N.H. Daily Coronavirus Update—January 2021

Sunday, January 31

While new cases and hospitalizations have been trending downwards across the state, risk levels for contracting and spreading the virus remain extremely high, including in Rockingham County. (Source: The New York Times)

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced six additional deaths on Saturday and 537 new positive test results. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Sunday.

1. NH’s Worst Month Draws to a Close. With one day remaining, January has secured its status as the worst month of the pandemic in New Hampshire. The six additional deaths announced on Saturday bring the state’s death toll from COVID-19 up to 1,042. So far, 283 Granite Staters have died from COVID-19 since New Year’s Day. This one-month total represents 27% of all New Hampshire deaths throughout the pandemic. All of the deaths announced Saturday involved residents age 60+ who were residents of long-term care facilities. To date, 770—or 73.9%—of deaths in New Hampshire have involved residents of long-term care facilities. While earlier in the pandemic, long-term care residents comprised over 82% of New Hampshire’s COVID-19 deaths, 73.9% is more than double the national average and is higher than any other state. 11 of New Hampshire’s deaths have also involved health care workers. Nationwide, 3,303 health care workers have died from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic. (Sources: N.H. DHHS, COVID Tracking Project, Kaiser Health News, The Guardian)

2. Infections and Hospitalizations Continue to Slow. January’s high death count is a consequence of pandemic-highs for new daily case and test positivity in December. But a bad December became a worse January largely because deaths and hospitalizations often lag new cases by several weeks, a bad December created a worse December. But there are positive signs for February. On Saturday, 537 new cases were announced—about half the daily number we were seeing on peak days in December. 217 people were hospitalized—down from pandemic daily highs that earlier in the month were well over a hundred hospitalizations higher. There are now 5,238 current COVID-19 cases in the state—a number that was running close to 7,000 just a few weeks ago. Another positive sign is fewer of the people being tested are testing positive. Saturday’s reported PCR test positivity rate was 2.9%—the lowest in weeks. Meanwhile the combined 7-day positivity rate for antigen and PCR tests now stands at 5.1% after reaching a pandemic high of 11.8% on January 1. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Worth noting is that while cases and hospitalizations a trending downwards, the risk of contracting the virus remains high. Positivity rates in counties that are hotspots for the virus—such as Rockingham, Hillsborough, and Sullivan countries—can be much higher than the state’s reported statewide average rate. For example, the New York Times is reporting that while hospitalizations and deaths in Rockingham County area have fallen, the test positivity rate in Rockingham County remains very high, suggesting that cases are being significantly undercounted. Bottom line: keep your guard up. (Source: New York Times)

3. CDC Says Travelers Must Wear Masks on all Forms of Public Transportation. To slow the spread of COVID-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued late Friday an order that will require people to wear a face mask while using any form of public transportation, including buses, trains, taxis, airplanes, boats, subways or rideshare vehicles while traveling into, within and out of the U.S. The order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Monday. The coverings must be worn over both the nose and mouth while waiting, boarding, traveling and disembarking, it said. The masks need to be at least two or more layers of breathable fabric and needs to be secured to the head with ties, ear loops or elastic bands, according to the order. The CDC said it reserves the right to enforce the order through criminal penalties, but it "strongly encourages and anticipates widespread voluntary compliance" and expects support from other federal agencies to implement the order. (Source: CNN via WMUR)

4. Citing Outsize Case Rates, Critics Call for Racial Equity in COVID-19 Vaccination in VT and NH. In Vermont, as elsewhere across the country, people of color have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Black, Indigenous and other Vermonters of color represent 6% of the state’s population, but 18% of COVID-19 cases, according to a December data brief from the Vermont Department of Health. The disparity appears to be similar in New Hampshire, though race is unknown for nearly 26,000, or about 40%, of New Hampshire’s 64,200 total COVID-19 cases. Of those for which a patient’s race is known, people of color make up more than 7,500, or nearly 20%, of the 38,450 cases. BIPOC individuals make up roughly 7% of the population in New Hampshire, according to the Census Bureau. Vermont health officials have defended the state’s vaccination plan, saying that it focuses on older Vermonters because — regardless of their race — they are likelier to die should they contract the virus. There’s “no doubt that the right way to go is the older age group,” said Tracy Dolan, deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, in a phone interview last week. New Hampshire has similarly focused on age and those with medical conditions in its vaccine rollout. The state first vaccinated health care workers and people in long-term care facilities and is now vaccinating those 65 and older and residents between 16 and 65 with two or more of a list of underlying medical conditions. In moving away from plans that previously prioritized workers in industries that have continued to operate in person during the pandemic, such as grocery store clerks, public transportation workers, farm and factory workers and custodians, the states have “effectively deprioritized people of color,” said Anne Sosin, the program director for the Dartmouth Center for Global Health Equity. Sosin said the states have missed an opportunity to address structural inequities such as systemic racism. (Source: The Valley News)

5. NH’s 3 Largest Active Outbreaks Are In Prisons and Jails: What Happens When the New COVID Variants Arrive? Across the US, at least one in five incarcerated individuals has already been infected with Covid-19, and a disproportionate number of them have died. One study found that the 2.3 million Americans living behind bars have twice the risk of dying from COVID-19 as a similar person who is not. In New Hampshire, there are currently active outbreaks at five correctional facilities as well as an outbreak at the Department of Correction’s Calumet Transitional Housing Facility. According to the state’s most recent report on active outbreaks, they include 639 inmates who have tested positive along with 185 staff. Jaimie Meyer is an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine and a researcher and clinician who specializes in the spread of infectious diseases behind bars. “Congregate settings in general, and prisons in particular, are places where physical distancing is impossible,” said Meyer. Moreover, she added, people in prisons are more likely to have certain medical conditions, including obesity and diabetes, that put them at greater risk of infectious diseases. Early research has indicated that people infected with the new strain may carry higher viral loads, meaning that engaging in the same conduct — spending extended periods of time indoors without distancing — poses an even greater risk of spreading the virus than it did previously. For prisoners, that means that the worst outbreaks may be yet to come. In a handful of states, including Massachusetts and California, the vaccinations of prisoners have already begun — but in many places, including New York and New Hampshire, they aren’t being prioritized for the vaccine. With so few resources to protect themselves and, in most places, no vaccine in sight, many prisoners are worried about the future. Jabriel Lewis is incarcerated at Allenwood federal prison in Pennsylvania. “That new strain got everybody in here scared as hell,” he said. “[I]f it gets into the federal institutions it could possibly mean a death sentence.” For Michelle Angelina, a woman locked up in New Jersey’s Edna Mann facility, the threat posed by the new variants isn’t limited to the virus. The steps the prison system has taken to protect prisoners — shutting down all visitation, ending academic and substance abuse programming, and canceling religious services — will only be extended even further. “It’s putting an immense strain on all of us.” (Source: Vox)

6. Towns Struggle to Balance Direct Democracy, Public Health. The majority of Seacoast communities are moving ahead with their first half of Town Meetings this week, known as deliberative sessions, despite warnings from doctors advising against large gatherings due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Dr. David Itkin, an infectious disease specialist at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, said he fears that the meetings have the potential to be, if not super spreader events, certainly spreaders. “The potential for people gathering in significant numbers, for a long period of time, when there is still a lot of COVID in the community makes the likelihood of someone incubating a case of COVID, having a case with no symptoms, very high,” said Itkin. On Jan. 22, Gov. Chris Sununu issued an executive order allowing towns to postpone deliberative sessions and to move voting day to the first Tuesday of April, May, June or July. Several Seacoast communities took advantage of the order, including Rollinsford and Rye, postponing meetings. Other communities, like Barrington, Exeter, East Kingston, Greenland, Hampton, Kensington, Newfields and Seabrook, decided Sununu's order was too little too late. Warrants had been posted and they had already made the decision to go ahead with the meetings. (Source: Seacoast Online)

7. Northeast States Extend Ban on Interstate Youth Hockey. Interstate youth hockey competitions will remain prohibited in New England and New Jersey until at least April 1, the region's governors said Friday. The prohibition does not apply to collegiate, professional or U.S. national team hockey activities. Ice rinks in some states had been temporarily closed last year because of clusters of COVID-19 linked to games and practices. (Source: NHPR)

8. 14 Sites Providing COVID-19 Antibody Treatment, But Dartmouth-Hitchcock is Absent from the List As Chief Doc Questions Uncertain Benefits. An antibody treatment used to combat COVID-19 in its early stages is now available in 14 locations throughout the state, except for western New Hampshire, according to state officials. Monoclonal antibody infusion treatment can be had from Colebrook to Nashua, according to a map from the state Department of Health and Human Services. But while more than 350 treatments had been administered in New Hampshire as of mid-January, the hospital connected to the state’s only medical school remains reluctant to use the medication and treatment. “While there was a statistical reduction in the need for hospitalization, the actual numbers were quite low in both the group that received monoclonal antibody and the group that received placebo,” said Jonathan T. Huntington, the acting chief medical officer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Huntington said the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the National Institutes of Health have raised concerns about uncertain benefits and a potential for harm. Neither have recommended routine use of the therapy. No treatment centers have been established in the Keene and Lebanon areas, where DHMC dominates medical care. (Source: Union Leader)

9. Well-Loved Bishop Brady Teacher Dies From COVID-19. A teacher at Bishop Brady High School has died due to complications from COVID-19. Jeffrey Kaplan was a math and science teacher and also coached lacrosse at the Catholic school in Concord. He had been fighting the virus for the past two weeks and died Friday afternoon, according to a post on the school’s Facebook page. “Mr. Kaplan touched the lives of many as a teacher, coach and colleague. As a community, we come together to mourn and grieve, but also to celebrate a life committed to others. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Mr. Kaplan’s family and friends,” the post said. (Source: InDepthNH)

10. $20M for Child Care Will Provide Temporary Relief But Won’t Fix Problems. A second round of COVID-19 federal funding will provide only temporary relief to child care businesses, which administrators and advocates say were in trouble long before the virus hit. New Hampshire is expected to receive just under $20 million in stimulus money for child care from the relief package Congress passed in December. That money will help, but it won’t buy a long-term solution, said Jackie Cowell, of the child care advocacy group Early Learning NH. “It’s not a solution, it’s a Band-Aid,” Cowell said, for the twin problems of child care: parents are less able to pay and those who work at child care centers — many of whom are required to have bachelor’s degrees in early-childhood education — make less than they would in retail or fast food. Cowell said child care centers around the state reported total losses of $45 million in 2020. As many as half the state’s child care centers are at risk of closing. (Source: Union Leader)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 30, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• 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, January 30

Active cases in southern NH communities. In Portsmouth, there are now 81–the lowest number so far during the month of January. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced 14 additional deaths on Friday and 614 new positive test results for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. New Cases and Hospitalizations Slow—But High NH Death Rate Remains a Constant. State health officials announced the deaths of 14 more Granite Staters from the coronavirus Friday. New Hampshire's death toll from the virus now stands at 1,036. The state also announced 614 newly-identified COVID-19 infections, and is currently tracking more than 5,000 active cases. Active cases in Portsmouth now stand at their lowest point of the month—81. There are 214 residents hospitalized with the virus. (Source: N.H. DHHS) At the national level, a dozen states—including New Hampshire—are reporting drops of 25% or more in new COVID-19 cases and more than 1,200 counties have seen the same. Experts say the plunge may relate to behavior changes prompted by growing fear of the virus after it reached record-high levels, as well as soaring hopes of getting vaccinated soon. Nationally, new cases have dropped 21% from the prior week, according to Department of Health and Human Services data, reflecting slightly more than 3,000 counties. But experts warn that corresponding declines in hospitalization and death may take days or weeks to arrive, and the battle against the deadly virus rages on at record levels in many places. Eva Lee, a mathematician and engineering professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, works on models predicting covid patterns. She said in an email that the decline reflects the natural course of the virus as it infects a social web of people, exhausts that cluster, dies down and then emerges in new groups. “It is a very unstable equilibrium at the moment,” Lee wrote in the email. “So any premature celebration would lead to another spike, as we have seen it time and again in the US.” (Source: Kaiser Health News)

2. Additional Second Dose Appointments Open Up for Phase 1B. On Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at 8:00 a.m., additional second dose appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine will be made available for scheduling in CDC’s VAMs scheduling system. Phase 1B participants who have received their first dose were emailed instructions earlier today. These second dose appointments will only available to 1) people that have already received their first dose and are scheduling their second dose, and 2) those who have already scheduled their second dose appointments but would like to reschedule for an earlier date. A reminder email with a link is set to go out on Monday, February 1. The email will come from no-reply@nh.gov (Source: NHPR)

3. How Long Can You Wait Between Doses Without Jeopardizing the Effectiveness of the Vaccines? With vaccine supplies nowhere near enough to meet demand, the state has started scheduling some appointments for second dose recipients in Phase 1b as long as 6-8 weeks after they received their initial injection. An epidemiologist from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is raising concerns about the long wait times some people are seeing between their first and second vaccine shots. Dr. Jose Mercado said it's a big question mark whether that extended interval has an impact on the efficacy of the vaccine. "We need to trust the science," he said. "So, the short answer is that we currently do not know." (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly changed its guidance on COVID-19 vaccine shots. It now says it’s OK to mix Pfizer’s and Moderna’s shots in “exceptional situations” and that it’s also fine to wait up to six weeks (42 days) to get the second shot of either company’s two-dose immunization. The CDC also says that if the second dose is administered beyond these intervals, there is no need to restart the series. (Source: CDC) But top doctors working for the vaccine manufacturers themselves aren’t so sure and have discouraged extended the recommended time between the doses. “The more people extend the window between the first and the second dose, the more we’re operating in the land of conjecture as opposed to hard data,” said Dr. Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer from Moderna. (Source: WMUR)

4. Do We Need to Wear Double Masks to Prevent COVID? While one mask is good, two might be better, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. Dr. David Itkin, infectious disease specialist at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, said the use of double masking became of more interest to him because of the emerging variants of COVID-19. “The UK strain, B117, is now in at least 20 states,” Itkin said. “It has the possibility of becoming the dominant strain here. It is much more readily transmitted. The potential for more people to be infected is there. So, while a single-layer cloth mask provides some protection, adding a second layer will filter the virus better.” Itkin said the most critical message for people is not to stop following the public health guidelines. “So, the most important part right now is to stick with the basics of what we know. We need to wear masks. We need to continue social distancing and good hand hygiene, for as long as it takes to get through this.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

5. Small Health Practices Inundated with Vaccine Questions. The plan sounded straightforward enough: Anyone who qualified for a COVID-19 vaccine because of their age could sign up on the state’s website. Everyone else could call their doctor, the governor explained. The offer was made to about 300,000 Granite Staters over the age of 65 or those who had qualifying medical conditions. “Did anyone really think through the affect this would have on physicians’ offices?” said Debborah Kaitz, the office manager at Pembroke Wellness Center. The practice had already been overrun with calls since the beginning of the pandemic. But when Kaitz saw that primary care providers were going to be a part of the vaccination effort, she felt like the flood gates were about to open. “No one asked,” she said. “It was just ‘hey, call your doctor’s office.’ I’m not sure even the general public understands what doctors offices are going through.” Ben Chan, the state epidemiologist, said he understood the concerns of small providers, but it was hard to see a way around having health providers verify medical conditions that would qualify residents for the vaccine. “We’ve already seen people try to game the system and jump in line,” Chan said. “We absolutely understand this creates an added burden on healthcare providers.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

6. As New COVID Vaccines Near US Debuts, Here's What You Need to Know About the New Shots. Biotech firm Novavax said Thursday that its vaccine was more than 89% effective in protecting against the disease in its phase three clinical trial conducted in the United Kingdom. And Johnson & Johnson added Friday that its single-dose shot was 66% effective overall in protecting against COVID-19. The introduction of two more vaccines could significantly bolster the world's arsenal of tools to drive back the virus and bring the pandemic to an end. While J&J's vaccine appears to be significantly less effective in preventing the disease than Moderna's and Pfizer-BioNTech's, officials said it was 85% effective in preventing people from becoming severely ill with COVID-19. White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci noted later Friday that the most important finding of the J&J vaccine data is that the single shot may keep people out of hospitals and prevent severe illness. "The first thing people do is compare a 72% efficacy with the previously reported in other trials of 94% to 95%. That is true," Fauci said at a White House press briefing Friday, adding that the more important figure to look at is the 85% efficacy in preventing severe sickness. The introduction next month of J&J's one-shot vaccine could ramp up supply in the U.S., which has ordered 100 million doses from J&J to be delivered by the end of June. Novavax has agreed to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine to the U.S. if it's authorized. (Source: NECN)

7. For Seniors Who Can't Drive to COVID Vaccine Appointments, Portsmouth City Worker Offers a Lift. Brinn Sullivan, the city’s senior services supervisor, doesn’t normally take people to medical appointments, but these aren't normal times. She started helping seniors book their vaccine appointments last week and quickly learned that the state’s two closest vaccination sites are about 20 minutes away. “They are far enough away that it was a burden for individuals who might even drive, but it’s just a bridge too far,” she explained. But the solution was simple, she said with a laugh: “I would drive them.” And while bus driver isn’t exactly part of Sullivan’s job description, she says she is grateful to play this pivotal role amid the pandemic. “To be able to help this singular need that I know is going to alleviate a lot of people’s fears, that feels good, that feels really good,” Sullivan said. (Source: NECN)

8. State Mental Health System Struggles as Pandemic Continues. The ongoing pandemic is placing more strain on the state's mental health resources. There are 27 children and 43 adults now waiting in hospital emergency rooms for placement in psychiatric care. "Every day, my heart breaks when I see these numbers," said Ken Norton, of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "It is painful." As the pandemic increases the number of people in crisis, it has also reduced the number of available beds. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, staffing levels at New Hampshire Hospital and other mental health facilities have also been affected. Discharging someone to open up a bed is a continued challenge. "Whether that's a residential program that's reluctant to take somebody or the availability of affordable housing," Norton said. While the addition of 24 beds at St. Joseph’s Hospital was a positive sign, the state is slowly making progress on some of its 10-year mental health plan initiatives, such as a 16-bed transitional program. "The cautionary piece is that we don't know what the long-term mental health impact is going to be of the pandemic," Norton said. (Source: WMUR) New Hampshire officials are also seeing more people accessing Doorway, a program that connects people to treatment and resources for substance abuse disorders, including alcohol addiction. The program averaged about 83 alcohol-related calls per month before the pandemic, but peaked at 108 in the month of October, a 33% increase. In response, the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, whose sales increased 5.2% in 2020, introduced a Mocktail Month in January to help create what it called is a "stigma-free, safer, more inclusive drinking culture." In a written state, the commission said, "NHLC recognizes the obligation associated with the sale and marketing of alcohol and the importance of responsible alcohol consumption, education and enforcement of laws." (Source: WMUR)

9. COVID-19 Precautions Still Needed Even After Vaccination. Holly Mintz, chief medical officer of ambulatory services for Elliot Health System, said fully vaccinated people aren't free to go about their business without following COVID-19 guidelines. "Even though you won't get sick, you could pass it on to someone who may not be vaccinated and could get sick," Mintz said. That statement was echoed by Dr. Beth Daly, chief of New Hampshire's Bureau of Infectious Disease Control. "Which is why our guidance is we still need to take these COVID precautions seriously, wearing masks and social distancing, as we learn more about the vaccine and how it's performing in actually reducing that transmission in the community," Daley said. When it comes to travel, the state recently changed its quarantine guidelines. Anyone who travels two weeks after receiving the second shot doesn't have to quarantine upon return. But health officials said it's still not recommended. "Even on these calls and other calls, we have repeatedly stressed that even if somebody is fully vaccinated, that is not a free pass to travel," said Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist. (Source: WMUR)

10. How the Search for COVID-19 Treatments Faltered While Vaccines Sped Ahead. Nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic, as thousands of patients are dying every day in the United States and widespread vaccination is still months away, doctors have precious few drugs to fight the virus. A handful of therapies — remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies and the steroid dexamethasone — have improved the care of COVID patients, putting doctors in a better position than they were when the virus surged last spring. But these drugs are not cure-alls and they’re not for everyone, and efforts to repurpose other drugs, or discover new ones, have not had much success. The lack of centralized coordination meant that many trials for COVID antivirals were doomed from the start — too small and poorly designed to provide useful data, according to Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. She hopes to tame the chaos with a new effort from the Biden administration. In the next couple of months, she said, the government plans to start large and well-organized trials for existing drugs that could be repurposed to fight Covid-19. “We are actively working on that,” Dr. Woodcock said. (Source: The New York Times)

11. Maskless Lawmaker Runs In-Person Hearings One Day After Out-of-State Trip to Florida. A Republican legislator in the New Hampshire House failed to cover his face as required for more than three hours of testimony in a hearing room Friday, a day after he returned from Florida. Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Republican from Londonderry, said he had maintained social distance throughout his trip and later donned a face shield, saying he was doing so to satisfy anyone who was “whining and complaining.” “The people elected me to do a job and I will not be showing a sign of weakness by hiding in a basement or my computer because of COVID,” he said in an email to The Associated Press. The state’s travel rules require those traveling outside of New England to quarantine for 14 days upon returning to New Hampshire, and the Statehouse COVID-19 screening rules call for denying entry to those who have made such trips within the past two weeks. But Baldasaro, who is chair of the House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee, was permitted to lead public hearings because he met criteria for breaking quarantine, the House speaker’s office said. Several committee members attended the hearings in person, with the public participating via phone. The speaker’s office said he was allowed to attend because the state Department of Health and Human Services considers state lawmakers “critical infrastructure staff” who can attend work-related events during quarantine as long as they meet certain criteria. That includes agreeing to wear a mask, but Baldasaro did not. When that was brought to the speaker’s attention, a staff member said, “We will go address that now.” About 15 minutes later, Baldasaro disappeared from the video stream and returned with a plastic face shield. “I don’t want any Democrats on the screen to get COVID,” he said. “So let me make them happy and play the game here.” (Source: Associated Press)

12. Shaheen Meets Virtually with Local NH Leaders to Discuss New COVID Relief. On Friday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) held an online roundtable with several of New Hampshire’s mayors and municipal leaders to discuss possible new COVID-19 stimulus support for small and medium-sized communities. Shaheen voiced optimism that the Biden Administration would likely be more receptive to assisting municipalities with budgeting shortfalls they’ve faced due to the pandemic, but that the transition from the Trump Administration is still underway and it may take time for support to arrive. She hopes that a bipartisan solution can be found to supplement the $900 billion relief package that came last month. One recurring topic of concern from many of the local leaders was housing. In Keene, Mayor George Hansel said that emergency shelter space was proving fruitless due to a lack of transitional housing available for homeless individuals once they progress past the need for shelter space. Other areas of concern across the state included support for small business owners and the hospitality industry, vaccination of teachers, funding support for schools and fire departments among others. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

13. Help with Rent Is on the Way – But Timing is Uncertain. The federal moratorium on housing evictions will extend through March, but it’s unknown when the $200 million in emergency relief funds earmarked for New Hampshire will become available to tap – a bounty that could help save low-income renters and their landlords facing ongoing rent shortfalls. According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, the state has not yet received the official award notice that will start the next round of housing relief, or guidelines on when and how that money will be distributed. In the meantime, low-income tenants at risk of losing their homes should stay in contact with local community action programs and welfare departments for ways to bridge the gap, said Elliott Berry, co-director of the Housing Justice Program at New Hampshire Legal Assistance. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun)

14. New Hampshire Summer Camps Seek Updated Virus Guidance. New Hampshire’s summer camp operators are seeking updated guidance by March 1 in preparation for their next season. Only four of the state’s 95 overnight summer camps opened last summer because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hoping to change that this year, the New Hampshire Camp Directors Association, Boys and Girls Clubs of Central New Hampshire and the YMCA presented their concerns Thursday to the governor’s economic reopening task force. (Source: Concord Monitor)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 29, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• NHPR COVID Tracking Project

• 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, January 29

Deaths reported in New Hampshire for each day of the pandemic. (Source: NHPR)

On Thursday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced 16 additional deaths and 721 new positive tests. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Friday.

