Supply Chain Disruption. Grevior Furniture has been in business for nearly a century, but it has never seen a year like 2020. “Things have just been crazy,” said Jason Grevior, the third generation of his family to run the business. The craziness he’s referring to is an effect of the coronavirus pandemic. Demand has been strong, he said – it’s getting something to offer the customers that’s the problem. Grevior said supply chain disruption has been a problem for his business since he was able to reopen after the state’s Stay At Home order. “I shut down for the mandatory time when the state told me to, right after that it’s been a huge issue,” Grevior said. The reason for furniture makers to be six months behind is twofold, in Grevior’s view. First is the impact that coronavirus infections have had on factories, as outbreaks among workers can halt production for days or weeks. Secondly, people who are spending more time than ever in their homes – and not spending their money on travel – are deciding it’s time to upgrade. “If you can get it, you can sell it. The problem is getting it,” Grevior said. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun)

15. The PUC Gets a Really Bad Letter. In the often semi-incomprehensible battle in Concord over rate payer funded energy efficiency policies, one of the few people who can frame the issues in terms that are easy to understand is N.H. State Consumer Advocate Maurice Kreis. Recently, a group of nine Republican legislators, including the incoming Speaker of the House, sent the Public Utilities Commission a letter asking it to “indefinitely postpone implementation” of the next three-year statewide energy efficiency plan currently set to take effect at the start of next year. https://www.nhpr.org/post/citing-economic-fears-house-republicans-call-puc-postpone-2021-energy-efficiency-plan In an op-ed on InDepthNH, Kreis says that by zeroing in on energy efficiency as a misguided attempt at pandemic relief for business, the legislators are ignoring the very real savings of increased energy efficiency for both residential and business customers. Kreis also says their argument also ignores another key element in rising consumer electricity bills—the massive and ever-rising costs paid to generators and transmission owners. (Source: InDepthNH)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 1, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level

Tuesday, December 1

(Source: N.H. DHHS

On Monday, the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services announced 514 new positive test results for COVID-19. No additional deaths were announced. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. Active COVID-19 Infections in N.H. Surge Past 5,000. The number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 in New Hampshire has risen sharply in the past few days, reaching 160 people on Monday, according to state health officials. That's up from roughly 130 people over the weekend and 120 a week ago. No new deaths were announced Monday. Of the 514 new cases reported, 265 are from Saturday and 249 are from Sunday. According to DHHS, test results received Sunday are still being processed and the total number of new positives for that day “is not yet complete.” Current COVID cases in the state have moved past the 5,000 mark and now total 5,145. Since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 has been confirmed in 20,994 people in N.H. So far, 526 New Hampshire residents have died from the virus. (Sources: NHPR and N.H. DHHS)

2. State Updates List of Active Outbreaks in Nursing Homes and Other Facilities. In its first update on the status of the pandemic in N.H. congregate living facilities since Nov. 19, N.H. DHHS listed a dozen facilities where the virus remains active. Of the 12, fatalities were reported in four. They include the N.H. Veterans Home (32 resident cases, 26 staff cases, 31 under investigation, and 8 resident deaths), Coos County Nursing Hospital (60 resident cases, 62 staff cases, none under investigation, and 6 resident deaths), Oceanside Center Genesis (43 resident cases, 25 staff cases, none under investigation, and 5 resident deaths), and the Woodlawn Care Center (33 resident cases, 24 staff cases, none under investigation, and 4 resident deaths). Also listed was Mt. Prospect Academy in Plymouth—a private facility that provides schooling, treatment, and housing to 11 to 19-year-olds involved in the juvenile justice system or placed by child protective services. The school has been experiencing an active outbreak since October and the state’s update reports 14 resident cases and 28 staff cases. (Source: InDepthNH and N.H. DHHS)

3. N.H. Sites Look to Expand COVID-19 Testing to Meet High Demand. As high demand for COVID-19 tests continues beyond the long holiday weekend, some sites are looking to expand their testing capacity. Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth usually tests 65 to 70 people per day, and has had a full schedule for the past two weeks. Deb Thompson, the hospital's nurse director, said they're now hoping to increase that to 100 tests per day. Speare aims to add hours for both PCR testing, and BinaxNOW rapid testing. To make that happen, Thompson said, they'll have to hire more staff. Phil Alexakos, Chief Operations Officer at the Manchester Health Department, said the city has only been using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Those take longer to process but are effective in people with or without symptoms. He said the department is starting to look toward using rapid antigen testing, as staffing and testing supplies are limited with the current testing process and high demand. (Source: NHPR)

