CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New Hampshire has set a new goal of testing 1,500 people a day for the coronavirus, and a task force studying how to reopen the economy is expected to start making recommendations by the end of the week.
Developments in how the pandemic is affecting New Hampshire:
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MORE TESTING:
New Hampshire is expanding its coronavirus testing eligibility and capabilities in hopes of reaching 1,500 people per day in coming weeks, state officials said Monday.
A program to test long-term care facility workers in two counties is expanding statewide, said Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette. And for the general public, new testing sites are being set up in Claremont, Lancaster, Plymouth, Tamworth and Rochester.
While a doctor’s referral will still be necessary, health care providers now are being advised to recommend testing for anyone with even slight symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, Shibinette said.
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THE NUMBERS
As of Monday, 1,938 people in New Hampshire had tested positive for the virus and 60 had died.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
Among 2,000 nursing home workers tested so far, fewer than 50 tested positive, Shibinette said.
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TASK FORCE
A task force on the reopening of New Hampshire’s economy will begin making recommendations by the end of the week, Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday.
“We won’t have every answer, don’t get me wrong, but I think we’ll have a couple of first steps, the low hanging fruit, where the guidance is most easily implemented,” he said.
On Monday, the group heard from Phil Bryce, director of the state Division of Parks and Recreation. He outlined goals for resuming operations, including requiring reservations to enter parks, halving the number of state campsites and opening beaches for “transitory use only.”
“No sitting on the beach. You can walk on the beach, you can run on the beach, you can even swim,” he said. “We’ll have lifeguards there, you just can’t hang out on the beach.”
Sununu has said public health will be paramount in making decisions about reopening businesses. He’s particularly concerned about exposing New Hampshire’s restaurants and tourism destinations to traffic from southern New England, where the outbreak has been exponentially larger.
“Even though those facilities might be 150 miles north of the border, the vast majority of people that would use those would be from Massachusetts, and Connecticut and Rhode Island and New York and New Jersey. That is traditionally 60% of their business and would probably be much higher given the dynamics of this crisis,” he said.
“To open those facilities even though they’re well off the border is enticing folks to come across the border and potentially create another COVID surge here.”
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MENTAL HEALTH AND DISABILITIES
Lawmakers studying how New Hampshire will spend its $1.25 billion in coronavirus relief aid heard Monday from community mental health centers, home health agencies and an organization that serves seniors and people with disabilities.
The state’s 10 community mental health centers are on track to lose $18 million in revenue over six months, while facing $6.3 million in additional costs because of the pandemic, said Roland Lamy, director of the New Hampshire Community Behavioral Health Association.
Jay Couture, director of the Seacoast Mental Health Center, said staff have been responding to increased demand in services from children and adolescents, older adults struggling with being isolated and frontline health care workers.
Providing protective equipment to staff has been challenging, said Gina Balkas, president of the Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire.
“We just have no way of knowing when a nurse or therapist enters a home, what the situation is there,” she said.
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SURF’S NOT UP
Rye police are advising surfers to catch a wave elsewhere or face the prospective of a fine.
Rye Police Chief Kevin Walsh said his officers are weary of chasing off surfers in groups as large as 10 who are ignoring beach closures.
Many are parking in church lots and on private property, so Walsh is seeking permission from these property owners to ticket and tow the vehicles. Police may also start issuing tickets to surfers for trespassing on the beach.
“Most certainly if they are in the water, it gives the impression that the beaches are open. People are going to come and ignore the closed signs,” Walsh said, adding that surfers are arguing the ocean is not part of the beach. “It’s a selfish thing. … They are not supporting the community.”
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Associated Press writer Michael Casey contributed to this report.
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