1. Deaths and New Cases Up. The state recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll in more than a week as the deaths of sixteen additional residents were announced on Thursday. This brings the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in N.H. up to 1,022. All of the deaths were in residents age 60 and older. New Hampshire health officials also report that 222 people are currently hospitalized. There were 721 new positive test results and the current total of active cases in the state now stands at 5,374. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. Biden Opens Sign-Up Window for Uninsured as COVID-19 Rages. President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered government health insurance markets to reopen for a special sign-up window, offering uninsured Americans a haven as the spread of COVID-19 remains dangerously high and vaccines aren't yet widely available. Biden signed an executive order directing the HealthCare.gov insurance markets to take new applications for subsidized benefits, something Donald Trump's administration had refused to do. He also instructed his administration to consider reversing other Trump health care policies, including curbs on abortion counseling and the imposition of work requirements for low-income people getting Medicaid. (Source: NECN)

3. COVID Vaccine 2nd Doses Delayed in NH. Here's What State is Doing. After receiving their first dose as part of Phase 1B, some residents have logged onto the state's website to register to receive their second dose, only to find the earliest they could get another appointment was eight weeks out. The recommended time between doses is 21 days for the Pfizer vaccine and 28 days for the Moderna vaccine. New Hampshire health officials said they are aware of the current delays for residents in the Phase 1B COVID-19 vaccination group scheduling their second vaccine and are asking for patience as they work to open up more appointments so people can receive it within the recommended interval. “Everyone that has received their first shot will receive a second shot,” DHHS spokesperson Jake Leon said Thursday. But for many, the issue isn’t whether they will receive their second shot, but when. Infectious disease expert Dr. Ben Locwin said the ideal timeframe for receiving the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine cannot be much longer than the 28- or- 21-day intervals. Anything beyond that touches the “outer reaches” of becoming sufficiently immune to COVID-19, he said. “Extending it to six weeks and beyond is ostensibly making the public guinea pigs,” he said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. State Plans to Reach Out Electronically To Those Eligible for Phase 1B But Not Signed Up. The state has announced it will be sending text messages or emails asking if people in the Phase 1B group need help scheduling an appointment. A response is required within 24 hours. After 24 hours, people in the group will only be able to get in touch with the state by email. The email to receive help scheduling an appointment will come from covidvaccine@dhhs.nh.gov. Text messages will come from 769-93. (Source: WMUR) From news reports, many of the people who are falling through the cracks and remaining unregistered appear to be people such as elderly and lower-income residents who typically have less access to or familiarity with email and texting. How the state plans on reaching them is unclear.

5. Some Granite Staters Face Challenges Getting to COVID-19 Vaccination Sites. A barrier for some people who would like to be vaccinated is figuring out a way to get to a vaccination center. Residents unable to drive or who run into issues securing transportation may potentially find themselves shut out of the vaccination process. While there doesn't appear to be a statewide answer to the problem at this point, grassroots efforts are underway. Firefighters vaccinated some Lebanon Housing Authority residents in a Phase 1B clinic coordinated by the regional public health network. Earlier this week, Portsmouth firefighters conducted a similar clinic. But although these clinics are helpful for people in congregate living settings, seniors living independently are on their own. "Individuals living in their homes or apartments who don't have that luxury are still in need of getting to the location," said Portsmouth senior coordinator Brinn Sullivan. Sullivan said the closest state sites are at least a 20-minute drive. "The Exeter location is not served by public transportation at all," she said. "Thankfully, the Dover location, the C&J bus stop, is served by Coast bus 14. However, it's not super easy to get on bus No. 14 if you're not in the right location in Portsmouth." Brinn said the city can provide senior transportation to the bus stop. (Source: WMUR)

6. After Choosing A Vaccination Location On VAMS Website That Should Not Have Been Displayed, Some Residents Are Having Their Vaccination Appointments Cancelled. Several residents of northern New Hampshire communities who thought they were set to get their COVID-19 vaccination at Littleton Hospital have joined what appears to be a growing number of people across the state who have had their vaccination appointments cancelled. After registering early in the rollout for people 65 and older, Dr. Pancras Van der Laan of Lancaster and his wife learned their appointments had been abruptly cancelled by email Thursday at 1:23 p.m. When he tried to reschedule using the VAMS system, he found no appointments were available within the entire 100 search range the website limited him to. After checking with friends he found he and his wife weren’t alone—10 other also experienced sudden cancellations for appointments at Littleton Hospital. The issue? People were apparently allowed to select Littleton Hospital as a vaccination site when making their appointments even though vaccinations at the site are limited to hospital employees. A statement from Gov. Sununu said the state is actively reaching out to anyone who had their appointment cancelled in order to reschedule. (Source: InDepthNH) Meanwhile, a similar glitch surrounding a Pease International Tradeport vaccination site for federal employees has also caused confusion for people age 65 and older and other residents registering for vaccine appointments. A spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services said the site was set up by the federal government to vaccinate ONLY eligible federal defense employees. However, the Pease location appeared as a location option for people registering to receive the vaccine under Phase 1B, despite its designation for federal employees only. (Source: Seacoast Online)

7. Early Data Shows Striking Racial Disparities Nationally In Who's Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine. Slightly more than 6% of American adults have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine — but a disproportionately small number of them are Black and Hispanic people. "What we're seeing from the states that are currently reporting data on vaccination distribution by race and ethnicity is a consistent pattern that is really showing a mismatch between who's receiving the vaccine and who has been hardest hit by the pandemic," says Samantha Artiga, the director of the Racial Equity and Health Policy Program at the Kaiser Family Foundation. The group has been tracking data from the 17 states that are publicly reporting vaccination patterns by race and ethnicity, and significant disparities are emerging. (Source: NHPR) While New Hampshire reports on cases, infections and deaths by race and ethnicity in its daily case summary, similar information on vaccinations has yet to be provided by the state. However, the state has set aside a limited number of doses for minority residents in communities that have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic. It is also working with public health networks and advocates to encourage community members to get vaccinated. (Source: WMUR)

8. School Officials Worried Push to Stay Open Might Have Led to COVID-19 Transmission. School officials in one New Hampshire district are worried that their push to keep schools open might have led to a COVID-19 cluster. Center Woods Elementary School in Weare is in remote learning through at least Feb. 3 as the district deals with a COVID-19 cluster. Superintendent Jacqueline Coe said the school is seeing evidence of something new: Transmission of the virus inside the school. At least nine staff members now need to quarantine, and that number is expected to rise. There are at least four confirmed cases of COVID-19 tied to the cluster. "I'm a little worried right now that our efforts to stay open actually caused this cluster," Coe said. Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut said the state understands quarantine requirements involving staff members might be disruptive, but he said schools have a lot of flexibility, and the state is there to support them. "We recognize that the circumstances are going to be different in each community, and so the decisions that are going to be made in each of those communities is going to look different, as well," he said. (Source: WMUR)

9. State Prisons Had Second COVID Death This Month, But State Says Outbreaks Now Under Control. For most of 2020, correctional facilities in New Hampshire were able to limit the spread of COVID-19 among their inmate populations, but a spike in cases in December led to hundreds of cases and two COVID-related deaths so far. Newly identified cases in the men’s prisons have since slowed down significantly. Meanwhile, a relatively small outbreak of cases in the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Concord is on the upswing since the virus first appeared there earlier this month. One male inmate in the State Prison for Men in Concord was reported to have died from COVID-related complications in late December. Since then, an inmate from the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility in Berlin died on Jan. 8, according to Department of Corrections OC spokesperson Tina Thurber. To date, the men’s prison in Concord had 249 cases since it began testing in March, and Berlin had 127, according to the online dashboard updated daily by DOC. By contrast, the women’s prison in Concord has had a total of 17 cases to date. DOC is reporting 22 cases in transitional housing units and 19 cases in secure psychiatric and residential treatment units. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

10. New Hampshire Lawsuit Charges Apple Shut Out COVID-Tracking App to Protect Its Own. Apple Inc. excluded a Covid-related application from its app store and launched its own, in violation of antitrust laws, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court by a group that includes a Dartmouth computer scientist. In the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Concord, the group says it completed its app, Coronavirus Reporter, on March 3, 2020, early in the pandemic and before anyone else had come up with a similar app. Apple rejected the application three days later because it wasn’t from a “recognized institution,” says the complaint. Apple would not respond to the suit, but an official pointed to guidance published on March 14 that it would be “evaluating apps critically to ensure data sources are reputable and that developers presenting these apps are from recognized entities, such as government organizations and medical or educational institutions.” Instead, Apple allowed an application developed at a London teaching hospital and developed its own contact-tracing app with Google, which the suit claimed, had failed. But Apple says its Exposure Notification API is only available to public health authorities, and it has very stringent privacy and data security protections. (Source: NH Business Review)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 28, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 28

(Source: The New York Times)

On Wednesday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 12 additional deaths and 440 new positive tests for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. New Hampshire's COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 1,000. New Hampshire's death toll from COVID-19 is now more than 1,000. Today's announcement of 12 deaths brings the total number of fatalities in the state to 1,006, according to health officials. Seven of the deaths were associated with long-term care facilities. /"This is devastating," Sen Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, said in a tweet. "COVID has taken the lives of 1,000 Granite Staters and caused a tragic ripple effect in our communities as loved ones, families and friends continue mourning those lost. My thoughts go out to all who are grieving." 746–or 74.2%—of the total deaths in the state have occurred in long-term care settings. The state also reported 440 newly-identified COVID-19 cases, including 59 patients under the age of 18. There are currently 5,214 active infections being tracked by health officials, and 223 residents are hospitalized with the virus. (Sources: N.H. DHHS and Seacoast Online)

2. Vaccine Makers Urge State to Stick to Recommended Timelines for 2nd Doses. More second dose appointments are opening up, and officials are starting to contact people with information on how to schedule, reschedule or move up those appointments as close as possible to the recommended vaccine interval. Some residents who have already received their first dose have experienced delays and confusion at the state level that have led to their second shot being scheduled as long as 6-8 weeks after their first. So we have the doses, we have the capacity to give the second doses, we are just working on a way to schedule and reach out to those people to make sure that second dose appointment go to second dose patients,” said Perry Plummer from the New Hampshire COVID-19 vaccine response team. Guidance on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website said people should receive their second shot as close to the recommended timeline as possible and said there is no maximum interval between doses. Pfizer recommended the second dose of its vaccine after 21 days, Moderna recommended after 28 days. But, during a conference call with leaders from Moderna, their top doctors discouraged extended the recommended time between the doses. “The more people extend the window between the first and the second dose, the more we’re operating in the land of conjecture as opposed to hard data,” said Dr. Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer from Moderna. (Sources: WMUR and Laconia Sun)

3. Recent COVID-19 Outbreak at Peterborough Nursing Home That Claimed 12 Went Unreported by DHHS for Almost a Month. Twelve residents of Pheasant Wood Center nursing home died from COVID-19 complications due to an outbreak last month, an official said Thursday morning. "There are no current outbreaks of COVID at Pheasant Wood Center," Dr. Richard Feifer, chief medical officer of Genesis Healthcare, which owns the facility and several other area nursing homes, said in a prepared statement. "The most recent outbreak started December 14, 2020 and ended on January 15, 2021." The Pheasant Wood outbreak infected 32 residents and two employees, according to Feifer. The outbreak wasn't reported by the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services until Jan. 5, according to the department's daily COVID-19 updates. The department did not respond to a request for comment Thursday morning as to why this occurred. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

4. State Health Officials Say New CDC Study Supports Ways to Safely Resume In-Person Learning. On Wednesday, state health officials outlined new guidance https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/covid19/documents/school-instruction-guidance.pdf to get more students back in school. The news comes on the heels of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows that getting more students back in the classroom is possible. New Hampshire State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said safe, in-person learning can and should be happening, despite high community transmission levels. (Source: WMUR)

5. House Committee Approves Bill to Refund Fines and Expunge Records of COVID Emergency Order Violators. By an 11-10 vote along straight party lines, the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee approved HB63, a bill that would require fines to be refunded and the records of any penalties or warning to be sealed or expunged after New Hampshiore’s pandemic state of emergency is allowed to expire. During the public hearing. Wendy Richardson, who owns a small business in Conway, called the fines unconstitutional and said they are not helping businesses in the state to thrive. Rep. Melissa Blaskek, a cosponsor of the bill, said she had spoken to many businesses that support the legislation but were “too afraid of their government to speak out.” Blasek, a Merrimack Republican, also incorrectly said that none of the businesses that were fined have been the site of outbreaks. In October, Fat Katz Food and Drink in Hudson was fined $2,000 for holding an indoor karaoke event after being told it wasn’t allowed. Nearly 20 people later tested positive for the virus. Since the orders were imposed by the governor under his emergency powers, businesses statewide have been warned—and sometimes fined—for violations involving lack of mask wearing, allowing sports teams into the state without quarantining, and allowing people to karaoke without a mask. But state Rep. Timothy Horrigan, D-Durham, said the governor was doing his Constitutional duty to protect the public in a time of terrible pandemic in issuing the orders. And while “I am not a big fan of the governor,” Horrigan said he supported Sununu’s decision to create emergency orders and for the Attorney General’s Office to enforce them with fines. (Sources: Personal Notes, InDepthNH and Concord Monitor ) Note: I serve on this committee and voted against the bill. Put simply, this legislation is bad public policy. During a pandemic that has touched us all, it would allow those who feel entitled to ignore legal orders motivated by the need to protect public health during a pandemic that has killed over 1,000 New Hampshire residents and over 400,000 of our fellow Americans to violate them with the knowledge they will suffer no long-term consequences. While the emergency orders themselves would remain in effect and could technically still be enforced for the duration of the emergency, officials would have less incentive to enforce them knowing that any consequences for violators will be undone once the state of emergency ends. Business owners who oppose the restrictions would also be far less likely to comply. This would create a workplace hazard for employees—and the potential for more outbreaks and COVID cases. It would also effectively turn a trip to any restaurant or business into a game of Russian roulette for customers, who won’t know if they are walking into a business that is complying with COVID orders and protocols or one that is choosing to flout them. At a time when our small businesses are struggling, allowing this to happen hurts consumer confidence in all businesses and makes it more likely that many customers will simply stay home. If there is any good news coming out of this, it’s that HB63 has a long road to travel. Before it can become law, it must be passed by the full House and Senate and signed by the governor. Stay tuned.

6. Vaccinations For Some Prison Inmates To Begin This Week. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections says it hopes to start vaccinating inmates who fall within phase 1B for the coronavirus vaccine this week. The Department says it has a list of eligible inmates who are 65 or older, or who have two or more conditions. Once vaccines arrive, they will be administered by prison medical staff. The National Guard has deployed some soldiers and airmen to the New Hampshire Men's Prison in Concord to provide security. Recent COVID-19 outbreaks have left a critical shortage of corrections officers. (Source: NHPR)

7. Portsmouth and Dover Firefighters Help Vaccinate Public Housing Residents. "We did our first clinic yesterday, and I couldn't sleep the night before," said Portsmouth Fire Chief Todd Germain. "I was so excited to finally get out and put some vaccines into people, rather than talking about it and planning about it." The fire department is holding vaccination clinics for Phase 1B-eligible individuals, specifically for those in public housing and the homeless shelter. "The housing authority preregistered most of these folks, and for the other little pockets of specialized housing, the directors of those buildings and those agencies preregistered those folks," Germain said. Dover firefighters will vaccinate the city's elderly housing authority population next week. (Source: WMUR) Worth noting for other Portsmouth residents is that at present, there is no general vaccine site in the city. Individuals eligible to receive the vaccine under Phase 1B who are not specially in public housing or in homeless shelters must register online at vaccines.nh.gov or by calling 2-1-1. The two vaccination locations closest to Portsmouth are Exeter High School and the C&J Bus lot in Dover. While Chief Germain has said he’s working hard to get a location set up in Portsmouth, no site has yet been set up. (Source: Seacoast Online)

8. Restrictions to Remain at Long-Term Care Facilities as Vaccine Rollout Continues. State officials are urging residents and workers at long-term care facilities to be patient as the second round of vaccines continues to be distributed. While long-term care residents and workers were some of the first people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, state health officials said Wednesday that doesn't mean life at those facilities will immediately change. According to the New Hampshire Health Care Association, about 20,000 residents and long-term care workers have been vaccinated so far through the pharmacy partnership program. Brendan Williams, president of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said about 40% of those workers declined the vaccine at first, but he sees that changing as second doses continue. "I think they wanted to see how the experience went for their coworkers, and they were hesitant to get vaccinated," Williams said. "So, they chose to get their first shot when their colleagues were getting their second shot." Officials said that while many of the workers and residents will soon be fully vaccinated, for now, many restrictions still apply. (Source: WMUR)

9. Your Guide To Coronavirus Vaccines In New Hampshire. The first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in New Hampshire in mid-December, with the Moderna vaccine arriving soon after — marking a turning point, but not the end, of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the state and the country continue the monumental effort of immunizing people, here are answers from NHPR to some questions you might have about the vaccine, including who’s eligible to get it, how to register, and how long you should wait before calling the 211 hotline if you register online and don’t receive an email to schedule an appointment. (Spoiler alert: the answer is 5 days). (Source: NHPR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 27, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 27

With 6% of the state’s population having received an initial dose, New Hampshire falls in the middle of the pack among states when it comes to how much vaccine has been administered.. (Source: Bloomberg News)

On Tuesday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced four additional deaths and 435 new positive tests for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Wednesday.