4. Holiday Gatherings Raise Concerns Amid Second COVID-19 Surge. While the full impact of the Thanksgiving holiday on the current surge has yet to play out, concerns are being raised that holiday gatherings yet to come will push COVID-19 cases even higher. The Chief Medical Officer at the Catholic Medical Center Dr. Michael Gilbert says if you traveled or if you gathered with a large group last week, it is imperative that you limit exposures to others for the next 7-10 days and monitor for symptoms. Elliot Hospital in Manchester had 32 new COVID-19 positive patients on Monday. Now, 20 patients are hospitalized for COVID-19, an all-time high. Hospital officials said it is less about beds and more about staffing, nurses are in high demand and shortages are a concern. “As the number of people in the community have COVID-19, our ability to staff all those beds because our staff is quarantined for 10-14 days or worst-case scenario, actually sick with COVID-19 or other things,” Gilbert said. (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said hospitals are at risk for seeing continued increases in hospitalizations and could possibly reach their limit. “But, as of right now, there continues to be enough beds and health care services statewide,” Chan said. Should a hospital hit capacity, Chan said there are plans in place to deal with that. He also said an increase in community spread also means an increase in the demand for testing, which will lead to a delay in turnaround time for results. Especially with the added post-Thanksgiving rush for testing. “One of the ways we’re looking to mitigate this increase is trying to move out antigen-based tests into PCP offices, hospitals where people who might have symptoms can get results in as soon as 15-20 minutes,” Chan said. (Source: WMUR)

5. 11 COVID-19 Cases Linked to To Stumble Inn Bar in Londonderry. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has identified an outbreak of COVID-19 that may have exposed patrons and staff at Stumble Inn Bar and Grill, located at 20 Rockingham Road, Londonderry, NH. The potential exposures occurred between Wednesday, November 11, 2020 and Monday, November 23, 2020. DHHS has identified at least 11 cases of COVID-19 associated with this outbreak. The establishment is temporarily closed. Any individuals who visited Stumble Inn Bar and Grill between November 11 – 23, 2020 may have been exposed to COVID-19 and should seek testing. DHHS has conducted a contact investigation and notified known close contacts directly. However, DHHS is making this public notification because there may be additional individuals at the location during those days who were potentially exposed to the coronavirus. (Source: InDepthNH)

6. COVID-19 Vaccines Could Start to Arrive in NH by End of 2020. A second drug maker is waiting for emergency authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna submitted that request to federal regulators on Monday. Dartmouth infectious disease professor Dr. Elizabeth Talbot called it a massive move forward. “As a society, as a species, it’s hard to overstate the enthusiasm within the expert community for some of the state we’re seeing right now,” Talbot said. “In terms of safety, in terms of efficacy across age populations.” Gov. Chris Sununu said the state is ready for the vaccine. “As soon as that vaccine is available, we’re going to move those shipments out literally the very next day,” Sununu said. Workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, the elderly and the most vulnerable will receive the vaccine first. It will be delivered in two doses, 21 days apart. “CVS and Walgreens are really the facilitator,” Sununu said. “We place the order on behalf of the long-term care facilities, CVS and Walgreens get the vaccine from the manufacturers themselves and just distribute it exactly as we tell them to distribute it.” (Source: WMUR) Still up in the air is whether enough people will choose to be vaccinated to ensure that enough of the population is immunized to stop the spread of the virus. In addition to navigating supply and distribution issues, public skepticism fueled by years of misinformation about vaccination on social media has led to mixed opinions from many Americans on whether or not they will allow themselves to be vaccinated once COVID-19 vaccines are available. (Source: NBC News)

7. New Hampshire Lawmakers to Bundle Up for Outdoor Session. Newly elected and re-elected members of the Legislature will meet Wednesday for Organization Day on an outdoor field hockey pitch at the University of New Hampshire, where the forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 45 degrees. The session was originally to be held in an indoor gymnasium, but officials changed course over the weekend amid growing concerns about the recent surge in coronavirus cases. “In light of the recent spike in the pandemic, and sadly with fatalities and hospitalizations going up, we realized what was originally proposed was just not practical,” said Rep. Steve Shurtleff, a Concord Democrat whose term as House speaker ends Tuesday. “People will be bundling up. I think we could relax our dress codes so people can dress appropriately,” said Shurtleff, who was headed to Durham Monday morning to discuss logistics with leaders from the new Republican majority and other officials. House Clerk Paul Smith said the 400-member House will gather outside the Whittemore Center arena, while the 24-member Senate will meet in another outdoor location before briefly joining the House. The agenda includes swearing in lawmakers, filling leadership positions and electing a secretary of state and state treasurer. Separately, the governor and Executive Council will meet inside the recreation center. (Source: Associated Press) Still unclear is how the new Republican leadership will handle about 80 Republican members who are refusing to wear masks despite the recent surge and many members being in age groups more vulnerable to the virus. At a minimum, they are expected to be segregated in a separate area.