1. NH Case and Hospitalization Numbers Continue to Decline. State health officials announced four additional COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, bringing New Hampshire's death toll from the virus to 994. Of the four deaths reported, only one was associated with a long-term care facility. There are currently 5,430 known patients with active cases of the coronavirus. The state also reported 435 new positive test results for COVID-19. According to state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire's COVID-19 test positivity rate is trending downward, and is currently at 6.1%. Chan also says that overall case and death numbers are declining, but that community transmission of the virus is still a serious concern. On Tuesday, 213 residents were hospitalized with COVID-19–the lowest number since early December. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. First Shots In Phase 1B Administered At Locations Around N.H. Despite the cold weather, people happily snaked out of their heavy winter coats and bared their upper arms for a COVID-19 vaccination Tuesday. “Like everybody else around here right now, I've got a big smile on my face. You just can’t see it under my mask,” said Charlie Champagne, 71, of Brentwood, who received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in a parking lot behind Exeter High School. Champagne is one of more than 120,000 residents who recently scheduled an appointment for a vaccination. With the state receiving approximately 17,500 doses each week from the federal government, appointments are now stretching into April in some locations. Captain James Miller, the officer in charge of the site in Exeter, said they are prepared to administer between 300 and 500 doses per day. “It’s running very smoothly,” Miller said. “It seems to be right on pace.” After receiving a first dose, people can log back into the online vaccine management site to schedule a second dose. The state says while some people are currently only able to book second appointments six or more weeks out, it will release additional appointment slots shortly as more vaccine becomes available. (Source: NHPR) Ideally, the second shot is recommended for “three to four weeks” after the first one, but Gov. Sununu, speaking at his weekly press conference claimed it’s no less effective if the interval is a little longer. NH vaccination chief Perry Plummer said more openings for second-dose appointments will be available in the coming weeks, and some vaccination dates scheduled for later could be moved up. (Source: Union Leader) However, some residents who have already received their first dose have experienced delays and confusion at the state level that have led to their second shot being scheduled as long as 60 days after their first. Butch Keniston, 66, and his wife Hilary, 59, qualified for the vaccine in the state’s Phase 1A because they care for a person with a disability. “My wife had scheduled our vaccines a couple of weeks ago, that went pretty well," Butch said. "She got her first shot at the (Lakes Region) Community College on the 12th, I got my first dose at the Plymouth Armory on that Friday, the 15th.” The frustration began afterward, he said. They were told they would be contacted within a week to schedule their second dose of the Moderna vaccine, which is necessary to provide full protection. A week went by without a word from the state, so Hilary spent much of Monday on websites and on the phone, being passed around by state officials who said she needed to be speaking to someone else. The best date that she could schedule for their second round was into the second week of March, about 60 days after their first shot. Moderna recommends that the second dose be administered 28 days after the first. Sununu acknowledged at his news conference that there were some people having delays or difficulty booking their second shot. However, he downplayed the length of delay, which only caused further frustration for the Kenistons. (Source: Laconia Sun) According to clinical considerations for administering the vaccines published on the CDC website, doses of the Pfizer vaccine should be administered 21 days apart and the Moderna vaccine 28 days apart. While second doses administered within a grace period of 4 days earlier than the recommended date for the second dose are still considered valid. However, the CDC says that anything beyond 42 days may require a restart of the vaccination process. (Source: CDC)

3. Feds Rush to Boost Vaccine Deliveries as Supply Issues Force Appointments in Some States to Be Canceled. Answering growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. is surging deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall. Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. Shortages have been so severe that some vaccination sites around the U.S. had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people seeking their first shot. Biden promised to boost deliveries 16% to states over the next three weeks. (Source: Associated Press)

4. Lonza: We’re Making Key Component for COVID Vaccine as Fast as We Can. Lonza Biologics says it is working at capacity to satisfy its current production agreement with Moderna, the company that developed one of the two COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States. The agreement calls for Lonza to produce 100 million doses a year at Lonza's Portsmouth location of the active ingredient used in the Moderna vaccine. Initial production started in May. Lonza spokesman Glenn Myers said Lonza is responsible for one phase in the production of the vaccine. “The final output of patient doses does not only depend on drug substance manufacturing, but also on fill and finish,” he said. Fill-finish services are provided by Catalent Inc. in Indiana., and by ROVI and Recipharm outside the United States. (Source: Seacoast Online)

5. 12 Outbreaks Closed, Including Portsmouth’s Clipper Harbor—No New Nursing Home Outbreaks Announced. For the first time in months, the state announced no new outbreaks at long term care facilities. Lori Shibinette, commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said there were no new outbreaks at New Hampshire congregate living facilities and 12 had closed, including a particularly deadly outbreak at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton. Also closed was the outbreak at Portsmouth’s Clipper Harbor nursing home. But the outbreak at Edgewood Center remains active. Gov. Sununu said while still early, the decline in outbreaks could be due to the vaccinations. Even though many nursing home residents have yet to receive their second shots, Sununu said the first doses are likely providing some protection from the deadly respiratory virus. While there have been 18,000 who have received their first dose and 5,000 who have received their second dose in the state’s 176 long-term care facilities, there are an estimated 33,000 people in this group. While some staff and patients in long-term care facilities initially declined the vaccine, more are now willing to take them as facilities schedule clinic to administer second doses. (Source: InDepthNH) The state’s four largest outbreaks continue to be in correctional facilities, including the NH State Men’s Prison, the Hillsborough County Jail, the Northern NH Correctional Facility in Berlin, and the Strafford County Jail. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

6. Four More Deaths Reported in COVID Outbreak at Keene Nursing Home. Four more residents at Keene Center have died of COVID-19 complications amid an ongoing outbreak at the Court Street nursing home, according to a spokeswoman. This brings the total number of deaths to 10 since the outbreak started in late December, representing about an eighth of the facility's resident population as of earlier this month. As of Tuesday evening, eight cases — seven residents and one staff member — were considered active, according to Lori Mayer, spokeswoman for Genesis Healthcare, which owns Keene Center and several other area nursing homes. (Source: The Keene Sentinel)

7. Sununu Tours Vaccine Center Amid Rollout Missteps. As anxious residents wait for their turn at a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Chris Sununu visited a Londonderry vaccination site Tuesday to see how it was operating. Sununu said if the first day is any indication, the process will become even smoother and ramp up as more vaccine become available. He said it is possible the state will receive a bump in the number of Moderna vaccine doses as early as next week, which would add to the volume by about 16 percent. In the North Country, Easton resident Susan Schibanoff said the rollout has been “a real mess up.” Schibanoff said many in the Woodsville and Littleton area must re-do their appointments after finding out through social media that the locations they were being sent to get the vaccine either don’t exist or are not open to the public. Perry Plummer, the state’s leader on vaccine distribution, said at the news conference there was an internal error and all those affected have been notified and given a new appointment. (Source: InDepthNH)

8. Conway School Board to Sununu: Vaccinate Teachers. The Conway School Board believes the district’s teaching staff are essential front-line workers and should be moved up on the COVID-19 vaccine schedule. The board voted unanimously Monday to have Superintendent Kevin Richard and Assistant Superintendent Kadie Wilson send a letter to Gov. Chris Sununu seeking quicker vaccinations. Against CDC guidance, Sununu moved teachers out of Phase 1b and down to Phase 2a, while bumping up residents age 65 and over. Because of the large number of people in Phase 1b, it’s likely many teachers will remain unvaccinated for the entire school year, despite the governor’s frequent calls for all school districts to return to in-person learning. (Source: Conway Daily Sun)

9. Fire Chief 'Working Hard' to Get COVID Vaccine Site in Portsmouth. Fire Chief Todd Germain said he is "working hard" to get a public COVID-19 vaccination site in the city. At present, Portsmouth residents eligible to receive the vaccine under Phase 1B can do so by appointment at Exeter High School or the C&J Bus lot in Dover – the two closest state-run vaccine clinics of the 13 operating across New Hampshire. "There's nothing in Portsmouth, and I want to fix that," Germain told the City Council on Monday. "I'm working hard to get that underway. I have a few good places, some good discussions." Germain noted the site would be an "open pod clinic," either staffed by the Portsmouth Fire Department or volunteers from the Seacoast Public Health Network, the latter of which is coordinating the distribution of the vaccine across the Seacoast region. Germain said the state is off to a "slow start" in vaccinating its 1.3 million residents – approximately 88,000 individuals as of Sunday. (Source: Seacoast Online)

10. Shaheen: As Many as Half of State's Child Care Centers in Jeopardy. According to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the state could lose about half of its child-care facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic. Shaheen told a group of child-care providers and advocates on Monday that the financial squeeze shows just how essential additional federal assistance is if these child-care centers are to survive. “If we don’t get more support we will lose half of the child-care centers by the end of this pandemic,” she said. The latest COVID relief bill passed by Congress and signed into law by former President Donald Trump last month is expected to provide somewhere between $15 million and $20 million in assistance for child-care centers. The state expects to receive notification by mid-February that will include federal guidelines on how funds from the relief package can be used which will give the state a clearer idea on when funds can then be doled out to the individual facilities, said Marty Ilg, deputy director at the state Department of Health and Human Services’s Division of Economic and Housing Stability. Shaheen said the federal assistance in that bill is sufficient to tide those government and non-government agencies hit by the pandemic until a broader relief bill can be passed.President Joe Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion relief plan. A relief package of that magnitude would probably translate into $80 million in assistance to child-care facilities and programs, said Jackie Cowell, executive director at Early Learning NH. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun)

11. Manchester Mayor Announces New Program to Help Residents Impacted by COVID-19. On Tuesday, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and the City of Manchester announced the launch of the Manchester Emergency Housing Assistance Program. The program provides grants of up to $4,500 that can be used to cover rent, mortgage, or utility payments and are available to Manchester low- or moderate- income households who have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The COVID-19 pandemic has hit our residents hard, and it is critical that we provide financial relief to those in the Manchester community who are struggling financially,” said Craig. “Preventing and ending homelessness starts with making sure that those who are struggling to make ends meet remain housed.” Grants of up to $4,500 can be used to cover rent, mortgage, or utility payments and are available to Manchester low- or moderate- income households who have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

12. 'Homegrown Stimulus' Program Launched for 28 Keene Eateries. A new project led by three area organizations aims to bolster Kenne area eateries as the restaurant industry continues to battle financial turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Local Crowd (TLC) Monadnock is helping launch a “homegrown stimulus” effort next month that involves purchasing and distributing $10,000 in gift cards to more than two dozen Keene restaurants, according to TLC Monadnock program manager Jen Risley. Risley said organizers also plan to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a second phase of the Monadnock Restaurant Project. And while the first phase will distribute gift cards to only Keene restaurants, she said subsequent efforts will likely include eateries outside of the Elm City. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

13. Appalachian Trail Thru-Hikers Told to Stand Down This Season. Hikers are being advised to postpone plans to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail this year due to COVID-19. The Asheville Citizen Times reports the Appalachian Trail Conservancy made the suggestion because it feels the pandemic makes long-distance hikes unsafe. Morgan Sommerville, regional director for the conservancy, says that as long as the pandemic continues, while vaccines aren't widely available and there's been no all-clear signs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the conservancy is recommending against long-distance hikes on the trail. (Source: NHPR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 26, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 26

A familiar figure waiting for outdoor dining to resume on Market Street.

On Monday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Serices announced three additional deaths and 434 new positive test results for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. Deaths, Hospitalizations, and New Cases Continue to Fall. New Hampshire health officials announced Monday that three more residents have died from COVID-19, bringing the state's total deaths to 990 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. All of the deaths were in residents age 60 or over and two were in residents of long-term care facilities. The state also announced 434 new positive test results for the virus. There are currently 5,627 active COVID-19 cases being tracked by the state—the lowest number in over a month. Active cases have ticked downward in hotspot cities like Manchester, Concord, and Nashua. Active cases in Portsmouth have fallen from a pandemic high of 113 last week to 94 as of Monday. There are 230 Granite Staters hospitalized with the coronavirus. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. NH Nears 1,000 COVID-19 Deaths: Stories of 6 Lives Lost on Seacoast. The total number of New Hampshire residents who have died due to COVID-19 is closing in on 1,000. The Granite State is approaching the grim milestone about 10 months after the first death was recorded in mid-March. As of Monday night, state health officials had reported 990 deaths associated with the coronavirus with about 75% of those lives lost in long-term care facilities. These 1,000 deaths will represent 1,000 parents, siblings, dear friends, community pillars and others, including some who worked on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic or contracted the virus while caring for another. To continue to remember the lives lost due to the pandemic, here are some of the Seacoast New Hampshire residents for whom loved ones have allowed Seacoast Media Group to share their stories. Follow the link to read them. (Source: Seacoast Online)

3. UPDATE: State Now Says Vaccines Only Available For New Hampshire Residents. Less than a day after defending a policy that allowed non-residents who own property in the state to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination, the state is reversing course and will limit vaccines to residents. A state website previously stated that anyone who owns land in New Hampshire, which includes second homeowners and out-of-state landlords who reside elsewhere, need only provide proof of property ownership to get vaccinated in New Hampshire, despite the lack of doses currently available for full-time residents. Jake Leon, spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, told NHPR on Sunday that the policy was not new, and that “the intent of the vaccination plan is to make it as easily and efficiently as possible for people in NH to get vaccinated, not to throw up barriers.” In an email Monday afternoon, DHHS announced it was modifying the policy. It gave no reason for the change. It isn’t clear how many non-residents may have been willing to travel to New Hampshire to obtain a vaccination. New Hampshire’s resident-only policy is now in line with neighboring states, including Vermont and Maine, which is citing an “extremely limited supply” of vaccinations. (Source: NHPR)

4. After Vaccine Signups, Some Won’t Get Shot Until April. Nearly 200,000 Granite Staters have signed up so far to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but that didn’t mean all got actual vaccination times and dates. The sign up is a two-step process that requires residents to register for an appointment AND to respond to an email from the Centers for Disease Control to get a shot. The number of sign ups represented about two-thirds of the people eligible to receive a vaccine during phase 1b, however some people are receiving vaccination dates as late as April. If the state starts receiving more vaccines each week appointment slots will be moved up, state officials said. “All eligible individuals within Phase 1B are guaranteed to be scheduled for an appointment time,” said Perry Plummer, who is coordinating the state’s vaccine rollout. “While appointments are currently being made into March and April, we urge folks to take the earliest appointment slot available and to remain patient.” The state’s vaccination registration website is still open for people in phase 1b to register to apply for a vaccine appointment. (Source: Concord Monitor) Meanwhile, there was some good news Monday from Washington for states running short of doses as well as for people who would like to get vaccinated sooner. President Joe Biden said Monday that he expects that the US will soon be able to vaccinate 1.5 million people a day, raising the bar by roughly 500,000 more vaccinations than its target of 1 million per day in his first 100 days in office. He said that the US could surpass that initial target in about three weeks. (Source: CNN)

5. Where Each New England State Ranks in COVID Vaccine Distribution Right Now. While Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut are among the top states in the country when it comes to per capita vaccine distribution and doses administered to their populations, New Hampshire and Massachusetts are closer to the middle of the pack. Despite receiving the 12th most vaccine doses per capita (adjusted for population size), Massachusetts is sitting at 31st in the nation for the number of people vaccinated per capita. The Granite State has received the 26th most vaccine doses and has administered the 21st most nationwide. (Source: NECN)

6. NH COVID Vaccination Sites: What to Expect When You Arrive. New Hampshire's COVID-19 vaccinations for Phase 1B are beginning Tuesday, Jan. 26 across the state. The 13 vaccination sites across the state include the C&J bus terminal in Dover and Exeter High School on the Seacoast. As of Monday night, nearly 200,000 people had registered at vaccines.nh.gov, according to officials, and about 60% of them had taken the next step to make an appointment. So what can people expect when they arrive for the first dose of their two-dose vaccinations? According to state officials, the registration and scheduling process has been designed to avoid long lines and ensure a smooth process. Each site has multiple lanes with multiple vaccinators in each lane and the sites average about 20-25 vaccinations per hour. People will not need to get out of their cars at the 13 sites operated by the regional public health networks and National Guard. Clothing should be worn that makes the upper arm easily accessible for vaccine injection. There is a 15-minute observation period (after the vaccination) for everyone getting the vaccine to ensure there no adverse reactions. However, individuals with a history of anaphylaxis may have a higher likelihood of adverse reactions and will have a 30-minute monitoring period. After the injection, people will receive a fact sheet with information on the vaccine they received (either Pfizer or Moderna), information about their privacy rights (similar to when you visit the doctor), a Vaccine Card that indicates when they should schedule their second dose, and a One Pager on VSafe, the CDC app that helps people monitor for side effects and provides a reminder of when the second dose is due. (Source: Seacoast Online)

7. Nursing Home Deaths on the Decline as Vaccination Progresses, But Hurdles Ahead. The rate of COVID-19 deaths among long-term care residents has begun to fall as more residents get vaccinated, though the trend is fragile and significant obstacles remain as the state broadens eligibility for vaccination. “It could be the beginning of a potentially promising trend,” said state epidemiologist Benjamin Chan, though he said it is too soon to say for sure if the declining deaths are connected to vaccinations. In the last two weeks, nursing home residents accounted for less than half of the state’s COVID-19 deaths — still a grim figure, but below the 80% of deaths that has been the norm since the beginning of the pandemic. “It’s still a very early trend,” Chan said. “It’s difficult, if not impossible at this point, to associate any cause.” But if the trend of fewer deaths in nursing homes continues, Chan said, it would point to the effectiveness of the vaccines. (Source: Union Leader)

8. Keene Center Announces Additional Death in COVID Outbreak. At least 38 residents at Keene Center have recovered from COVID-19 in the senior-living facility’s outbreak as of Sunday night, according to an official, who also announced that a sixth resident has died. Lori Mayer, a spokeswoman for Genesis Healthcare, which owns Keene Center and several other area nursing homes, said Sunday night that 17 residents and two staff members at the Court Street facility remain infected with the novel coronavirus. (Source: Keene Sentinel) Meanwhile, vaccination clinics continue to take place in long-term care facilities across the state. Many, including Warde Health Center in Windham and St. Ann Rehabilitation and Nursing Home in Dover, are starting to hold follow-up clinics where residents are now receiving their second dose. Administrators said they realize the vaccine is not an immediate fix, but it's a step in the right direction toward some type of normalcy down the line. (Source: WMUR)

9. Portsmouth Company Involved in Moderna Vaccine Hiring Dozens of New Workers. Lonza, the company responsible for manufacturing the active ingredient for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine said it is expanding its operation and hiring. “Lonza right now is currently looking for resources or people to hire across all aspects of our business, anything from quality all the way through production," said Mark Caswell, Lonza's head of engineering and facilities. Increased production of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as other products, is allowing Lonza to expand by 82 jobs on the Seacoast. One of multiple companies involved in producing the Moderna vaccine, Lonza has a 10-year commitment to manufacture the mRNA needed for the vaccine. (Source: WMUR)

10. US Virus Numbers Drop, But Race Against New Strains Heats Up. Coronavirus deaths and cases per day in the U.S. dropped markedly over the past couple of weeks but are still running at alarmingly high levels, and the effort to snuff out COVID-19 is becoming an ever more urgent race between the vaccine and the mutating virus. The government’s top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the improvement in numbers around the country appears to reflect a “natural peaking and then plateauing” after a holiday surge, rather than the arrival of the vaccine in mid-December. The U.S. is recording just under 3,100 deaths a day on average, down from more than 3,350 less than two weeks ago. New cases are averaging about 170,000 a day after peaking at almost 250,000 on Jan. 11. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has fallen to about 110,000 from a high of 132,000 on Jan. 7. Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said too few people have been vaccinated so far for that to have had a significant impact on virus trends. She said she can’t predict how long it will take for the vaccines’ effects to be reflected in the numbers. Rivers said she is concerned that the more contagious variants of the virus could lead to a deadly resurgence later this year. “I think we were on track to have a good — or a better, at least — spring and summer, and I’m worried that the variants might be throwing us a curveball,” she said. (Source: Associated Press) Meanwhile, vaccine maker Moderna is set to begin enrollment for a clinical trial on the coronavirus vaccine among teenagers next month. The Cambridge-based biotech firm said adolescents between 12 and 17 will be given its experimental vaccine in hopes it will prove safe and effective enough to be given to teenagers ahead of the 2021 school year. UMass Medical School in Worcester is one of 15 sites that will test the vaccine on children starting in February. Pfizer, which also has received emergency use authorization to vaccinate adults, is also conducting clinical trials on children 12 to 15 years old. According to a recent report, more than 2.5 million cases of COVID have been reported in children as of Jan. 14 - making up about 13% of all cases. If the vaccines prove to be safe for children 12 and older, additional trials will be scheduled for children under 12. The hope is to complete vaccinations on children before the start of classes in the fall. (Source: NECN)

11. Secretary of State Opposes No-Excuse Absentee Voting. The only opposition to a bill to allow no-excuse absentee voting came from the Secretary of State’s Office at a public hearing Monday. Senate Bill 47 would retain the changes made to the absentee voting system due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year: allowing election officials to pre-process absentee ballots before election day and allowing greater latitude to request one to avoid a trip to the polls. The prime sponsor of the bill, Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy, D-Manchester, told the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee the bill draws on what was learned from the 2020 elections. “This bill would expand access to many voters across the board,” Soucy said. “If we could do it the last time for the first time, and do it so well, there is no reason we can’t do it moving forward.” The Secretary of State’s Office said the bill had constitutional issues and that it would open the door to “ballot harvesting”—where campaigns could target potential absentee voters and work with them to receive a ballot, mark the ballot and return it to the proper place. Former Sen. Melanie Levesque of Brookline, who chaired the committee last year, noted only 16 states require a reason to obtain an absentee ballot. She called the bill an opportunity for forward thinking and to prepare for a future emergency. Many people with busy lives want to vote but cannot go to the polls during the allotted time to vote, she noted. “This would not remove the requirement to request a ballot,” Levesque said. “This would make voting easy, fair and more transparent for voters. Voting is a constitutional right. (Source: InDepthNH)

12. Engaged Citizen Alert! How to Watch or Testify at Public Hearings on State Legislation During COVID. Committee hearings have started up again in both the New Hampshire Senate and House of Representatives. One of the unexpected outcomes of COVID is that it’s now possible for citizens to participate in the legislative process via Zoom in the comfort of your home or office without worrying about driving to Concord in a blizzard—or catching COVID at the State House. Here’s how to support the legislation you care about during our state of emergency.

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 25, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 25

New Hampshire’s COVID-19 Schools Dashboard is reporting only 51 total active cases in schools statewide. Meanwhile, daily DHHS summaries are averaging more than 100 cases per day involving children age 18 and under. So why are only 51 cases being shown when the real number of cases involving K-12 children across the state is much higher? The state only counts cases on the dashboard where an in-person connection to the school—such as classroom learning or a group school activity—has been confirmed.

On Sunday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced 808 new positive test results for COVID-19 and six additional deaths. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related NH news you need to know to start your Monday.

1. Six Additional Deaths Announced. State health officials announced six more coronavirus deaths Sunday, bringing New Hampshire's death toll since the start of the pandemic to 987. The patients who died were all over 60. The Department of Health and Human Services also reported 808 new COVID-19 cases, including 98 positive test results for individuals younger than 18. There are currently more than six thousand active coronavirus cases in New Hampshire, and 239 residents are hospitalized with the virus. (Source: N.H. DHHS) The state is also reporting 51 active cases and two current clusters in NH K-12 schools. The 14 day daily average for new cases is 645.5 and community transmission continues to be rated as “substantial” in every county in the state. Only three active cases are being reported at this time for NH colleges and universities, all at UNH Durham. (Source: DHHS Schools Dashboard)

2. Will Positivity Rates and Hospitalizations Continue to Trend Downwards? While the answer to that question remains to be seen, the Concord Monitor reports in its weekly analysis of NH COVID-19 metrics that recent improvements in both numbers are a cause for hope. On Thursday, the positive rate of PCR tests was 2.9%, the lowest it has been since the post-summer surge began more than three months ago. Even better, that was the third day in a row and fourth time in a week that the rate was below 5%, an arbitrary but commonly accepted measure that indicates when the virus is circulating widely throughout the community. Also good news is the continuing slow decline of hospitalization numbers, which have fallen by one-third in a month. At the start of the year, there were 335 people in the hospital with COVID but only 240 on Friday. These two metrics hint that we might be cresting the peak of the pandemic. But the two-week average of new cases has fluctuated around 800 to 850 for the past two weeks and shows no sign of changing, At the same time, the continued rise in deaths, despite our efforts to protect the most vulnerable in nursing homes and other places where many people live together, such as prisons, mean we need to keep taking the disease as seriously as we ever have. (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. CDC Reports Record Number of Daily Covid-19 Vaccinations as States Struggle with Supply. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported its biggest nationwide one-day increase in Covid-19 vaccinations Friday even as more states said they are struggling with vaccine supply. The CDC said Friday that nearly 1.6 million more doses of the vaccines have been administered, bringing the total of doses given to more than 19 million. The number of administered doses reported this week also was 22% higher than last week. While vaccinations are taking off, more states are complaining that they don't have enough vaccine. New York will run out of Covid-19 vaccine doses Friday after using 97% of the first doses it received, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. In Louisiana, there's no need to set up a mass vaccination site because the state doesn't have enough vaccine doses to make it worthwhile, said Gov. John Bel Edwards. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House has asked the CDC to look into the possibility that states might run out of their allocated doses. "We've asked the CDC, to look into exactly this issue, and see what can be done," Psaki said at Friday's White House briefing. After conversations with the vaccine makers on a "very regular basis," President Joe Biden's coronavirus advisers are confident the supply will increase in the near future, said Dr. Vivek Murthy, Biden's nominee for surgeon general. "Those conversations, I think, have given us more confidence that there is more supply coming, and that it will continue to steadily increase over the next few months," Murthy said Friday. (Source: CNN) According to a N.H. DHHS update last week, New Hampshire has received 119,580 doses and 85,771 (72%) have been administered to patients. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

4. Some Seniors Waiting for Months and Traveling Far from Home for Vaccination Appointments. While some Granite Staters have experienced smooth sailing with the vaccine registration process, others have experienced frustration and confusion scheduling appointments to be vaccinated as a part of Phase 1B. Agustin L'Etoile, 83, of Pike, booked an appointment for next week, only to learn it was canceled and had to be rescheduled to a full month later and an hour away. Sue Ruka, of Madison, helped her 94-year-old mother book an appointment, but it is not until April. “Here’s a group of vulnerable people that may not get vaccinated until really late, and how many more people are going to get ill or die because of that?” Ruka said. In a statement, Perry Plummer who leads the state's vaccine distribution said, "Some appointments were cancelled today because they were scheduled for hospital employee-only clinics. We know who you are and will be reaching out this week to re-schedule your appointment in a reasonable date and time. As more doses become available, more slots will open up and we will be reaching out to folks to move their appointments up.” Plummer said the state remains committed to scheduling as many appointments as it has doses that are available.” (Source: WMUR) At the root of much of the early confusion around the process is an email received by people completing the registration process received from the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS). The email was received within hours by any of the people who registered and provided a link to sign up for their appointment. But some mistook it for a scam or ignored it because they were expecting an email to come from the state. While the VAMS email was legitimate, it didn’t help that the state had never told people registering that the email would be coming from an entity (VAMS) that most had never heard of. A separate email from explaining the process was sent out later. Paul Raymond, spokesperson for the New Hampshire Joint Information Center said there is not a lot the state can do to simplify or modify the VAMS site because it is operated by the CDC. “We heard, late last night, that people were having difficulties and that’s when we decided to send out our own email, with tips to help people get through the process,” said Raymond. “We are proud that the system worked so well that emails were sent out earlier than we initially told people, but I can understand where that might lead to some confusion.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

5. Despite Limited Supply, N.H. Says Non-Residents Who Own Property Here Can Get Vaccines. The State of New Hampshire is allowing non-residents who own property in the state to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination. According to a state website updated Jan. 21, anyone who owns land in New Hampshire, which includes second homeowners or out-of-state landlords who reside elsewhere, need only provide proof of property ownership to get vaccinated in New Hampshire, despite the lack of doses currently available for full-time residents. It isn’t clear how many non-residents may travel to New Hampshire to obtain a vaccination. The state says the number wouldn’t impact the estimate of 300,000 people now eligible for vaccines during Phase 1B, which includes those aged 65 and up, and those younger than 65 with two or more serious medical conditions. According to a list of frequently asked questions on the state’s vaccine website , non-residents can show a property tax bill, recent mortgage statement, utility bill, or other documentation to prove property ownership in order to receive the vaccine. (Source: NHPR)

6. Cross Roads House Shelter Finds COVID Testing Help at UNH. Last summer and fall, testing was non-existent all summer and fall at Portsmouth’s Crossroads House—a shelter serving 70-85 people daily. For months, executive director Martha Stone tried to seek out regular testing opportunities for her staff and the building’s occupants. “At any point, we could have an outbreak and I really wanted to try to prevent that,” she said. Finally, Cross Roads House and other shelters received a late Christmas gift via the University of New Hampshire and outside funding. Partnering with UNH’s COVID-19 testing lab, Cross Roads House began testing its residents and staff weekly late last month. The results, Stone said, are available the next day, usually in less than 24 hours. “I will say that so far they’ve done an amazing job in turning results around very rapidly.” Funding help came from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and $50,000 more from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. With Cross Roads House serving as the fiscal agent, 10 additional shelters around the state are testing now, too, including Community Action Partnership of Strafford County's Emergency Winter Shelter in Dover. (Source: Seacoast Online)

7. Manchester Schools Return to In-Person Learning Today. On Monday, the Manchester School District will return to a hybrid model for the first time after going fully remote for the holidays. This will be the first time 12th graders will have the opportunity to attend in-person classes since March. All Manchester Schools except Hallsville Elementary will welcome back students since the holidays. Besides students in special education and technical programs, a majority of the class of 2021 have been working remote since school buildings closed at the beginning of the pandemic. (Source: WMUR) Manchester currently leads the state with 595 active COVID-19 cases. But as of this morning, the state is reporting no active coronavirus cases in Manchester schools. According to the state’s COVID-19 Schools Dashboard, the last case reported was on January 15. Worth noting is the Schools Dashboard only tracks cases which are both associated with a particular school (including staff and students) and where the person has been confirmed to have been physically present on campus, or physically participating in group school activities (e.g., sports). This means that any cases involving students contracting COVID-19 who attend classes remotely who don’t participate in group school activities are not listed on the dashboard. This explains why a city with a substantial rate of transmission and active cases involving K-12 children currently has no active cases on the dashboard. Over the course of the pandemic, 15.7% of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire have occurred in children between 0-19. On Sunday, 98 new cases involving children under age 18 were reported. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 24, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 24

After registering to be vaccinated on the vaccines.nh.gov website, expect to receive an email that looks like this. (Source: WMUR)

On Saturday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services reported ten additional deaths and 636 new positive tests. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Sunday.

1. NH Hospitalizations Dip to Lowest Number Since Early December. On Saturday, state officials reported 229 hospitalizations—the lowest number the state has seen since 232 people were hospitalized on Dec. 10 as hospitalizations were spiking during the post-Thanksgiving surge. But deaths remain a different story as ten additional Granite Staters have died due to the coronavirus. Nine of the ten were age 60 or older, and five of the deaths were linked to long-term care facilities. The ten deaths bring New Hampshire’s death toll since the start of the pandemic up to 981 residents. State health officials also reported 636 new cases and just under 6,000 active infections in New Hampshire. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. 94% of People Who Registered for Vaccine So Far Have Already Received an Email to Schedule Their Appointments. State health officials say they're ahead of schedule with the Phase 1B registration process for COVID-19 vaccines. As of Saturday afternoon, about 170,000 people had registered, and 160,000 of them had already received an email to schedule their appointments. But some have been leery of clicking on the link provided in the email to schedule an appointment because the email doesn’t come from the state. Instead, the email comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Vaccine Administration Management System, also known as VAMS. State health officials say that is the correct and safe email. “That’s a legitimate email, and that email is going to allow you to create an account in that system, so you can go ahead and take that next step for scheduling an appointment,” said Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the state’s Bureau of Infectious Disease Control. Because of the concerns, the state has sent a separate follow-up email with tips to help navigate the process. (Source: WMUR) Despite the good news when it comes to registration, the state is still receiving only. about 17,000-18,000 doses a week from the federal government. This means it could be weeks or even months before many of those who have registered so far in Phase 1-B can be vaccinated. “They should be scheduling out until March or possibly April with appointments,” said Daly. She advises people to take the earliest appointment available. (Source: Union Leader)

3. COVID-19 Spike Hits Claremont Restaurants with Quarantines, Scares off Customers. After being largely spared from major community spread in the early months of the pandemic, Sullivan County this month saw the number of active cases spike to at least 190, many of them in Claremont itself. Whether some have weathered the pandemic better than others, the spike in COVID-19 cases has hit all of them them financially, keeping away customers and forcing doors to close when employees have to quarantine following exposure. “All the restaurants in town have had to close at some point,” Pleasant Street Restaurant manager Martha Dole said, adding that “our customer base is awesome, but many of them are not coming in for dinner.” She estimates business is off 25% to 30%, saved from falling further thanks to a pickup in curbside orders. A big factor impacting Claremont’s downtown restaurants is the lunchtime absence of employees commuting to jobs at Red River Technology and National Field Representatives, two of Claremont’s largest employers of office staff, who have shifted to working from home during the pandemic. (Source: The Valley News)

4. Some School Districts Urging State to Vaccinate Teachers Earlier. Two school districts, along with the state teachers' union, are calling on the governor to allow educators and other school personnel to be vaccinated against COVID-19 sooner than the spring. But the governor is not on the same page. Representatives of N.H. School Administrative Unit 29 and the Contoocook Valley School District have each written letters to Gov. Chris Sununu, urging him to include school personnel in group 1B, scheduled to begin receiving vaccines before the end of this month. The state's teachers and other school staff are currently in group 2A, eligible for vaccination beginning in March. SAU 29, which covers Keene and six nearby towns, will not resume in-person learning until February, after the district again extended its period of fully remote instruction due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the region. The district, which also includes Chesterfield, Harrisville, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson and Westmoreland, had planned to resume some in-person instruction Jan. 19 after moving all classes online in November. Besides community transmission rates of the coronavirus, staffing can also present a challenge. Cutler Elementary School in West Swanzey, part of the Monadnock Regional School District, recently was forced to switch from a hybrid model of remote and in-person instruction to fully remote learning due to “critically low” staffing levels. “Keeping schools open for face-to-face instruction requires adequate numbers of healthy teachers and other staff,” Rich Cahoon, chair of the ConVal school board, wrote in his letter to the governor, made public Friday. “Many school districts around the state have had to reduce face-to-face instruction due to staff shortages.” (Source: Keene Sentinel)

5. Eviction Moratorium Extended, With More Federal Aid on Way. Many landlord-tenant disputes in New Hampshire have been put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, a series of state and federal moratoriums have prevented evictions. The most recent order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and extended until March 31 by the Biden administration is designed to help people financially hurt by the coronavirus. Officials said people can still be evicted for several reasons, including criminal activity and endangering the health and safety of other tenants. But the moratorium is keeping people in their homes who otherwise might be homeless. According to circuit judge David King, "We have about 500 or so cases that are on hold right now primarily because of the status of the CDC moratorium." (Source: WMUR)

6. New Hampshire Unemployment Claims Continue Their Stubborn Climb. The new Biden administration is coming into power with a stagnant national economy, and New Hampshire’s is no exception. In fact, things looked worse in the Granite State last week. Some 3,891 initial unemployment claims were filed in the week ending Jan. 16. That’s 27% more than the number reported a week earlier. Meanwhile, 28,871 continuing claims – people already collecting benefits – were filed in the week ending Jan. 9, a 6% increase, after a 13% increase the previous week. There were also more than 14,000 federal continuing claims filed the week ending Jan. 2, which includes gig workers, business owners or those staying home because of dependent-care issues or exposure to the virus. New Hampshire’s unemployment rate for December was 4%, a slight increase from November. (Source: NH Business Review)

7. Unemployment Related to COVID-19 Leads to Increase in Heating Assistance This Winter. Heating assistance programs have seen a sharp increase in demand this winter as thousands are still without a job due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Community Action Partnership of Strafford County is one of five agencies in the Granite State that provide services to low to moderate income New Hampshire residents. These services range from fuel assistance to food. “Days like this, people are burning through their fuel more than anticipated. It's hard to keep a house warm when you have to keep your temperature up constantly," said Betsey Andrews Parker, the CEO of the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County. "Usually my agency receives a little under 4,000 for the entire season. We hit two-thirds of that before December." Andrews Parker explained that many of these people are requesting assistance for the first time. If you need help, go to capnh.org. (Source: WMUR)

8. Take Out Hunger Pays Restaurants to Cook for Food Insecure. A new Seacoast-wide funding initiative called Take Out Hunger pays restaurants to cook meals for the food insecure, vulnerable individuals, or places where a need is identified. While the primary goal is to address the growing issue of hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s also helping to keep the restaurants afloat financially. The program involves partnerships between eight nonprofits and 10 restaurants across the Seacoast, and the number is growing. The partnerships thus far include: Gather and Black Trumpet; Crossroads House, The Kitchen and Rail Penny Tavern; White Heron Tea and Operation Blessing; Great Bay Community College and Green Bean; St. Vincent de Paul in Exeter and Green Bean; Reds Good Vibes, Ore Nell's BBQ and Mr. Kim's. “As a culture, we show we care for people by cooking for them," said Helen Crowe, one of the founders of Take Out Hunger. "I hope that comes through, that we're not just providing a meal, but a sense of caring." Crowe said with the overwhelming impact of COVID-19, including the rapid growth of food insecurity, she, Carol Bridges and Deanna MacDonald started researching solutions. They came across the innovative model of compensating restaurants to provide nutritious meals to those in need. Pooling together $25,000 in seed funding, the trio launched Take Out Hunger in Portsmouth. Gather, the Seacoast's largest food pantry, serves as the fiscal sponsor of Take Out Hunger. Restaurants are compensated $10 per meal, which must be easily packaged and reheated. The partnerships between the restaurants and nonprofits last four weeks, at which time the relationship can be evaluated. (Source: Seacoast Online)

9. N.H. Towns Get Okay To Postpone Annual Meetings Again Due To COVID Concerns. Town Meeting deliberative sessions, traditional Town Meetings and official ballot voting days for Town Meetings this year can be postponed by local officials due to COVID-19 concerns. Under an emergency order signed Friday by Gov. Sununu, boting procedures may also be modified for safety purposes after consultation with town moderators, the attorney general’s office and the Department of Health and Human Services. Sununu’s emergency order also tracks with SB2, a bill now moving through the State House. That bipartisan bill allows for the postponement of elections and unanimously passed the state Senate earlier this month. It is expected to pass the House as well, but with an uncertain timeline. (Source: NHPR)

10. Massachusetts Set to Ease Some COVID Restrictions Monday. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced he is set to ease several restrictions related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, effective Monday. An order requiring all businesses, including restaurants, close by 9:30 p.m. will expire Monday, along with the state's stay-at-home advisory between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Other businesses that will be able to stay open past 9:30 p.m. include health clubs, movie theaters, casinos and more. Capacity limits will still exist, however. The announcement comes as health officials say the state's COVID-19 data looks encouraging. Hospitalizations are down 10 percent since early January, while the average positivity test rate is down 33 percent. On Saturday, Massachusetts reported 4,330 new coronavirus cases and 75 more deaths, while the positive test rate fell from 5.51 percent Friday to 5.17 percent Saturday. (Source: NECN)

11. Manchester Schools Reopen With Hybrid Model for Most Students. The state's largest school district is resuming in-person learning for the majority of grades on Monday. The Manchester school board modified its reopening metrics earlier this month, allowing schools to reopen with a hybrid model in spite of substantial community transmission of COVID-19. The reopening model will have most students in class a few days a week and learning from home for the rest of the week. Those who want to stay fully remote are allowed to do so. (Source: NHPR)

12. Street Performers Find Receptive Audience as Pandemic Drags On. No stranger to culture, Portsmouth is desirable ground for aspiring artists and musical talents to share their talents on a public platform. With the city’s minimal regulations against buskers and sidewalk performers, even throughout the uncertainties of 2020 in the era of COVID-19, performers still took to the downtown and other areas to share their talents. While no statistics show just how many performers graced the city streets with live music, dancing or other artistic performances, Nihco Gallo, who, before performing weekly starting last summer, busked sporadically for 10 years, said he has watched more people performing in Portsmouth than he had ever seen. “I think there are a lot more people coming out to play, and it’s cool. It’s good for all of us, and for the overall quality of public music,” he said. “I get a lot of inspiration from what other folks are doing out here.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 23, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 23

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

On Friday, New Hampshire public health officials announced nine additional deaths and 724 new positive tests for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the state and regional pandemic-related news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. Pandemic Claims Another Nine Lives As Hospitalizations Remain Steady But at a High Level. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday that nine more residents have died from COVID-19. The state's death toll from the virus now stands at 971. State health officials also reported 724 new positive test results for the coronavirus. Of the newly identified cases, 114 patients are under the age of 18. There are now 6,207 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. As of Thursday, just over 5% of New Hampshire residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 85,771 total doses of the vaccine have been administered, including 73,926 first doses and 11,845 second doses. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. NH COVID Vaccine Phase 1B Signups Surge on Day 1. On Friday, New Hampshire residents falling into COVID vaccination Phase 1b flooded the state’s 211 hotline and flocked to the state’s new vaccination website to register for their first dose. The Phase 1B group includes about 325,000 people in the state. Registration began at 8 a.m. on Friday and by noon more than 125,000 people had registered for appointments, according to state health officials. That number was closer to 150,000 by late afternoon. While state officials reported a few bumps along the way and wait times on the hotline stretched over an hour at the start, the new website was able to handle the volume and most people reported a positive experience. However, registering is the easy part. Because the state is currently receiving only about 18,000 doses of vaccine per week, most people registering Friday and from this point onward will likely need to wait several weeks before receiving their first dose. Some people tweeted they were surprised to find that once registered, appointments and location for the state-run vaccine program weren't immediately offered. Instead, at the end of the registration, a notice indicated that the person would be contacted by email within 3-5 days with that information. (Source: Seacoast Online)

3. Some with Medical Conditions Find Vaccine Registration Process Confusing. In addition to people age 65 and over, Phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccinations in New Hampshire includes people under age 65 with two or more medical conditions that place them at high risk. But many in that group said they were confused by the process. Michelle Agrella, of Londonderry, is under 65 and has Stage 4 cancer and diabetes. "I felt like I was at my wit's end, and no one was listening to me," Agrella said. She said she has been hitting roadblocks trying to get information about scheduling a vaccination. "There was nothing that was said that made me feel like this was going to happen any time soon," she said. Doctors are responsible for verifying patients with medical conditions are eligible—a key step in the process. Once the state receives that information, officials will email patients with instructions to schedule a vaccine appointment, which could take several days to receive. People without an email address will get a phone call. On the state's vaccine website, some people attempting to register got a message Friday saying to contact their doctor to schedule a vaccine, but the state said that was incorrect, and the system is being updated. Doctors cannot schedule vaccine appointments at this time. Caregivers of children under 16 with medical conditions also need a referral from the child's physician. (Source: WMUR) On its Facebook page, Able NH, a group that advocates for differently-abled Granite Staters, reported that it has received several calls from families whose healthcare provider does not understand the referral process and/or doesn’t have the necessary form. While some healthcare providers are proactively flagging patients and sending information to the state, not all apparently are doing so. If you or a loved one with medical conditions runs into this situation, the medical verification form for COVID-19 vaccination is available online. If your doctor’s office doesn’t have the form, you can email the link—or print out the form and bring it in. (Source: Able NH) Fear that they will fall through the cracks and won’t receive a referral from their doctor is causing anxiety for many people with medical conditions that leave them vulnerable. They include Lisa Sims-McLean, who lives right around the corner from where COVID-19 vaccines are manufactured in Portsmouth. She was told by her doctor’s office to call the state’s 211 hotline. When she called the hotline, she was told that she should call her doctor to get an appointment referral. When she called her doctor again. No one picked up. She called 2-1-1. They told her she should call her doctor. (Source: Concord Monitor) While at least one larger provider, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, says it is in the process of creating referrals for its eligible patients now, state officials have said the system remains a work-in-progress and urged patience. (Source: The Valley News)

4. Portion of Vaccines Allocated to Vulnerable Communities. New Hampshire is allocating 10 percent of its COVID-19 vaccines to communities that are especially vulnerable to coronavirus infection. Mobile vaccinations to reach those communities are set to start next week. Black and Latino residents in New Hampshire have made up a disproportionate share of COVID cases and hospitalizations. Michael Apollo, the emergency preparedness coordinator for the Nashua Public Health Network, says Nashua and other cities are using census data and the COVID-19 vulnerability index to identify where to set up mobile vaccination clinics. (Source: NHPR)

5. Teachers Union, Parents Call for Teacher Inoculations to Happen Sooner, Governor Says It’s Unnecessary. Citizen petitions have gathered thousands of signatures calling for the state to bump teachers up on the priority list of groups set to receive the COVID-19 vaccinations, and teachers unions have called for the same. But Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday that such a move is unnecessary for schools to run in-person learning. “We all kind of feel it’s an urgent issue,” said Sean Parr, a Manchester parent and member of the Smyth Road School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Parr initiated a citizen petition on Change.org calling for teachers, who are now slated to receive the vaccine in Phase 2 of the rollout, currently scheduled to happen between March and May, to be moved to Phase 1b, which starts on Friday. So far, Parr’s petition has gathered more than 1,100 signatures. Another petition calling for the same thing started by educator Ellen Grudzien has collected over 9,300 signatures. New Hampshire National Education Association (NEA) President Megan Tuttle has been speaking out about the issue this week, saying teachers need to be given a higher priority in the inoculation process because it’s the only way to get schools to reopen safely in the state. On Thursday, Gov. Sununu said the average age for teachers in the state is 46, and he said any teacher who is 65 and older can get a vaccine. He said there have been no major outbreaks at any schools to-date, and schools with large case clusters can close for a couple weeks if necessary and then resume its in-person learning, as some have done. But Tuttle said the issue is not about transmission in schools. Most COVID clusters are caused by exposures outside of school, and school closures are often caused by teachers and staff getting the virus and quarantining, leaving facilities without enough staff to stay open, she said. “What he’s doing is distracting from the issue at hand, which is that the teachers should have been in the first phase to begin with,” Tuttle said. (Source: Manchester Ink Link)

6. Where Do State Lawmakers Fall in the Vaccine Plan? Each state has developed a plan for the order of COVID-19 vaccinations. In general, older residents and essential workers get priority. States and the public are also debating whether any government officials should get early vaccination to ensure the continuity of government. Some states, such as Colorado and Oklahoma, are giving lawmakers early access to the vaccine. The argument is that elected officials are essential to maintaining government operations and services, so they should get priority like other essential workers. In New Hampshire, the difficulty of gathering 400 representatives virtually or in person has handicapped legislative action during the pandemic. Legislators on both sides of the aisle have called for more legislative input in Gov. Sununu’s emergency spending and policy decisions. If New Hampshire legislators were vaccinated, they would have more options to meet in person and continue “the people’s work.” On the other hand, many Democrats argue the Legislature should have figured out how to meet remotely by now. There’s also a chance many legislators would turn down a vaccine. There is another dimension to New Hampshire’s Legislature that impacts this debate: the average New Hampshire legislator is over age 65, so most legislators will already be eligible for a vaccine before the general population. (Source: Concord Monitor) Worth noting that even if a legislator was to receive his or her first dose as soon as Monday, full immunity to the virus couldn’t be assured for at least six weeks and only after a second dose is administered. This means that even a legislator who has been vaccinated early next week wouldn’t be able to meet safely in-person with unvaccinated legislators (some of whom refuse to wear masks) until mid-March. Meanwhile, as more contagious COVID variants are knocking on New Hampshire’s door, plans by GOP House leadership at this point call for the legislature to meet in-person for a session sometime in February. House Democrats do not believe this is safe or responsible and will continue to press for a remote meeting option that allows all legislators to participate safely and ensures representation for their communities.