8. Citing Economic Fears, House Republicans Call On PUC To Postpone 2021 Energy Efficiency Plan. Citing pandemic-driven economic concerns, top Republican state lawmakers are asking the Public Utilities Commission to put off the adoption of more aggressive energy efficiency goals, currently set to take effect at the start of next year. The letter, sent Monday from incoming House majority leader Dick Hinch and incumbent Republicans on the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee, calls on the PUC to “indefinitely postpone implementation” of the next three-year statewide energy efficiency plan. The efficiency plan is a proposal from the state’s utilities – Eversource, Liberty, Unitil and the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative – for electric and gas savings goals in 2021 to 2023, mostly through the rebates, audits and incentives offered by the NHSaves program. The utilities say these cuts will create jobs and enable all kinds of customers to buy less energy, ultimately saving them $1.3 billion or more than three times what the plan costs. The House Republicans, in their letter, argue these long-term savings goals are not worth the short-term costs the plan will carry for manufacturers, small businesses such as restaurants and municipalities hard-hit by the economic downturn of COVID-19. (Source: NHPR)

9. 'Devastating': 1 in 7 in NH Don't Where Next Meal Will Come From. One in seven Granite Staters do not know where their next meal will come from, according to new estimates from the New Hampshire Food Bank. That's an additional 55,500 people who are now food insecure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a total of more than 181,000 food insecure people across New Hampshire – a 69% increase. "I don't see an end in sight right now for the people we support," said Deb Anthony, executive director at Gather food pantry, the Seacoast's largest hunger relief organization. "You've got the holidays, the heating season is coming up, the government and whether or not there's going to be any kind of stimulus for people. It's going to be a rough winter." (Source: Seacoast Online)

10. NH Health Officials Say New Partnerships will Provide Services for At-Tisk Youth, Families. State health officials announced partnerships this week with Waypoint of Manchester and the Family Resources Center in Gorham to expand community-based voluntary services for at-risk children and families. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) announced the partnerships Monday, saying Waypoint and the Family Resources Center of Northern New Hampshire will provide support services across the state to promote “safe, stable and nurturing families and communities.” (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

11. Financially Strained During the Pandemic, Museums Seek Support. Like small businesses, many N.H. museums have been hit with closures, capacity reductions and limitations to the in-person services they can provide, requiring them to get creative with how they operate. As shoppers flock to support small business during the holiday season, museums are asking people not to forget about them. Museum Store Sunday, an event launched by the Museum Store Association that follows Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, reminds shoppers that they can find unique holiday presents at museum gift shops. One area museum observing Museum Store Sunday is the Historical Society of Cheshire County, which is offering a 10 percent discount in its online store until Dec. 23, according to Marketing and Museum Store Manager Andrea Cheeney. “Last year we conducted about 165 events in person,” she told The Sentinel in an email, noting that the historical society’s programming reached 13,000 people in 2019. “...We canceled 85 in-person programs this year, which is about 55% of our program lineup. Socially distanced outdoor walking tours for a limited number of people allowed us to continue some in-person events.” The museum store had also been closed to the public in March due to the pandemic, Cheeney said. But the historical society has been focused on ramping up its online store to allow sales to continue. “The proceeds from Museum Store sales benefit our operations and educational programs,” she said in an email. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

12. Granite Staters Predicted to Flock to Cross-Country Skiing, Snowshoeing During Pandemic. Provided Mother Nature cooperates, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are ripe for an even bigger rise in popularity, due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Cross Country Ski Area Association, more than 5.2 million people cross country skied in the United States during the 2019-20 season, a 6% improvement from the previous season. The percentage increase in snowshoeing participation was double that – a 12% bump, to 3.6 million. While downhill ski areas could see fewer visitors than past seasons, due to social distancing and limited ticket sales, cross-country trails and equipment stores will reap the benefits. “We are thinking that what we saw with bikes, camping equipment, kayaks and things of that nature (this summer) – sports that have an up-front cost to buy gear, then little participation fees – we will see [that] with cross-country skiing and snowshoeing,” said Dylan Jones Hall, executive vice president/minority owner of Ken Jones Ski Mart in Manchester. “We think they are a sure bet in New Hampshire this year. Even if you don’t have snow in your backyard it will only be a 30- to 60-minute drive to do these sports for free.” (Source: N.H. Business Review)

N.H. STATE DHHS COVID-19 DATA

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – November 30, 2020

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

OTHER DATA/METRICS SOURCES (SOME WITH N.H. DATA)

• NHPR Interactive Charts: COVID-19 in NH

• WMUR N.H. Coronavirus Information and Charts

• New York Times Interactive Vaccine Tracker

• New York Times N.H. COVID Maps and Charts

• New York Times U.S. Nursing Home Statistics and Outbreak Map

• John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center—NH Page

• The Covid Tracking Project—NH Section

• CovidActNow NH Outbreak Risk Level