7. Sununu Extends State of Emergency. On Friday, Gov. Sununu issued Executive Order 2021-1, the fifteenth extension of the State of Emergency declared in Executive Order 2020-04, and Emergency Order #83, giving towns flexibility to postpone or reschedule 2021 town meetings and preprocess ballots in local 2021 elections prior to the enactment of Senate Bill 2. SB2, to be taken up by the NH House in February and expected to pass, offers towns these provisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the emergency order will allow towns to make those decisions earlier. (Source: NHPR)

8. Pooled COVID Testing Is Coming to Mass. Schools. Here's How It Works. Pooled coronavirus testing is coming to many Massachusetts schools starting in the next few weeks. So what is it and how does work? “Pool testing involves the specimen collection of interior nasal swabs from students and staff on a weekly basis,” said Russell Johnston, senior associate commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Johnston explained those tests are then pooled – generally in groups of 10, or about the size of a class cohort – and then processed together with results in 24 to 48 hours. “If the results come back positive then we do follow up testing and identify who from within that pool may have tested positive and then take the appropriate steps necessary at that point,” Johnston said. The follow up would be a rapid test. The first six weeks of testing will be paid for by the state through federal stimulus funding, with the option for schools to continue testing using COVID funding that’s been allocated to each district. "We feel like this is a really worthy investment of those funds," Johnston said. So far, more than 300 schools and districts have expressed interest – but parental permission is required. (Source: NECN) It is unclear whether a similar testing plan may be in the works for New Hampshire schools.

9. Rockingham County Real Estate Sales Break Records. Residential real estate sales in the Seacoast region and the rest of Rockingham County finished a record-breaking 2020 on a high note in December. The number of sales of single-family homes and residential condominiums recorded by the Seacoast Board of Realtors set an all-time record in December. The Seacoast Board of Realtors, in its December trends analysis, said for December it recorded 102 single-family sales that closed at a median sales price of $574,200, some 29.4 percent ahead of December 2019. It said the 12-month volume, while not a record, ended 3.6 percent better than 2019 despite a slow, pandemic-impacted spring. The median price for 2020 was a record $563,500, up 17.6 percent from 2019. (Source: Seacoast Online)

10. Games Are Back on for Portsmouth High Winter Teams Amid COVID-19 Pandemic. Superintendent of Schools Steve Zadravec met Thursday night with Portsmouth High School athletic director Tom Kozikowski, as well as the rest of the athletic committee and two advising doctors from Wentworth-Douglass Hospital to determine if COVID-19 numbers were low enough to go ahead and start the winter sports season. Zadravec decided that given a sustained decline in COVID-19 rates and the low levels of student-to-student transmission in any school activity that Portsmouth would move forward with an abridged winter sports competitive season. “We may not be able to make up all of of the games we have missed, but students will begin to play interscholastic games going forward,” Zadravec said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 22, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 22

Vaccination registration opens today for residents age 65 and over at vaccines.nh.gov. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

On Thursday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 12 additional deaths and 925 new positive test results for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Friday.

1. NH Nursing Home Residents No Longer Make Up Nearly All of Newly Announced COVID Deaths. State health officials announced Thursday that twelve more New Hampshire residents have died from COVID-19, bringing the state’s coronavirus death toll up to 962. Six of the twelve deaths were connected to outbreaks at long-term care facilities. In the past week, the state has lost 65 people to the virus. State Epidemiologist Benjamin Chan tried to put a positive spin on the news by noting that a smaller percentage of deaths in the past week have occurred in nursing homes. He says this may be an early indicator that the vaccination program for nursing home residents is starting to produce positive results. The state’s COVID-19 Dashboard shows 75.4% of New Hampshire’s coronavirus deaths are connected to residents in long-term care settings. That percentage has decreased in recent weeks from a pandemic high of over 82%. (Source: N.H. DHHS) But the percentage of total New Hampshire COVID-19 deaths occurring in nursing homes remains the highest in the country. (Source: New York Times) Chan also noted that NH’s test positivity rate has fallen slightly in the past week, from around 7% to 6.8%. But he said community transmission continues to be significant across the state. The state also reported 925 new coronavirus cases and 240 Granite Staters currently hospitalized with the virus.. Active cases in New Hampshire now number 6,204. There are 112 active cases in Portsmouth. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. State Announces Five New Outbreaks, Including Portsmouth’s Edgewood Centre. New Hampshire Health and Human Services Director Lori Shibinette announced five new outbreaks at New Hampshire congregate living facilities, including outbreaks at the Women’s State Prison (12 inmates and 11 staff), Harbor Care Group Home (4 residents, 2 staff) , Edgewood Centre (20 residents, 3 staff), Ledgewood Bay Assisted Living (8 resident cases, 10 staff) , and Rivermead Peterborough (5 resident cases, 8 staff). An outbreak at Portsmouth’s Clipper Harbor home (32 residents, 16 staff) remains active. However, the outbreak at Portsmouth’s Wentworth Senior Living has been closed and no active cases are being reported. The state and county corrections systems remains a troublesome hotspot. The NH Men’s State Prison is home to the state’s worst active outbreak with 245 inmate cases, 71 staff cases, and one inmate death. Other correctional facilities with active outbreaks include the Northern NH Federal Correctional Facility in Berlin (127 inmates, 30 staff), the Hillsborough County House of Corrections (109 inmates, 39 staff), the Strafford County Jail (83 inmates, 11 staff), the Merrimack County Jail (36 inmates, 15 staff) the Department of Corrections Calumet Transitional Housing Unit (14 resident, 5 staff), and the Department of Corrections Secure Psychiatric Unit (20 inmates, 10 staff). (Source: N.H. DHHS The outbreak at Edgewood Centre comes despite the facility holding its first vaccination clinic on Jan. 4, "and we deeply regret that we did not make it to our second clinic, scheduled next Tuesday, without this outbreak," a release issued by the facility states. Patricia Cummings, Edgewood Centre administrator, said 100% of their residents consented to the vaccine, and just shy of 90% received their first dose on Jan. 4. Staff are hopeful that the partial immunity offered by the first dose of the vaccine will help mitigate the effects of the virus on residents, said Cummings. (Source: Seacoast Online)

3. COVID Vaccine Signups for People in Phase 1B Start Today. Starting at 8 a.m. this morning, Granite Staters age 65 or over can register to get a coronavirus vaccination appointment at the vaccines.nh.gov website or by calling the state’s 2-1-1 hotline. Once a person registers, they will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours and then will pick a location and time to get the vaccine. At the vaccination site, people will receive information about the second dose and a confirmation email approximately three weeks later to make an appointment to receive it. Worth noting is that those under 65 with two or more qualifying medical conditions will use a different process. Providers who plan to vaccinate their own patients will register and schedule eligible patients and report data to the state’s immunization information system. Those that do not have access to the vaccine or plan to refer patients to fixed sites will enter patient information into the state’s vaccine management system, which will generate an email invitation to the patient to schedule an appointment. For providers who don’t have access to the system or for patients that do not have email, the provider will pass along information to the state about eligible patients, and the state will call them to schedule appointments. Overall, more than 70,000 residents have received first doses of the vaccine. About 10,000 have already received their second dose. The first actual appointments will be on Tuesday, Jan. 26. (Source: NECN) According to Gov. Sununu, over 300 state employees have volunteered to staff the 211 hotline during the signup process. But while people calling the hotline to register will be connected to a real person, high anticipated call volume could cause wait times of an hour or more. For most people, that will make the vaccines.nh.gov website the best option. NH vaccination distribution czar Perry Plummer says the website has been built to accommodate 100,000 people using it at one time, so responsiveness shouldn’t be an issue. You can find more information on how to sign up here. (Source: WMUR)

4. Dover's C&J Bus Terminal, Exeter High are COVID Vaccination Sites. C&J’s bus terminal at 23 Indian Brook Drive in Dover has become a state COVID-19 vaccination site along with Exeter High School. The two Seacoast locations are among the sites across the state set up for vaccinations with the help of the National Guard. Currently, the sites are serving people in Phase 1A with appointments for a vaccination. This includes first responders and other frontline healthcare workers. 13 sites have been set up for vaccine distribution. In addition to the Dover and Exeter locations, the others are Nashua High School South, Londonderry Park & Ride at exit 4, Southern New Hampshire University in Hooksett, Tamworth: DMV on Route 16, Littleton Armory, Plymouth Armory, Lakes Region Community College in Laconia, Concord's Steeplegate Mall, Lebanon Armory, River Valley Community College in Claremont and Keene State College. A14th location will be added in Berlin. (Source: Seacoast Online) You must register for an appointment before you can receive the vaccine.

5. 48 States Are Vaccinating Teachers in Phase 1, NH Is Not One of Them. Sununu Slams NH Teachers for Asking. Speaking at his weekly COVID press briefing, Gov. Chris Sununu reacted to criticism from the National Education Association-NH that members of the ski patrol at ski areas are eligible to receive the vaccine before teachers. He said the reasoning behind the different phases of vaccinations is to reduce deaths and hospitalizations. Sununu, whose family owns a ski resort, has previously said he included ski patrol members as first responders who may have to provide life-saving assistance. According to Sununu, putting teachers and staff into Phase 1b would be putting them ahead of the most vulnerable. Sununu said 90 percent of teachers are under age 65 and the average age is 46. He said the state’s experience has shown that it is not necessary to vaccinate teachers in order to open schools. Sununu; said the assertion that teachers need to be vaccinated for schools to be open for in-person instruction is wrong. “We have seen incredibly low transmissibility within the schools that have returned to in-person learning. There’s absolutely no reason that schools need to close for the long-term,” he said. NEA-NH has said that New Hampshire is one of only two states — along with New Jersey — that will not vaccinate educators by Phase 1b — in defiance of CDC guidelines that say Phase 1b of the vaccine rollout should prioritize frontline educators. “Chris Sununu left our educators and school staff behind before when he punted all responsibility for safely re-opening schools. Now, he’s leaving them behind again,” said NEA-NH President Megan Tuttle. “We are calling on Governor Sununu to follow the lead of other states and prioritize vaccinating our teachers with high-risk first responders.” (Source: InDepthNH) CDC recommendations include vaccinating healthcare workers and long-term care residents and staff in Phase 1A. CDC recommendations for Phase 1B include people age 75 and over and essential workers, including fire fighters, police officers, corrections officers, food and agricultural workers, United States Postal Service workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, and those who work in the educational sector (teachers, support staff, and daycare workers.) (Source: CDC) In New Hampshire’s vaccine allocation plan, Gov. Sununu has bumped up first responders, including ski patrol members, into Phase 1A; bumped up anyone age 65 or older to Phase 1B along with those with 2 or more qualifying medical conditions; shifted teachers down to Phase 2; and has removed grocery store, postal, manufacturing, and food service and agricultural workers from the plan as priority groups altogether. (Source: N.H. DHHS Vaccination Allocation Plan Summary)

6. Some Rural Health Providers Worry For Oldest Patients As Vaccine Registration Begins. Coos County Family Health Services serves more than three thousand patients that are 65 or older. Patty Couture is the chief operating officer for the Berlin-based non-profit. She says many of those patients, especially those over the age of 75, don’t have internet access or an email. “When I look at my list we start at the oldest at age 98, I’m just concerned that many of our elderly won't be able to get through 2-1-1, and they’re going to go without the vaccine. My heart breaks,” she said. In a press conference Thursday, Governor Sununu said that wait times to make an appointment through 2-1-1 could be an hour or more. But Couture says she’s worried that with those wait times, her older patients might get discouraged, hang up and not call back. She says it feels like those who are less digitally savvy are competing for spots with those in phase 1b who are. (Source: NHPR)

7. CVS and Walgreens Vaccine Rollout to Long-Term Care Facilities Plagued with Miscommunication and Paperwork. As the pandemic continues its deadly creep into the long term care facilities, the state reported 46 ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes last week. Hundreds of deaths – 718 and counting – have been traced back to these facilities since the start of the pandemic. In the last seven days alone, 54 people associated with long term care facilities in New Hampshire have died from COVID-19. Meanwhile, CVS and Walgreens, which have been contracted by the federal government to manage the vaccinations of nursing homes, have administered vaccines markedly slower than hospitals in the state. Hospitals have administered about 94% of vaccines that have been received from the state, yet CVS and Walgreens collectively have administered a little less than half of their vaccines, despite having about 5,000 fewer delivered doses than hospitals, as of Jan. 14. Brendan Williams, the president of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said the explanation is bureaucratic drag— miscommunications and arduous paperwork have been a constant through the process. Nursing home administrators, already swamped with under-staffing and COVID-19 outbreaks, often had to badger pharmacy representatives for appointment dates. Perry Plummer, who leads the state’s vaccine distribution, said working with the pharmacy chains has been difficult because there isn’t a direct line of communication. Because CVS and Walgreens are contracted with the federal government and not the state of New Hampshire, information must go through the CDC and then back to health officials in New Hampshire. “There’s no question assisted living facilities didn’t get ramped up as quickly as we would have hoped,” Plummer said. “There was some miscommunication and misunderstanding.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

8. COVID Antibody Treatment Locations in NH Expanded. A treatment targeted toward high-risk COVID-19 patients will now become more available throughout New Hampshire, state officials announced Thursday. Monoclonal antibodies, man-made proteins that mimic the body’s immune response to fight COVID-19, was approved by the FDA for emergency use in November to treat those who are at the highest risk of becoming hospitalized due to the virus. Until recently, the federal government has only provided this treatment to hospitals in New Hampshire. State health officials said the federal government has now allowed the treatment to be distributed further into the community. Lori Shibinette, the Commissioner of the N.H Department of Health, said the treatment is now available at every nursing home in New Hampshire. The state has also brought on a variety of other providers, such as urgent care centers and independent practices, to begin offering the infusion. For best results, the treatment should be given to patients within 7-10 days of their first symptoms. (Source: Concord Monitor)

9. Citing Pandemic Changes, N.H. Mayors Ask for More School Funding. A group of mayors and school board chairmen from across New Hampshire are calling on Governor Chris Sununu, Department of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, and Republican leaders in the State House to help address budget shortfalls for public schools. In a letter sent Thursday, mayors of the state's major cities say their schools are facing budget challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. They point to a decline in student enrollment as families opt for home schooling or private school options, and a major decline in the number of families filling out forms to receive free and reduced lunch. Under the current funding formula, Manchester is looking at $3.6 million less in state aid for low-income students next year because of a decline in the number of families completing forms during remote schooling. The district would also see less money from the state because of a dip in enrollment. The Keene school district is looking at a shortfall of several million, in spite of planning for a flat budget next year. So far, K-12 schools in New Hampshire have received close to $90 million in federal relief aid, with $156 million more expected in the coming weeks. And after an executive order signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday, schools can also begin getting reimbursed by FEMA for certain COVID-related expenses. However, the federal relief so far covers just a small fraction of the roughly $3.5 billion New Hampshire schools are spending this year. (Source: NHPR) At his weekly COVID press conference, Gov. Sununu was asked about the issue. Sununu said the state needs "to look at changing using this as a sole metric" for the formula. "The CARES Act along with the $900 billion COVID relief bill that puts $220 million into education directly for COVID-related losses just in New Hampshire," said Sununu. "There's a lot of money coming in to cover these costs. Those dollars are going to be available to schools for this." He added that the mayors' and school board chairs' "concern is very legitimate." I think between the funding and the state support, we can close the gap," he said. (Source: Seacoast Online) Any changes would need to be accomplished via legislation.

10. COVID-19 Extended Sentences for Some Incarcerated; Drug Treatment Delays in NH Stalls Releases. The COVID-19 infection rate in prisons is four times higher than that in the general U.S. population. Yet even as family members, incarcerated people and advocates urge states to release who they can in order to reduce deaths, some states have gone in the opposite direction — keeping incarcerated people from taking advantage of early release programs. In at least half the states, incarcerated people can have time taken off their sentence by working, getting educational degrees or completing programs such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation, according to research by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Sometimes programs or work are required as part of a sentence. As the pandemic stretches on, though, with some states hesitant to administer vaccines to incarcerated people before other groups, advocates say states could make better use of systems allowing “good time” credits to reduce prison populations. But the policies aren’t popular with some law enforcement officials and lawmakers, who argue incarcerated people should serve the sentence they’ve been dealt, COVID-19 risks or not. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections increased time credit opportunities in December. But at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men, there has been a delay with a drug treatment program called Focus, according to the Department of Corrections. This delay affects, among others, Clayton Whitten, who could get six months off his sentence, which currently ends in September 2022. “He’s got to complete the program he can't get into,” said his mother, Jodie Manuel, in an interview. (Source: Union Leader)

11. 2 Ossipee Selectmen Among 21-Person COVID Outbreak. Two out of three selectmen and perhaps as many as 21 people connected to Ossipee town government and their family members may have contracted COVID-19, it was revealed at the board's meeting on Tuesday. Ossipee Selectman Jonathan Smith, who had voted against a mask mandate in the town hall, was one of them. Smith is also a Republican state representative who was elected in November. (Source: Conway Daily Sun)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 21, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Registration (NEW!) (register to make vaccination appointments here)

• 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

• 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, January 21

Chart: NHPR Source: New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced twelve additional COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday and 729 new positive tests. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. State’s Death Toll Nears 1,000. The 12 deaths announced Wednesday bring the state's death toll to 950 since the start of the pandemic. 11 were in residents age 60 or over and seven were associated with long-term care facilities. The state also reported 729 new COVID-19 cases, including 109 individuals under the age of 18. There are currently 254 Granite Staters hospitalized with the virus and 6,236 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Later today, the state is expected to provide an update on the status of outbreaks at New Hampshire congregate living centers, which include jails, treatment centers, and long-term care facilities.

2. Everything You Need to Know About Tomorrow’s Vaccine Sign-Ups. For the first time in New Hampshire, vaccines will be made available to a large segment of the general public next week. Appointment sign-ups begin Friday. Residents age 65 and older and other qualifying individuals should register to be vaccinated at one of the state’s fixed site clinics by visiting vaccines.nh.gov, which will open on Friday at 8 a.m, or by calling 2-1-1. The Department of Health is requesting that people avoid calling the hotline unless it is an emergency or you do not have access to the internet. After you register on the website, you will receive an email that will guide you through series of medical questions and will prompt you to select a date, time and location for your appointment. There are different processes for people with medical conditions, where providers will provide the names of people who qualify to the state and the state will contact them to let them know when and where to go for their first dose. Appointment slots will start on Jan. 26. and will continue for several weeks. If you sign up to receive your shot at one of the state’s sites, your time slot will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, depending on how many appointments there are at the location you selected. When vaccine supply is limited—as it is expected to be—the Division of Public Health Services recommends the distribution of doses be prioritized within the eligible group. For example, those who are 75 years of age and older would be vaccinated before those aged 65-74. (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. Health Providers Work to Identify Those Eligible for Next Phase of Vaccinations. With registration for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations in New Hampshire two days away, health providers are working to identify those patients who qualify. Anyone age 65 or older, those under 65 with two or more qualifying medical conditions, and those who take care of certain vulnerable groups are eligible to register to be vaccinated starting Friday. While anyone age 65 or over can register at vaccines.nh.gov, people in the under 65 group with two or more qualifying medical conditions will need a referral from a medical provider. Once a provider collects the information, it will be securely transferred to the state to get those patients enrolled, a process that is still being fine-tuned. "The state will then communicate out electronically by email to the patient, saying, 'We received your information, and now you can click this link and you can register to get the vaccine,'" said Dr. Keith Stahl, associate chief medical center for Catholic Medical Center. Those who don't have email access will be directed to call the state. "Once you get your notification, it doesn't mean you are immediately going to get the vaccine," Stahl said. "I think that is going to be hard for a lot of folks, because people have been waiting a long time for this. The reality is there is still a very limited amount of vaccine coming into the state. This is a process that is truly going to take weeks." (Source: WMUR)

4. Seacoast Senator: Grocery Workers, Teachers Should Get COVID Vaccine Priority. State Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka penned a letter this week to Gov. Chris Sununu asking that teachers, grocery store employees and individuals with Type I diabetes be moved up into Phase 1B of the state's COVID-19 vaccination plan. Phase 1B registration begins Friday, Jan. 22, and Granite Staters who fall under the phase can begin signing up for their vaccinations at 8 a.m. that day through at vaccines.nh.gov or by calling the state's 2-1-1 hotline. In Maine, grocery workers are included in Phase 1B of the state's plan. In Massachusetts, they are in phase 2, scheduled to begin in February. In New Hampshire, they are not specified in any of its three phases. As for teachers, Perkins Kwoka wrote, the state has heard the "repeated call to return to in-person learning," and therefore, "it would make sense then that teachers, even those younger than 65, be prioritized in order to make our classrooms as safe as possible." (Source: Seacoast Online)

5. Majority Of Inmates At Valley Street Jail Taken Off COVID-19 Quarantine. The majority of inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 at Valley Street Jail in Manchester are no longer considered infectious and have been cleared from quarantine status. Thirty-two inmates at the jail remain positive with COVID-19. The jail says anyone displaying symptoms or considered infectious is now in the COVID isolation unit. Valley Street Jail, which serves all of Hillsborough County, has had the largest coronavirus outbreak of any county jail in New Hampshire to date, with dozens of staff and 108 inmates testing positive since the beginning of December. (Source: NHPR)

6. New Hampshire Awaits Word on $200 Million in New Federal Housing Aid. Some $200 million in federal assistance is set to be available to New Hampshire tenants having trouble paying rent and utility bills, and the landlords and utilities having trouble collecting those payments, but at the moment none of the money is available. In December, Congress created the $25 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program as part of a Covid-19 relief bill, and the state has applied for funds, but it still is waiting for the U.S. Treasury Department to finalize regulations on how that money can be spent. Unlike the first round of housing assistance last year, the new program allows for payment of a full year of rent, not just several months. In addition to paying back rent, the law allows up to three months of rent in advance at a time to stabilize tenants who are having trouble paying. The money would go directly to the landlord except when the landlord doesn’t participate in the program. In that case, the tenant would get the funds. The law also allows the landlord to apply for the funds directly. Previously, only a tenant could apply. (Source: NH Business Review)

7. Thousands of COVID Vaccine Doses Sent to Maine May Have Spoiled Due to Inadequate Refrigeration. Thousands of doses of coronavirus vaccine exceeded temperature requirements during their shipment to Maine, public health authorities said on Tuesday. The 4,400 doses of Moderna's vaccine exceeded the required temperature during their journey to 35 sites in the state, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah said. "This was not something that occurred on the Maine CDC side but rather something that occurred during the packaging and shipping of the vaccine," Shah said. He said the sites have set the vaccine doses aside and would receive replacement doses on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monitoring systems the state is employing helped detect the mistakes, Shah said. None of the doses were administered and Shah said further investigation will determine whether they can still be used. More than 80,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Maine so far. (Source: NECN)

8. Vt. Gov. Phil Scott Tests Negative for COVID-19 After Possible Exposure. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has tested negative for COVID-19, after possible exposure to the coronavirus from a participant at his recent coronavirus briefing who tested positive. Scott's press secretary says the governor will continue to quarantine and be tested again on Tuesday. Scott and five other Vermont state officials are quarantining after possible exposure at the virus briefings on Tuesday and Friday. (Source: NECN)

9. Family of NH Couple Who Died of COVID-19 Praises Staff of Parkland Medical Center. Family members of a New Hampshire couple who died of COVID-19 within days of each other are thanking the staff of Parkland Medical Center for how they were treated. In 58 years of marriage, Leo and Anna Barron shared a bond their family said could never be broken, not by Alzheimer's, dementia or even COVID-19. They loved people, their family and dancing. "Both my parents had very big personalities and very big hugs," said their daughter, Linda Barron. "My mom's front door was always open." Linda Barron said she closely looked after them as they moved to an assisted living facility. In April, Leo Barron contracted coronavirus and had to go to Parkland Medical Center, but all he could think about was leaving his wife. His daughter said staff members at Parkland Medical Center became their extended family. "When my dad was concerned about my mom being left behind and no one taking care of her, they talked to my dad and treated him like a human being, like a person," she said. Weeks later, Leo Barron passed away. Anna Barron died two days later on what would've been her husband's 85th birthday. "My mom was holding his hand when he passed. My mom was awake," Linda Barron said. "She couldn't talk, but she could feel what was happening around her." Though they couldn't be with their parents, Linda Barron said it brings her family peace knowing that they were cared for. "My mom and dad had the respect and the dignity of being treated like human beings," she said. (Source: WMUR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 20, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Sign-Up (NEW!) (vaccination appointments not available until Jan. 22)

• 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

• 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, January 20

Active case counts in southern, New Hampshire as of Jan. 19, 2021. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

On Tuesday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 5 additional deaths and 877 new positive test results. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Wednesday.

1. National Death Toll Climbs Over 400,000. In New Hampshire, the five additional deaths announced on Tuesday brought the state’s death toll up to 938. All were age 60 or over. To date, 97% of NH’s fatalities have occurred in people age 60 or over and 76% have occurred in long-term care settings. The state also announced 877 new positive test results for the coronavirus, including 112 children under the age of 18. There are currently 254 patients hospitalized with the virus, an increase of 17 over the 237 reported on the previous day. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Nationally, COVID-19 deaths in the US topped the 400,000 mark on Tuesday. In the U.S., someone now dies from COVID-19 every 26 seconds. And the disease is now claiming more American lives each week than any other condition, ahead of heart disease and cancer, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. A quarter of all COVID-19 deaths have happened during the five-week period since the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first vaccine on Dec. 14. "The trickle of vaccine is so tragically scant —what we need is more of a river of it," says Dr. Howard Markel, who directs the University of Michigan's Center for the History of Medicine. (Source: NPR) Last night, incoming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris paid their respects to the 400,000 victims in a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Source: CNN) https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/politics/biden-covid-victims-memorial/index.html

2. Portsmouth Active Cases Climb to 112. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Portsmouth now stands at 112 and has steadily risen since 85 cases were reported on January 10. Last week, there were 43 active cases reported in two Portsmouth long-term care facilities. An updated weekly status report on outbreaks in long-term care facilities is expected to be released tomorrow. Manchester leads the state in active coronavirus cases with 541 followed by Nashua (522), Concord (210), Dover (209), Rochester (168), and Salem (162). (Source: N.H. DHHS)

3. Portsmouth High School Sports on Hold Due to COVID-19. The official start to winter sports games at Portsmouth High School will have to wait at least a few more days. Portsmouth Superintendent of Schools Stephen Zadravec informed athletic director Tom Kozikowski Tuesday morning that all games that were scheduled for this week involving Portsmouth High School teams have been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. “So far, no games have been lost, just postponed,” Kozikowski said. “We’re basing this on the positivity rates in Rockingham County, which are declining, but not yet at a number that administration feels comfortable with. I am still very optimistic that we will be competing soon.” The girls basketball team was scheduled to host Oyster River, a Division II school on Thursday, while the basketball team was scheduled to play at Oyster River. The school’s hockey team, a cooperative team with Newmarket High School, was scheduled to play Oyster River on Wednesday and again on Saturday. (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. N.H.'s Vaccine Website Goes Live Friday; Officials Say It's Ready For Heavy Traffic. State health officials say they are confident that a website created to process COVID-19 vaccine appointment requests will be able to handle the anticipated volume. Get updates about COVID and the vaccine in your inbox - sign up for our coronavirus newsletter today. Beginning Friday at 8 a.m., residents aged 65 and older will be able to schedule a vaccination appointment through vaccines.nh.gov. An estimated 250,000 residents fall into this age range, posing a challenge to the state’s IT department. “I don’t have a crystal ball, and can’t say 100 percent that nothing bad is going to happen, but we have all the resources on this program right now,” said Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control for DHHS, during an interview on NHPR’s The Exchange. “And I feel confident that it’s going to handle the volume.” Demand isn’t the only issue. Given the limited supplies of vaccines, the state estimates the process of vaccinating those who are interested in the shot will last at least into the summer months. (Source: NHPR) For those unable to schedule an appointment online, the 211 Hotline remains available. An extremely high call volume is anticipated. Wait times may be long, but every call will be answered by a live person. (Source: InDepthNH) Meanwhile, hospitals across the state, like Lakes Regional General Hospital, are still waiting to hear how much vaccine the state will be providing for the program. The hope is that the state will be able to provide 200 doses of the vaccine for each day. But right now “we are just waiting to hear from the state just how many doses they will be sending us,” said Jamie LaRoche, director of provider network operations. LaRoche said the state has assured them it will send the same number of doses for every day a clinic is scheduled. (Source: Laconia Sun)

5. Franklin Mayor Resigns Citing Mother’s Death From COVID-19. Franklin Mayor Tony Giunta announced he would resign his post effective immediately, citing the recent death of his mother and the need to spend time with family. In a letter addressed to Franklin citizens last week, Giunta said he would leave the position “with a broken heart.” He cited the passing of his 95-year-old mother, who died of COVID-19. Her death spurred him to decide to spend more time with family. “This week I buried my mother,” Giunta wrote. “For 95½ years she fought off everything life could throw at her – but ultimately it only took a week for this deadly virus to take her.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

6. Judge Orders Inmate Released from Valley Street Jail, Advises Him to Go to Emergency Room. A judge has ordered the release of a Valley Street jail inmate who has COVID-19 following “absymally inadequate” monitoring of his fragile medical condition. Manchester resident Hernan Rijos-Calderon, 32, who is facing several violent felony charges, was ordered to home confinement on Jan. 13. He is the third inmate released from the jail because of COVID-19, according to an organization of defense lawyers monitoring the jail. In a two-page order, Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Jacalyn A. Colburn noted that Rijos-Calderon reported that his COVID-19 symptoms had worsened over a 32-day period. Yet nurses checked him only once a day, he hasn’t seen a doctor since September, and the jail’s head nurse had testified she didn’t know his symptoms were getting worse. “Given the gravity of the potential implications for someone with known high-risk underlying complications, this seems abysmally inadequate,” Colburn wrote. Colburn urged Rijos-Calderon to visit an emergency room and see a doctor upon release. An email sent to jail Superintendent Willie Scurry on Tuesday morning was not returned. He is expected to give Hillsborough County commissioners an update on the jail when the board meets at 10 a.m. Wednesday. (Source: Union Leader)

7. Vt. Gov. Phil Scott in Quarantine After Possible COVID Exposure. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and the state's top health official are among those quarantining after possible exposure to the coronavirus, the governor's office announced late Tuesday. Scott, Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine and other administration officials were told that a contractor who provided services for coronavirus briefings on Jan. 15 and Tuesday had tested positive for COVID-19, news outlets reported, citing a statement from the governor's office. The briefings are conducted with safety protocols, but officials decided to take caution and quarantine as they had spent extended periods of time speaking at the lectern, the statement said. The officials will be tested based on guidance from the Vermont Department of Health, and the Republican governor will execute his duties remotely. (Source: NECN)

8. Milford Employer Offers On-Site COVID-19 Testing to Workers. A Milford company has decided that the best way to keep COVID-19 at bay is to increase access to on-site testing at work. Through a partnership with SolutionHealth, Hitchner Manufacturing is delivering COVID-19 testing on-site for the more than 600 employees at Hitchiner's facility. "An employee can call today and get a test the same day or perhaps the next day, depending on the employment schedule," Hitchner’s Tim Sullivan said."We have staff right there, on-site at Hitchiner, who have standing orders from physicians, and so our turnaround time is less than 24 hours for Hitchiner employees," said Sherry Hausmann, of SolutionHealth. (Source: WMUR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 19, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Sign-Up (NEW!) (vaccination appointments not available until Jan. 22)

• 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

• 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, January 19

Chart: NHPR Source: New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

On Monday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 1,034 new positive tests for COVID-19, but no additional deaths. Here is the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. New Cases Top 1,000 As Hospitalizations Continue to Decline. New Hampshire health officials announced 1,034 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday as hospitalizations continued to decline. The new cases that were announced Monday were from tests received as far back as Jan. 6. Health officials have said they are working through a backlog of tests, so the full number of daily positive cases over the past couple of weeks is unclear. Health officials said the new cases show a current PCR test positivity rate of 8.2%—the highest in over a week. Health officials said 237 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Hampshire. The number marks six consecutive days of declining hospitalizations in the state. While hospitalizations have trended down, the current number of cases has continued to climb over the past few days. Officials said there are 6,444 known cases of COVID-19 in the state, up 57 from Sunday. (Sources: WMUR and N.H. DHHS)

2. Decline in Hospitalizations May Mean Post-Holiday Surge is Winding Down. COVID-19 cases through the holidays posted challenges to New Hampshire hospitals, including Manchester’s Elliot Hospital and Catholic Medical Center. But in the two weeks since hitting an all-time high Jan. 2, hospitalizations are down 29% in the state. Officials at Elliot Hospital said they have half the cases they had a month ago. "At the same time, the number of new cases per day and the positivity rate seems to be trending down," said Dr. Greg Baxter, president of Elliot Health System. "All of this would suggest to me that it looks like the post-holiday surge we had talked about has come, and perhaps we're on the backside of that." Added Steve Ahnen, president of the New Hampshire Hospital Association: "It's just too early to say that we've hit that pace where we're going to see a long-term trend going down. We hope that's the case, but I think it would be a mistake to view this as that." Because case numbers remain high and only a small number of people have been vaccinated, experts said it's important for everyone to remain vigilant against the coronavirus. (Source: WMUR)

3. Hospitals Prepare for Surge in Vaccine Demand as State Enters Next Phase. New Hampshire hospitals are preparing for what's expected to be massive demand when hundreds of thousands more Granite Staters become eligible Friday for the COVID-19 vaccine. Phase 1B opens up vaccine distribution to anyone age 65 or older, along with people with two or more comorbidities. People in those categories can sign up beginning Friday, with distribution expected to begin Jan. 26. Officials at Memorial Hospital in North Conway said preparing for the new phase is the equivalent of opening up another department in the hospital, but their goal remains to vaccinate as many people as possible. "This is a very fast-moving project," said Will Owen, emergency preparedness coordinator at Memorial Hospital. "There are a lot of unknowns. There are a lot of questions." People who are eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1B will be able to sign up online or call 211. There are concerns the sign-up system might get overloaded, and the speed of vaccinations will be limited by supply. (Source: WMUR)

4. NEA-NH Calls for Teachers to be Added to Phase 1B of Vaccinations. Next week, an additional 400,000 Granite Staters will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. But you won't find many teachers rolling up their sleeves just yet. “For some reason, educators are not in the priority of the governor’s radar right now,” said Megan Tuttle, president of the National Education Association’s New Hampshire chapter. Tuttle is mad, and she says she speaks for educators across the state. “We need to be in an earlier phase for vaccinations. It's the only way we are going to get the schools to reopen safely in New Hampshire,” said Tuttle, who said New Hampshire is one of only two states not prioritizing teachers in at least Phase 1B. “Teachers in themselves do not make up 95% of the fatalities, grocery store workers don't make up 95% of the fatalities,” Sununu said last week during his weekly news conference. “Sixty-five and over, that's 95% of the fatalities, and that's why those folks have to go first. The governor also went a step further with his reasoning. “Teachers don't provide emergency medical services and aren't required to,” he said. But Tuttle said: “We're considered front-line responders when it comes to school violence. We're considered first responders when it comes to shootings in schools.” When it comes to safely opening schools, Tuttle said getting teachers vaccinated is the only clear path. (Source: WMUR)

5. Sununu’s Emergency Powers Challenged. More than 300 New Hampshire residents have filed a formal request asking the Legislature to repeal the powers granted to the governor during an emergency such as the coronavirus pandemic. The remonstrance received by the House clerk on Thursday argues that the law granting the governor emergency management powers is unconstitutional, though it has been upheld in court. Additionally, several GOP lawmakers have filed bills that would limit the governor’s powers. One would require the governor to explain the conditions necessary to extend a state of emergency and would require approval of the Legislature or Executive Council for renewal. Another would allow the Legislature to terminate any emergency order or part of an order, while a third would require legislative approval of any order issued during the renewal of a state of emergency. (Source: NECN) Meanwhile, the pandemic may have stopped the governor’s plan to hold an inaugural gala to celebrate his re-election, but it didn’t stop his inaugural committee from raising $62,500 in December alone—with three donors contributing $10,000 each. At a November press conference, Sununu said: “Instead of a single large gala event in January, we will be encouraging sponsorships and giving so we can host a series of free family outdoor events hopefully this summer, as we come out of COVID…So we will be raising hopefully a whole bunch of money, frankly, and have a whole bunch of free family outdoor events across the State for everybody to participate in.” However, an initial spending report shows the fund has been used for expenses that include $1,200 for books purchased from an Exeter wholistic salt cave, $256 for Dunkin, and a $51.72 expense at Lucky Corner Chinese in Raymond. A number of charitable donations were also listed, including $1,000 to Ronald McDonald House Boston Harbor and $1,000 to Best Buddies International. (Source: InDepthNH)

6. Three Dead in Keene Center COVID-19 Outbreak. Three residents at the Keene Center assisted living home on Court Street have died as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened 74 people. Most of those who have tested positive for the deadly virus are residents, though some staffers are also coming down with the illness, according to the facility staff. “At this time, Keene Center has had 59 residents and 15 staff members test positive for COVID-19. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those impacted by COVID-19 during this difficult time, especially the families of the three residents who passed away,” said Dr. Richard Feifer, Chief Medical Officer at Genesis HealthCare. Keene Center staff members are screening residents and patients for symptoms three times a day, screening and getting temperatures on all staff entering the building, canceling outside appointments, and instituting Zoom visits for families. Fiefer hopes the COVID-19 vaccine will be the turning point in the fight against the virus. The Keene Center had its first vaccine clinic Dec. 30, with a follow-up clinic coming soon. (Source: Union Leader)

7. Federal Report Says COVID Pandemic Hit Seafood Industry Hard. The coronavirus pandemic has taken away about a third of the commercial fishing industry's revenue, according to a federal report released on Friday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said revenues from catch brought to the docks by commercial fishermen fell 29% over the course of the first seven months of the year. Revenues declined every month from March to July, including a 45% decrease in July, the report said. The NOAA report said the seafood industry at large has been hit hard by restaurant closures, social distancing protocols and the need for safety measures. (Source: NECN) https://www.necn.com/news/coronavirus/federal-report-says-covid-pandemic-hit-seafood-industry-hard/2389884/

8. Truck Parade a Fitting Farewell for Nashua DPW Worker Felled by COVID-19. Andre Pelletier of Nashua spent three weeks battling COVID-19, and kept fighting until he took his last breath at St. Joseph Hospital last week. The 68-year-old was determined to pull through and eventually retire from the job he held for the past 46 years with the Nashua Division of Public Works’ street department. “You could tell that he was trying, but every breath he took he had to fight for,” said Pelletier’s daughter, Toni Bobenrieth of Milford. Before his family lays him to rest, his DPW coworkers will climb into their big orange work trucks for one final farewell — a truck parade Tuesday afternoon that will drive past Anctil-Rochette and Son Funeral Home on Kinsley Street in Nashua. “He could often be found at the salt barn loading trucks with salt,” the Nashua Division of Public Works said of Pelletier in an online statement. “He loved doughnuts and his dream was to one day be a foreman, although he never applied for the position. Well today, Andre, you are an honorary foreman with the street department. Your humor, friendship and compassion will be missed by all.” (Source: Union Leader)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 18, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Sign-Up (NEW!) (vaccination appointments not available until Jan. 22)

• 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

• 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, January 18

On Sunday, New Hampshire public health officials announced six additional deaths and 941 new positive test results for COVID-19. Here is the rest of the state and regional pandemic-related news you need to know to start your Monday.

1. Six Additional Deaths Reported. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services reported six additional residents have died from the coronavirus, bringing the state's death toll to 933 since the start of the pandemic. All were residents age 60 or over. There are 6,387 active COVID cases statewide, and 243 residents are currently hospitalized.The state also announced 941 new positive test results for COVID-19, including 130 patients under the age of 18. According to DHHS, community-based transmission of the coronavirus continues to occur across the state, and has been identified in all counties. (Sources: NHPR and N.H. DHHS) Nationally, just a little more than halfway into January, the US has added a staggering 3.9 million new COVID-19 cases and more than 51,000 virus-related deaths in the new year alone. The country's total COVID-19 death toll is now rapidly approaching 400,000 -- that's more than the number of Americans who died in World War I, Vietnam War and the Korean War combined and nearly as many Americans who died in World War II. (Source: CNN)

2. 1st Case of UK Coronavirus Variant Confirmed in Mass. The first case of a COVID-19 variant initially found in the United Kingdom has been confirmed in Massachusetts, health officials said Sunday. Contact tracers interviewed the woman with the COVID-19 variant, who is asymptomatic, and are continuing interviews now that the variant has been confirmed as causing her illness.The variant is thought to spread faster than the form of the virus that's been in the U.S., and surveillance testing for it in Massachusetts has been ongoing at the State Public Health Laboratory, in collaboration with clinical diagnostic laboratories and academic partners, according to the Department of Health. The UK variant, first detected in September, has since become incredibly prevalent in the United Kingdom. But while it appears to be more transmissable, it appears to be no more deadly, according to the CDC. But the health agency's page on the variants warns that "an increase in the number of cases will put more strain on health care resources, lead to more hospitalizations, and potentially more deaths." Source: NECN) New Hampshire health officials said last week the variant has yet to be detected in NH, but urged residents to limit unnecessary trips and continue to take precautions such as wearing face mask and maintaining physical distance from others.

3. 211 Hotline Will Help Schedule Vaccine Appointments in New Hampshire Starting Friday. Starting Friday, those 65 and older will be able to schedule a vaccine appointment in New Hampshire. While they will be able to do it online, appointments can also be scheduled on the state’s 211 hotline, and officials are preparing for a surge in calls. Granite United Way’s 211 hotline has been running for around 13 years, connecting people to services around the state. But helping during the pandemic may be its most important mission yet. “We’ve been taking an average of about 300 calls per day. And now, we’re seeing more than 1,500. And just recently, this past week, we had a spike of more than 3,000 calls in one day,” COVID Call Center Manager Kimberly Roberts said. Starting Friday, Granite Staters 65 and older may schedule their vaccination appointments by visiting vaccines.nh.gov or by calling 211 and listening for the prompts. (Source: WMUR)

4. Without Lots More Doses of Vaccine, ‘Herd Immunity’ for N.H. May Be Almost Two Years Off. Since it started analyzing New Hampshire coronavirus metrics last summer, the Concord Monitor’s weekly COVID tracker has sometimes had to present depressing data. Its sobering analysis of New Hampshire’s coronavirus vaccine situation shows the Biden administration’s plan to vaccinate 100 million people in 100 days can’t come soon enough. According to the Monitor’s analysis, at New Hampshire’s current rate of vaccination the state won’t get close to “herd immunity” until November of 2022. Not 2021, but 2022. According to the Monitor, the arithmetic is pretty straightforward. If you round up the 18,000 doses of vaccine NH is getting per week to 20,000 (to make the math easier), giving two shots to 70% of New Hampshire’s 1.35 million people will take 95 weeks, or a year and 10 months. At that rate, getting the state’s vaccination rate to 90%, which is true herd immunity, would push us into 2023. With the Biden plan, New Hampshire would receive about 300,000 doses if the doses are distributed by population. But even if those doses show up on time and the state has the staffing to administer them quickly, New Hampshire would be less than halfway to a minimum level of safety by the start of summer. In other words, the Monitor’s analysis concludes, things aren’t going to be “normal” this spring or even this summer, although they may be much less abnormal by then. “If we accept this fact now, we can appreciate the small improvements as they come. And improvement will come! Just not as soon as we’d like.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

5. Nashua Parents Seek to Oust School Officials Over Remote Learning. A group of Nashua parents whose children have been in fully remote learning since March 2020 are seeking to remove Board of Education members they claim are denying students the right to free and adequate education. “Multiple petitions are being drafted for the recall of multiple members on the board,” Alicia Houston, a Nashua parent, said on Friday. Although no elected offices are eligible for recall in New Hampshire under state statute, Nashua’s City Charter does provide a procedure for recall of any elected at-large position. Parent Orry Carr said while charter and private schools in Nashua had an adequate plan to return to in-person or hybrid learning, Nashua did not. “Since Nashua public schools closed in March 2020, the Nashua Board of Education, Superintendent Jahmal Mosely and the Nashua Teachers’ Union have failed to bring our kids back to school for a single day, yet during that same amount of time, a COVID-19 vaccine has been developed, tested and distributed. Now their fallback excuse is to wait for the vaccine,” Carr said. After learning from public health officials that Nashua’s rate of community transmission has risen to 10 times the level it was in October, the school board made the decision to remain in remote learning, except for small groups of students, until the rate of community transmission decreases, Board of Education President Heather Raymond said on Friday. “It is clear that our community is currently divided into two camps — people who believe that the best course forward is to have schools open for in-person learning irrespective of the rate of community transmission of the virus, and people people who feel that the best course is to continue with remote learning until that metric changes or the vaccines are available to teachers,” Raymond said. “Both sides are becoming more entrenched and more frustrated as time goes on.” (Source: Union Leader)

6. Analysis: New Year Is As Disruptive As The Last. In this analysis, veteran State House reporter Gary Rayno says the pandemic and the national division have made the new year every bit as challenging as 2020. From armed protesters massing in front of the governor’s home as well as the State House, both the nation and the state remain on high alert. Meanwhile, divisions over how to meet safely are likely to grow deeper. “What is clear is the majority party has more members from its Free Stater/Libertarian wing than in prior terms and how all this plays out with a backdrop of division both here and nationally will certainly make good theatre even if it does not make good governance,”Rayno writes. He also questions whether the violence, threats and intimidation on the national level will also be heard and felt in Concord. (Source: InDepthNH) It didn’t take long for Rayno to get an answer to his question. House Democratic Leader Renny Cushing of Hampton has formally requested that the Attorney General’s Office investigate a death threat received Dec. 14 by a Democratic state representative. The threat was allegedly made by an Amherst man charged with leaving threatening voicemail messages for six members of Congress last month. (Source: Union Leader)

7. Pandemic Life: ‘Igloo Dining’ in Concord. Cheers, a restaurant in downtown Conord, is one of several New Hampshire restaurants that have added clear, portable plastic shelters to accommodate winter outdoor diners during the pandemic. It took owners Todd and Wendy Roy some time to even find igloos because, like so many other useful pandemic items, they were out of stock at most companies that supply them. Eventually the Roys found what they were looking for and had four of them shipped to New Hampshire. They assembled the structures in about two weeks on the restuarant’s large outdoor patio and had their first igloo patrons last Sunday. The igloos are 13-feet in diameter, 7 feet, 8 inches tall and can seat up to eight people. They are also 100 percent water resistant, UV protected and can withstand winds of up to 100 mph. The restaurant is currently reserving the igloos in 2-hour increments and disinfects them between groups. “We’re targeting people like that who have been afraid to go out,” said Todd Roy. “They’re trying to find ways to get out and have fun, and this is the way to do it.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 17, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Sign-Up (NEW!) (vaccination appointments not available until Jan. 22)

• 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

• 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, January 17

On Saturday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 19 additional deaths and 483 new cases. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related state and regional news you need to know to start your Sunday.

1. NH Deaths in Long-Term Care Facilities Top 700. State health officials announced on Saturday an additional 19 coronavirus deaths, bringing the state total to 927 since the start of the pandemic. These included residents from Belknap, Grafton, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, Strafford and Sullivan counties -- all 60 or older. Six of the deaths were linked to long-term care facilities. This brings the total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in long-term care settings up to 703 since the start of the pandemic. Another 483 new cases were also announced. There are currently 252 people hospitalized with the virus and 6,081 active infections. (Sources: NHPR and N.H. DHHS)

2. Biden’s Plan to Fix Vaccine Rollout Explained. President-elect Joe Biden has announced a plan for what will likely be his most pressing challenge when he takes the White House next week: fixing America’s messy Covid-19 vaccine rollout. The plan builds on Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus proposal, which included a $400 billion Covid-19 plan, announced on Thursday. It seeks more support to states and lower levels of government, a greater expansion of vaccine eligibility, funding for more public health workers, a boost in vaccine production, better communication about the vaccines, an education and awareness campaign, and more. He promises 100 million vaccine doses delivered in his first 100 days in office. Biden’s plan calls for more involvement by the federal government in getting vaccine doses from manufacturers into arms. That includes new vaccination centers, mobile vaccination units in underserved communities, reimbursement of states’ National Guard deployments, and expanding vaccine availability in pharmacies. He also plans to make greater use of federal powers, such as the Defense Production Act, to boost the manufacture of vaccines and related supplies. He also says he’ll improve communication with states so they can better understand when and how much vaccine they can expect to get. A national education plan that encourages people to get vaccinated and $400 billion more funds to combat the coronavirus, including $20 billion more for vaccine efforts, are also on his agenda. At the core of Biden’s plan is the sort of hands-on federal involvement that the Trump administration has resisted at every step throughout the Covid-19 crisis. (Source: Vox) Currently, all states are having vaccine supply issues. Early last week, many, including New Hampshire, expanded eligibility after federal officials promised to release more vaccine from a federal stockpile—which turned out not to exist. South of the border in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state would need more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to fully inoculate everybody in the first phase of the Baker administration's three-tiered plan. But to date only 347,450 doses had been shipped to Massachusetts, and two-thirds have already been administered. (Source: NECN)

3. NH Teachers Push for Earlier Access to Vaccine. Granite State teachers and school staff are scheduled to be vaccinated between March and May, in Phase 2 of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but many educators are saying that isn’t soon enough. On Thursday, Gov. Chris Sununu said teachers aren’t in Phase 1 because other groups have higher priority. K-12 school and childcare staff is the only employment group specifically named for Phase 2 on the state’s vaccination allocation plan summary, released Jan. 14. It is estimated they account for about 75,000 workers, according to the plan. Sununu says many industries have been advocating for priority, “from the radio broadcasters to the meatpackers. At the same time, Sununu believes schools should be open and operational, saying teacher union reluctance to open certain schools is an “absolute disservice to kids.” Sununu is facing pushback from teachers unions and some school administrators for the decision not to prioritize educators. “We are calling on Governor Sununu to follow the lead of other states and prioritize vaccinating our teachers with high-risk first responders,” Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-NH, the largest union representing the state’s public school teachers, told NHPR. In Concord, interim superintendent Kathleen Murphy said she has been reaching out to state officials to advocate for prioritizing teachers. “I called the commissioner’s office, for them to be able to understand the absolute need to vaccinate our teachers,” Murphy said. “I needed him to be that voice for Concord School District so we could enable our teachers to get their vaccinations as soon as possible. We are willing to do what we need to do to open up our schools.” Assistant Superintendent Donna Palley also said they are advocating for educational assistants, who work closely with students with disabilities, to be categorized as “caregivers,” which are prioritized in Phase 1b. (Source: Concord Monitor) A petition effort is currently underway that requests Gov. Sununu to add teachers to Phase 1A.

4. Unmasked: More Than 60 State Reps Ignored Executive Order and Were Seen Without Masks at Dec. 2 Session. When lawmakers met on the lacrosse field at the University of New Hampshire on Dec. 2, at least 61 state representatives ignored orders, ordinances and policies requiring them to wear facemasks, according to a Union Leader tally. All were Republicans and most are in their first or second terms. The number represents 15% of the 400-member New Hampshire House of Representatives. Two weeks before their meeting and swearing-in ceremonies, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu issued an executive order requiring masks to be worn in all public places, both indoors and outdoors, when a 6-foot distance can’t be maintained. At the time, the UNH campus already had a mask requirement, as did the town of Durham, where the school is located. Since then, many anti-mask lawmakers have continued to defy the governor’s order to don masks in public. They have stood firm even as House Speaker Dick Hinch, who did wear a mask, tested positive for COVID-19 and died a week after the UNH session, and Speaker Pro Tem Kimberly Rice, the second-ranking House Republican, announced she contracted COVID-19 about the same time. Another GOP representative, Fred Plett of Goffstown, was seen laughing and joking with fellow state reps in videos from the Dec. 2 meeting. He came down with COVID-19 in mid-December, ended up needing to be intubated and was only released from the hospital — to a rehabilitation center — last week, according to posts his family made on his Facebook account. At the Jan. 6 drive-in session, legislators were also seen walking around outside their cars without masks. A rule change that would have permitted remote attendance and voting at legislative sessions was also voted down. As the House plans to restart committee meetings and sessions, Minority Leader Renny Cushing called for uniform rules governing committees, where chairmen now are making rules that run the gamut. In the State and Federal Relations Committee, all members or a proxy must be present for votes on bills. In the Commerce Committee, the chairman has told members he won’t set foot in the State House until the fall. “The tragedy is rather than being united and doing all we can,” Cushing said, “we’re debating on whether the pandemic exists and a mask requirement.” (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

5. As Pandemic Continues, Anxiety and Depression Are on the Rise. The pandemic and resulting economic crisis have raised the level of anxiety and stress for nearly everyone. While some have been buoyed by the rollout of vaccines and the end of a divisive election season, the start of a new year brought despair for others. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death in New Hampshire for those age 10 to 44, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the eighth-leading cause in the population overall. A gifted middle schooler in Mont Vernon, a beloved Bedford teacher, and the son of a U.S congressman have died by suicide in recent days, leaving family and those close to them struggling to understand. Kenneth Norton, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in New Hampshire, said these are difficult times for those with mental illnesses. Last weekend, , 71 people, including 20 children, who were experiencing a mental health crisis were being “boarded” in hospital emergency departments around the state, and six others were in jails awaiting a treatment bed. COVID has reduced the bed capacity at some hospitals, Norton said. Norton recommends limiting media, and social media, to reduce stress. In these quiet pandemic days, he urges people to find new routines to stay healthy, getting outside every day, or taking up a hobby, for instance. Rik Cornell, vice president of community relations at the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, urges people to get outside, run or walk, paint or write — “something that makes them feel good about their day and themselves,” he said. “And the other thing is to keep moving. Don’t let all this stuff weigh you down to the point you become incapacitated.” (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

6. NH COVID-19 Survivors Shares Experiences Battling the Virus. There have been 55,945 cases of COVID-19 in New Hampshire to date. That number includes 955 people requiring hospitalization for the virus and 927 COVID deaths. One was tipped off she might have the virus when she broke a bottle of vinegar and couldn’t smell the fumes. She later had difficulty breathing. Another was on oxygen in the hospital for 6 days. "I had pneumonia when I got to the hospital. I never thought I had pneumonia. I thought I just had a slight, tickly, kind of irritating cough," explained Barbara Brown. Another symptom that Brown experienced was a high fever, which at one point reached 104 degrees. “It affects everybody differently,” warned Shuni McGowan, who experienced intense pain and pressure in her head and jaw. “You just have to believe what people are saying. Believe the science out there." (Source: WMUR)

7. As Some Restaurants Hibernate Through Winter, Rochester Restaurant Owners Plead for More Flexibility When Outdoor Dining Returns in Spring. The Lilac City’s plans for expanding and streamlining outdoor dining are almost finalized — with provisions that raise concerns for some business owners and city councilors. Those items include a provision that won’t allow canopies, tents and coverings over dining areas, as well as a provision that denies “live entertainment of any type” without referencing the fact the city will continue to have a special event permit process to allow and regulate that activity. The City Council will review and potentially adopt the proposed ordinance during a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The council is expected to approve some version of the ordinance by early February because the city has set February as the deadline for establishments to apply for 2021 outdoor dining permits. (Source: Fosters Daily Democrat)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 16, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Sign-Up (NEW!) (Sign-up not available until Jan. 22)

• 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

• 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, January 16

The past seven days in New Hampshire. (Source: John’s Hopkins University COVID Tracking Project)

On Friday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced 11 additional deaths and 794 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 Saturday.

1. New Hampshire Death Toll Tops 900 As Hospitalizations Dip. The 11 additional deaths reported on Friday brought the state’s death toll up to 908. 139 people have now died in New Hampshire from COVID-19 in the first 14 days of 2021. There is better news when it comes to hospitalizations which were down to 255 on Friday after 270 were reported on Thursday. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. Health Groups Gear Up to Answer Questions About Changes to Vaccine Eligibility As Promise of Reserve Doses Evaporates. As hospitals and primary care physicians try to figure out how to accommodate the additional groups of people who were added to the state's next phase of vaccination, organizations like AARP are fielding questions about who is eligible and how to sign up. The changes broadened eligibility in Phase 1B to include any resident age 65 or older along with people of any age with two or more serious medical conditions. Starting Jan. 26, people in those groups will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, if the supply is there. People in this phase can begin signing up for vaccinations online beginning Jan. 22. "We've been receiving a ton of questions from our social media channels and through email from our 220,000 members wanting to know what the schedule is, what the prioritization is, how do I sign up and all those things," said Todd Fahey, state director of AARP New Hampshire. (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, a revelation by officials in the Trump administration has cast doubt on whether enough there will be adequate supplies to begin vaccinating people in the additional groups on schedule. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Friday admitted that despite a federal promise earlier in the week to release doses of the vaccine being held in reserve, no stockpile exists. The news blindsided state officials across the country who have been tasked with creating plans to administer vaccines at the state and local level." I am demanding answers from the Trump Administration. I am shocked and appalled that they have set an expectation on which they could not deliver, with such grave consequences," Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, tweeted Friday. "This is a deception on a national scale.” The response from NH Gov. Chris Sununu was more muted. “Overpromising and under delivering has become a habit with pretty much everyone in Washington D.C., which is why in New Hampshire we designed our vaccination system to be flexible and able to deliver for our citizens regardless of what they send us,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement.(Source: CNN) The issue for Sununu and other governors is that no system is flexible enough to administer vaccine to additional populations if additional vaccine doses aren’t received.

3. For Facilities and Families, Efforts to Vaccinate N.H.'s Long-Term Care Community Haven't Been Easy. Most of New Hampshire’s long-term care facilities are relying on the federal government and large pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, to administer coronavirus vaccines through a program called the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care. CVS, which says it's managing clinics for more than 150 facilities across the state, says there haven’t been any substantial delays. But those on the ground say the program has, in fact, seen delays and other significant challenges. “I have a lot of worries about how this has been handled,” said Brendan Williams, who leads the New Hampshire Healthcare Association, the statewide advocacy group for long-term care facilities. While some facilities have been able to get their first doses with relative ease, Williams says the process for lots of others has been plagued by poor communication, scheduling problems and a lack of transparency. He says New Hampshire might’ve been better off taking the same route as West Virginia, which eschewed the federal pharmacy partnership in favor of a state-run vaccine distribution program. According to data from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, a little less than one-quarter of available doses had been administered to residents and staff at long-term care facilities as of last week. But data from CVS indicates that 56 of 56 clinics at nursing homes, and 45 of 126 clinics at assisted living or other long-term care facilities, were completed as of Thursday. It’s not clear why CVS’s records reflect 100 percent completion of the first round of clinics at New Hampshire nursing homes as of Jan. 13 when at least one nursing home, Lafayette Center, did not have its first clinic as of that date. After hearing about the situation at Lafayette Center, the person managing NH’s vaccine distribution effort, Perry Plummer, said it was apparent that the original date of their vaccine clinic “was later than what we think is in the best interest of the facility.” He said his team worked with CVS to reschedule for Friday, Jan. 15. This wasn’t the only time state officials have had to intervene to fix problems with the federally run pharmacy partnership. Plummer and other state leaders have said the state is capable of stepping in to take over the process if problems persist, or to send in public health “strike teams” to vaccinate residents and staff at long-term care facilities if the pharmacies don’t move quickly enough on future clinics. (Source: NHPR)

4. Seven More Keene Center Residents Test Positive Amid COVID Outbreak. The COVID-19 outbreak at Keene Center has now infected 66 people at the senior-living facility, including more than half its residents, an official said Friday. Fifty-one residents and 15 staff members have now tested positive for the viral disease since the outbreak began in late December, according to Lori Mayer, spokeswoman for Genesis Healthcare, which owns Keene Center and several other area nursing homes. One death had been attributed to the outbreak as of Friday. To prevent the virus from spreading further, Mayer said Keene Center has been separating residents with COVID-19 from those who aren’t infected and canceling all outside medical appointments, except those that are necessary. Keene Center residents and staff began receiving COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 30 through a partnership with CVS Pharmacy. But it is not clear if all residents and staff have participated. (Source: Keene Sentinel)

5. Portsmouth Yoga Studio Owner Issued Quarantine Warning After Trump Rally in D.C. A Portmouth yoga studio owner has been issued a quarantine violation warning notice by the New Hampshire Attorney General's office after attending the deadly riot on Wednesday, Jan. 6 and returning to teach yoga classes. According to the notice, Joanna Chipi, owner of Zen Den Yoga, had been teaching classes at her studio since Friday, Jan. 8—a violation of state quarantine requirements that call for residents traveling outside New England to quarantine for 10 days. According to the AG’s office, Chipi told Joelle Donnelly Wiggin, the AG office’s victim/witness advocate, she wore a mask during her visit to Washington and didn't think she needed to quarantine. Later on Tuesday, Portsmouth police visited Chipi at her studio again to tell her she could not be at Zen Den Yoga, even if she was teaching a class, and served her a printout notice of the quarantine guidelines, according to Portsmouth police Sgt. Christopher Roth. In communications with the Portsmouth Herald earlier in the week, Chipi wrote, "I went down to DC because I want fair elections. I am protected under the Constitution of the United States of America and I exercised my 1st Amendment right of free speech and the freedom to assemble." Chipi added she “had nothing to do with any unrest, trespassing, or violence that occurred in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

6. Emergency Declaration To Last Into Next Fiscal Year. The federal state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic is expected to be extended for the remainder of the 2021 fiscal year, state lawmakers were told Friday. And several lawmakers expect the state’s declaration to also be extended at least through that time as well. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu has extended New Hampshire’s state of emergency declaration 14 times since his first executive order was issued in March 2020. The latest governor’s executive order extending the state of emergency was issued Jan. 1 and extends the designation for another 21 days. By extending New Hampshire’s state of emergency, the governor does not need Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee approval to accept federal funds or to expend those funds under a law passed in 2002 after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. (Source: InDepthNH) Sununu also issued two executive orders Friday extending the state’s mask mandate and travel quarantine requirements until March 26.The mask mandate took effect Nov. 20 and was set to expire Friday. It requires anyone over the age of 5 to wear a mask in indoor or outdoor public spaces where they do not consistently maintain a physical distance of at least six feet from people outside their own households. (Source: Associated Press)

7. Low Number of Flu Cases Reported in NH Thanks to COVID-19 Precautions, Lack of Travel. New Hampshire is reporting nearly no flu cases at a time when the virus is usually widespread, and health officials say that's helping to avoid what could otherwise be a scenario in which hospitals are overwhelmed. There have been two flu-related deaths this season in New Hampshire, but health experts said flu cases overall are historically low. "We have actually had no flu in 2021 in either the inpatient or outpatient setting at CMC," said Dr. Michael Gilbert, chief medical officer of Catholic Medical Center. Gilbert said the numbers are low because of the precautions being taken against COVID-19 and because people are traveling less. "People are paying much more attention to washing their hands," he said. "We have been social distancing, and masks decrease transmission of the flu, as well." Doctors said that even though the numbers are low, that could change in the coming weeks, so getting vaccinated is important. (Source: WMUR)

8. IRS Warns of Scams Surrounding COVID-19 Stimulus Payments. Federal officials are warning residents in Vermont and New Hampshire to watch out for a new type of scam related to COVID-19 stimulus payments, according to a news release from the IRS. Some of the scams officials are asking people to be wary of are texts that ask for bank account information to process stimulus checks and phishing emails that use words like “coronavirus” and “stimulus” to extort personal information. Anyone who has encountered a scam involving mention of COVID-19 can call the National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or report it to the IRS. (Source: The Valley News)

9. Housing Advocates Tell Shaheen Crisis Worsening Under COVID. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that homelessness damages the well-being of the whole community. That was the message that housing advocates across the state had for U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen at a virtual meeting Thursday focusing on the housing crisis that working families, and individuals experiencing homelessness across the state are facing during the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the participants spoke about the need for supportive housing — which provides affordable housing with appropriate care services. “Housing and supportive services have to come together,” said Ellen Groh, executive director of the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness. That is particularly challenging in areas such as the Lakes Region, where the ability to provide care services is more limited due to the smaller population concentration compared to the southern part of the state. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun)

10. New Hampshire Unemployment Claims Fall But Remain at Higher Levels. New jobless claims in New Hampshire fell last week from the previous week’s report, but they still remain higher than they had been over the last several months. Some 3,067 initial claims were filed during the week ending Jan. 9, over a thousand fewer than the 4,106 reported the previous week. But the number was over 100 more than the 2,932 reported the week ending Jan 2. As for continuing claims – the number of people who are already collecting jobless benefits – they rose to 27,283 the week ending Jan. 2 compared to the from 24,203 reported the previous week – an almost 13% increase. While that figure may be distorted by the changeover, but it does appear that the state’s employment situation has been getting worse, not better. (Source: NH Business Review)

11. House Speaker Sherman Packard Says Drive-in House Session Not Happening Again. New Hampshire’s 400-member Legislature took up a pandemic-era experiment last week, meeting in a UNH parking lot in staggered spaces for a socially distanced “drive-in” session. But a week later, the House speaker says that experiment is looking more like a one-off. “No, I’m not planning on doing it again,” said Speaker Sherman Packard in an interview with the Monitor this week. “It’s still up in the air but I’m not planning an outdoor meeting in the cars again, no.” The decision to abandon the approach comes after a day of logistical headaches for the speaker’s office and House clerk on Jan. 6. Lawmakers had to be directed to their parking spots by Durham police and UNH volunteers, a process which took an hour. The small remote voting buttons for each lawmaker occasionally malfunctioned. At least one member’s car battery died. And moving through the usual flurry of parliamentary motions – made by both parties to either speed up or slow down proceedings – proved exceptionally slow. Democrats have been pushing for a virtual video voting session, arguing that the technology exists and that with planning, the format could work for the House. The 24-member Senate has already begun holding its voting sessions over Zoom. But House Republicans have objected to that approach, contending that it would be costly and throwing doubts on its practicality. (Source: Concord Monitor) Note: On Friday, I sent an email to Speaker Packard urging him to make it the policy of the House to allow any legislator who wishes to participate remotely to avoid the risk of contracting COVID-19 to be able to do so. As the virus continues to strike almost a thousand people a day in New Hampshire and newer, more contagious variants are knocking on our door, meeting remotely to is the responsible thing for us to do to minimize the risk to our families, our communities, and to ourselves.

12. Concord to Add More Instruction Time for Remote Students. As the risk of community spread remains high, school districts are experimenting with new ways to improve the quality of hybrid and remote learning. The Concord School District is introducing a new hybrid learning model this month that combines Zoom video sessions and in-person learning, and a proposed parent advisory council for special education. Under the new changes, students who are at home on remote days will participate through video to the class that is being conducted in the school building and teachers will teach the in-person students and remote students simultaneously. This will give students four days of live instruction every week (alternating in-person and remote) instead of two days of live instruction and two independent work days, which was the old model. Wednesdays will remain remote “flex” days. (Source: Concord Monitor)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 15, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Eligibility, Schedule and Sign-Up (NEW!) (Sign-up not available until Jan. 22)

• 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

• 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

New Hampshire’s revised vaccine schedule. (Source: NH Division of Public Health Services)

New Hampshire public health officials announced 12 additional deaths and 707 new positive tests for COVID-19 on Thursday. Here is the rest of the news you need to know about New Hampshire’s response to the coronavirus pandemic to start your Friday.

1. State Announces 12 More COVID-19 Deaths. State health officials Thursday announced twelve more COVID-19 deaths in New Hampshire. Nine of the patients who died were associated with long-term care facilities. 897 people have now died from COVID-19 in New Hampshire during the pandemic, 70 in just the last week. 706 new cases were also announced with 6726 active infections reported statewide. On the positive side of the ledger, the seven-day positivity rate (the percentage of people tested who test positive) now stands at 7.7%—down from 8.7% last week. 272 people are hospitalized. (Source: N.H. DHHS) There are currently 99 active cases in Portsmouth, including 43 listed at two Portsmouth nursing homes.

2. N.H. Residents 65 And Older Can Register For COVID-19 Vaccine Starting Next Week. Facing mounting criticism about the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, Gov. Chris Sununu came to his weekly news conference Thursday armed with charts and graphs and news of a major change that will allow all people 65 and older (instead of 75 and older) to register for the shot starting Jan. 22. This will include about 300,000 people who will be able to start getting the first dose of the vaccine on Jan. 26 after they register, Sununu said. Medically vulnerable people of all ages will also be eligible. But they will need to get certification from their doctors that they have two or more medical conditions that qualify for the early vaccine. But people 65 and older will simply go to vaccines.nh.gov to register or call the state’s 2-1-1 hotline, Sununu said, but not until next Friday. One caveat is the state will only sign up people if they have enough vaccine to guarantee the shot will be available. The federal government allots New Hampshire about 17,000 to 18,000 vaccine doses a week so it could take some time to vaccinate this population after finishing doses for high-risk residents in Phase 1A, including first responders, front-line medical providers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. (Source: InDepthNH) Residents with medical conditions that put them at high risk for COVID-19 are advised to call their doctor before registering for a vaccine. Those with two or more health conditions that put them at significantly higher risk for COVID-19 will also be eligible and should contact their doctor for confirmation of their conditions before registering for a shot. Mobile vaccination clinics will begin reaching out to disproportionately impacted communities, mainly in Manchester and Nashua, starting later this month. In the past week, social workers and teachers have questioned the state’s vaccination schedule, as ski patrollers were recently bumped up to phase 1B and have started getting shots. "I appreciate that teachers are in close contact with kids. But getting the vaccine right now has to be about those that are at the highest risk of fatality, those at the highest risk of being put in the hospital, and those that care for those who are at highest risk of having a fatality or being in the hospital because of COVID," said Gov. Chris Sununu, noting that teachers who are medically vulnerable or over age 65 will be eligible to be vaccinated in the 1B group. (Source: NHPR) Another key group prioritized by the CDC that has been left out of Sununu’s vaccination plan are jail and prison inmates. While corrections workers are included in Phase 1B, people incarcerated in jails and prisons have been excluded. This is contrary to CDC policy guidelines which recommend prison inmates and staff be vaccinated at the same time. (Source: CDC) Currently, New Hampshire’s three largest outbreaks are in county jails and at the State Men’s Prison. Nationally, the rapid expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens age 65 and over across the U.S. has led to bottlenecks, system crashes and hard feelings in many states because of overwhelming demand for the shots. (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. NEA-NH Asks Why Ski Patrols Getting COVID Vaccine Before Teachers. NEA-NH is calling on Gov. Chris Sununu to explain why ski patrol staff are being prioritized for the Phase 1a allocation of the COVID vaccine ahead of New Hampshire educators. According to the NH Region Ski Patrol, ski patrol staff can receive the COVID vaccine during Phase 1a, ahead of educators who are slated to receive the vaccine in Phase 2, or by March. However, according to section 153-A of Emergency Medical and Trauma Services, the definition of emergency medical care provider “shall not include lifeguards at swimming facilities or members of ski patrols, or New Hampshire fish and game department conservation officers, unless said individuals are performing invasive patient care procedures.” New Hampshire is one of only two states — along with New Jersey — that will not vaccinate educators by Phase 1b — in defiance of CDC guidelines that say Phase 1b of the vaccine rollout should prioritize frontline educators. (Source: InDepthNH)

4. NH Vaccination Update: Just Under Half of People in Phase 1A Have Received First Dose. On Thursday, state public health officials announced 53,432 out of about 110,000 frontline healthcare workers, first-responders, nursing home residents and staff, and ski patrollers have received their first dose. About 4% of people in the Phase 1A group have gotten their second dose. To date, the state has received 86,275 doses. 96 long term care vaccine clinics have been conducted by CVS and Walgreen as part of the federal pharmacy vaccination program and more than 12,000 nursing home residents have been vaccinated. New Hampshire State Epidemiologist Benjamin Chan warned that no vaccine protects 100% and urged all New Hampshire residents—including those who have been vaccinated—to continue with “all layers of protection”, including social distancing, hand washing, wearing face masks, and not engaging in any non-essential travel. Chan said that although none of the more contagious COVID variants popping up elsewhere in New England and across the country have shown up yet in New Hampshire, this is no time for residents to let their guard down. (Sources: Personal Notes from Thursday’s Press Briefing and N.H. DHHS)

5. 10 Outbreaks at Congregate Living Facilities “Closed” As 11 New Ones Are Announced. On Thursday, New Hampshire Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette released updates on the status of COVID-19 outbreaks at New Hampshire nursing homes, assisted living centers, jails, and drug treatment centers. While 10 outbreaks were reported as closed with no active cases, 11 new ones popped up to take their place. They include Birch Hill in Manchester, Carriage Hill Assisted Living, Dover Center for Health and Rehabilitation, Greystone Farms, Keene Center, Kendal at Hanover, Lafayette Center, Langdon Place of Nashua, Meredith Bay Colony Club, St. Vincent’s Rehabilitation and Nursing, and Summerhill Assisted Living. In Portsmouth, active outbreaks at Clipper Harbor and Wentworth Senior living remain active, but no additional deaths have been announced at either facility in two weeks. Clipper Harbor is reporting 32 cases among residents and 15 among staff. Wentworth Senior Living is reporting 11 resident cases and 6 staff cases. The state’s three largest outbreaks involve correctional facilities. The NH State Men’s Prison reported 245 cases among inmates and 70 among staff—61 more cases among inmates than the state’s previous update on Jan. 5. Northern NH Correctional Facility in Berlin has 127 cases among inmates and 30 among staff and the Hillsborough County House of Corrections has 104 cases among inmates and 24 among staff. Also, despite news reports that the state was getting ready to close an outbreak at the NH Veterans Home, the nursing facility once again appeared on the “active” list. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Meanwhile, at his weekly press briefing, Gov. Sununu said the state has no plans to take action against Webster at Rye for allowing board members to skip the line during a recent vaccination clinic, allowing them to be vaccinated at the same time as residents and staff. Sununu said he hopes the resulting fallout “serves as an example to others.”

6. Health-Tech Coalition Developing Digital COVID ‘Passport’. A digital vaccination “passport” proving people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 is under development by a group of technology and health companies and organizations. The Vaccination Credential Initiative – a coalition of that includes Microsoft, Oracle, Cigna, Salesforce and the Mayo Clinic – wants to establish standards to verify whether someone has received the vaccine in order to prevent people from falsely claiming that they have. The idea is that governments and a wide range of businesses, including airlines, will require proof that people have received the shot. According to the VCI, the current vaccination record system does not readily support convenient access, control and sharing of verifiable vaccination records. The coalition wants to empower individuals to obtain an encrypted digital copy of their immunization credentials to store in a digital wallet of their choice. Those without smartphones could receive paper printed with QR codes containing W3C verifiable credentials. (Source: NH Business Review)

7. The Paycheck Protection Program has Returned, and Some Financial Institutions Will be Able to Process Loans as Soon as Today. All banks will be able to process loans for the second round of PPP starting Tuesday, according Kristy Merrill, president of the New Hampshire Bankers Association. The loans are targeted at businesses whose revenues are down during the pandemic at least 25% from a comparable period. They are available to qualified applicants who have received a previous PPP loan as well as to first-time applicants. (Source: Union Leader)

8. Lack of Snow, Pandemic Hurt North Country Businesses. Snowmobile trails opened up three weeks late in New Hampshire, and officials said conditions are not ideal going into the holiday weekend. "People are calling from all over the Northeast with plans to come up and ride and vacation, and they are not aware that there is no snow, and they are pretty upset," said Dan Gould, of the New Hampshire Snowmobile Association. "Right now, with some people not traveling because of COVID and the lack of snow, it's definitely putting a damper on the industry," said Hannah Campbell, president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is reminding visitors that the North Country offers many areas of recreation."Our businesses and people are still here," Campbell said. "We are not immune to what is going on, but so far from what I have seen, we have adapted, and people are doing everything they can." (Source: WMUR)

9. Warming Center in Portsmouth to Open for Homeless. The city has granted Operation Blessing a temporary occupancy permit to open an overnight warming center for the homeless inside a renovated storage facility on its property. Tammy Joslyn, Operation Blessing's executive director, said she's spoken with several homeless individuals in the Portsmouth area who have been finding their way to the Tri-Cities’ emergency warming center in Somersworth, which opened in December. She's hopeful her new center, which is located directly on a Route 1 bus line, will offer a closer option for those living in Portsmouth's woods during extreme cold temperatures and winter weather emergencies. The Lafayette Road nonprofit stepped up as a warming center location last year, using a part of its facility to house individuals at night. But because of COVID-19 safety concerns, Joslyn had to find an alternative this year – a space that wouldn't be shared with the rest of the nonprofit's operations. (Source: Seacoast Online)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 14, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Information

• 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

• 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, January 14

(Source: The New York Times)

New Hampshire health officials reported seven more deaths and 1,082 new positive test results for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. 7 More Granite Staters Die of COVID-19 As US Suffers Worst Day for Fatalities. The seven additional deaths announced Wednesday by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services bring the state's total deaths to 885. State health officials also announced 275 people were hospitalized with infections 1,082 newly detected coronavirus infections had been identified. There are currently 6,607 people with active COVID cases in New Hampshire. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Nationally, the five highest daily tallies for new infections and new deaths have all occurred in 2021. On Tuesday, the US suffered 4,327 COVID-19 deaths—its highest number in one day during the pandemic. (Source: CNN)

2. Federal Speed-Up of Vaccinations Could Scramble New Hampshire’s Plans. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services advised states to accelerate the COVID-19 vaccination process by releasing the doses they had originally held back for second shots. Half of the vaccines had originally been held back to ensure everyone who had received their first shot would be guaranteed their second shot. However, during an interview with Good Morning America on Tuesday, Alex Azar, Health and Human Services secretary, said vaccine production is now stable enough to reliably generate second doses. If New Hampshire accepts the recommendation, tens of thousands more vaccines could be made available to Granite Staters. Yet some fear this move will put the vaccination of healthcare providers and first responders in danger. Brendan Williams, the president of the N.H. Health Care Association said if the state decides to abide by the federal government’s recommendations, it’s possible shots won’t be available for frontline workers who need their second doses“It will have taken almost a month to administer first-shot vaccinations for our state’s nursing homes, and what if the shots aren’t there for the second round?” he said. Gov. Sununu has expressed similar concerns and has said he will meet with federal officials and governors from other states to clarify details and plan the next steps. The sudden shift in policy recommendation is jarring for health care advocates, who have worked with the state for months to develop and execute the vaccination plan. “To jerk states around in the waning days of an outgoing administration doesn’t feel like good public policy to me,” Williams said. “This is a fittingly chaotic finale to the chaotic pandemic response.” (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. State Set to Unveil Changes to Vaccination Plan Later Today. The person leading New Hampshire’s vaccination distribution planning said the first round of doses for Group 1A should be complete soon. That includes health care workers, first responders and residents and staff of long term care facilities. Perry Plummer said the state is reviewing new federal recommendations but will adhere to the original plan of holding second doses in storage for that priority group. Any updates to NH’s plan are expected to be announced during a briefing on Thursday along with information on how to sign up to receive vaccinations. (Source: WMUR)

4. Many Unknowns As NH Looks to Expand Who Get Vaccines. The availability, scheduling, staffing and guidelines to dramatically increase vaccinations for COVID-19 in New Hampshire remain unknowns, according to health care professionals who briefed U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, Wednesday on the challenges they face. Even during the initial, Phase 1-A that restricted vaccines only to those 100,000, long-term care residents and staff, health care workers and first responders has had its bumps in the road, they said. Dr. William Gessner with Coos County Family Health Services said the Berlin-based provider has struggled to get enough vaccines and fewer than a third (41 of 140) of the staff has gotten any. Don Caruso, chief executive officer of Cheshire Medical Center and president of the New Hampshire Hospital Association, urged the Sununu administration to “keep it simple” when it comes to spelling out how health care providers should identify new patients to get the vaccine. “The more complex it is, the slower it will be to give these vaccines,” Caruso said. (Source: Union Leader) As new groups of people become eligible for their first shot, primary care doctors and hospitals are expected to help with vaccine distribution starting at the end of January. On a call with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen Wednesday morning, several providers said that next phase is going to take a lot of staff, which nearly every health provider and hospital in the state is already short of. Holly Mintz, a pediatrician with Elliot Health Systems, asked for patience from the public, as hospital resources will likely have to be diverted to the vaccination effort. (Source: NHPR)

5. New Hampshire School Officials Say It May Be Some Time Before In-Person Learning Returns. the COVID-19 vaccination process continues, New Hampshire school officials say the success of the rollout will help determine when full, in-person learning can resume. While school officials agreed that in-person learning is the best option for students, the reality posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is making that difficult. Bedford School Superintendent Mike Fournier said all 4,200 of the district's students are operating under some form of hybrid learning, and he doesn't see that changing any time soon. "Right now, I am not optimistic that remote learning will go away any time soon," he said. "I think we will have some semblance of remote learning all the way through June despite the vaccine. I think that will continue." Fournier said he's disappointed that teachers are not scheduled for vaccinations until March, and the two-dose time lag and other factors will continue to stretch out the use of remote learning. Manchester has been remote since Thanksgiving, but it will be going to a hybrid model near the end of the month in which each of the city's 22 schools will examine their own data to determine how to proceed. "If a local school has the staff and we're not seeing in the data that we have a high number of students that are out for sickness, that school could come in for hybrid," said Superintendent John Goldhardt. Goldhart said the number of people who get vaccinated in the community will be a big factor in determining how to proceed with in-person learning in the future. (Source: WMUR)

6. Rye Nursing Home Says Board Members Who Got COVID Shots Did Not Take Vaccine From Staff, Residents. Board members of a Rye nursing home who received the COVID-19 vaccine last month did not take doses away from workers or residents, the nursing home’s administrator said Wednesday. “It was bad judgment,” said Tom Argue, Webster at Rye administrator, to allow people not part of the “1-A” top-priority group to get the vaccine. It is unknown how many of the 11 board members were vaccinated. Argue said it was the wrong call to let board members get vaccines at the Dec. 30 clinic, but he said the situation was confusing. CVS told Argue they would vaccinate paid and unpaid employees, as well as residents. “It was my personal interpretation this meant consultants and volunteers,” Argue said in an email. Argue said his board is volunteer, and many members are older, but he said he wishes now he had checked with state health officials to make sure it was appropriate for CVS to vaccinate board members. The CVS crew that came to Webster at Rye was too small, Argue said, and the line moved slowly. Argue said a few employees chose to leave rather than wait in a long line and did not receive vaccines on Dec. 30. Only about 60% of staff wanted vaccines in December, Argue said. Some did not feel comfortable getting the vaccine so soon after its approval for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. By this month, about 90% wanted doses after seeing their coworkers have negligible side effects, he said. The next vaccine clinic is Jan. 20. (Source: Union Leader)

7. Kuster Expresses “Total Rage” Over GOP Congressmen Who Refused to Wear Masks During Capitol Building Lockdown. A week after a violent occupation of the U.S. Capitol building forced members of Congress to shelter in hiding, U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster says she feels “total rage” at Republican representatives who refused to wear masks while locked down. Since Monday, three representatives who had been sitting in the lockdown room say they have now tested positive for COVID-19. The revelations added a new layer of anger to some Democrats’ reaction to the day. “Total Rage. Outrage,” Kuster said in an interview with the Monitor, describing the lack of mask usage. “I cannot imagine a more blatant example of the risk that we face bought from and by our Republican colleagues.” On Monday, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a 75-year-old cancer survivor, confirmed that she had tested positive for COVID-19. On Tuesday, Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Brad Schneider said they had also tested positive. All three representatives had been huddled in the same room as Kuster and 200 others during the Jan. 6 insurrection. In statements announcing their positive test results, the representatives also excoriated House Republicans for refusing masks. But one member defended her choice to do so. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that she had no symptoms and had tested negative for the virus on Jan. 6 and argued, falsely, that healthy people cannot spread the virus. (Source: Concord Monitor) Meawhile, New Hampshire State Police and the state’s National Guard units are prepared to deploy should protests in the state turn violent in the coming week. Earlier this week, the FBI warned it had discovered plans for armed protests in all 50 state capitals. However, it is not clear whether that threat extends to New Hampshire. Last week, a day after the violent unrest in Washington, D.C., several armed protesters gathered on the State House plaza to protest the inauguration of Gov. Chris Sununu, who they argued had violated New Hampshire residents’ rights with lock down orders. (Source: Concord Monitor)

8. Dollar General to Pay Workers to Get Vaccinated. Dollar General workers who get the coronavirus vaccine be rewarded with four hours of pay, the company announced Wednesday, making it one of the first major retailers to incentivize inoculations for its workforce. Dollar General, which operates 40 New Hampshire stores, wants to remove barriers – including transit and child care costs – that might prevent its 157,000 employees from receiving the vaccine, the discount retailer said in a news release. On average, Dollar General employees make a base rate of $9.80 an hour, according to PayScale. Chief executive Todd Vasos told the Wall Street Journal that the company has a role to play in controlling the spread of the virus in these regions. “We believe as the vaccine continues to gain momentum that we’ve got to get it to rural America,” Vasos told the Journal. Dollar General employees will not have to provide proof of vaccination, instead checking a box to verify that they received a dose. Although the company is encouraging employees to get the vaccine, it will not be required. (Source: Concord Monitor)

9. New Rules Delay PPP Rollout in NH. Although Monday is the first day to apply for the new Paycheck Protection Program, most businesses in New Hampshire still have to wait or apply out of state. That’s because, for now, the U.S. Small Business Administration is only allowing Community Financial Institutions to process the loans at this point, and there are no such institutions set up to take PPP loan applications in New Hampshire. However, local banks will be able to process PPP applications “shortly” and new interim guidance has been issued, which may enable local banks get ready for the third round, the SBA said. The new law expands eligibility for “first draw” loans, to include organizations like trade associations, chambers of commerce, destination marketing organizations and housing cooperatives. The law also provides greater flexibility to lenders, perhaps attracting potential borrowers who were discouraged last year. (Source: NH Business Review)

10. Ski Areas Face Weather Challenges On Top of COVID. The state’s ski industry is facing its second major holiday period of the winter, again with rain in the forecast adding to the challenges posed by a pandemic. The three-day Martin Luther King Jr. – Civil Rights holiday is traditionally a critical weekend for ski areas and surrounding businesses. Weather forecasts for the Conway area show rain for Friday night and Saturday with a bit of snow and ending as a rain event with temperatures in the 40 and 30s. Sunday forecasts are for clouds and Monday looks better. With a lot of people working and studying from home, flexibility has allowed for more weekday visitors, ski areas have reported. And the cold nights of recent weeks have helped add to trail counts and snowfall depths. According to a University of New Hampshire analysis, the state’s ski industry in 2011 was responsible for about $550 million in consumer activity, from lodging, retail and other purchases. (Source: InDepthNH)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 13, 2021

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Schools Dashboard

• Vaccine Information

• 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

• 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, January 13

Winter outdoor dining pandemic-style outside the Elephantine Bakery in downtown Portsmouth.

On Tuesday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 9 additional deaths and 842 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 Wednesday.

1. NH COVID-19 Deaths Climb to 878 As Hospitalizations Again Tick Upward. With 9 additional deaths recorded on Monday, all in residents age 60 and over, 683 residents of New Hampshire long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic. The total number of hospitalizations increased from 267 to 287. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. Trump Administration Reverses Course and Adopts Part of Biden Vaccine Distribution Plan. The Department of Health and Human Services announced sweeping changes Tuesday in vaccine rollout guidelines in an effort to boost the lagging number of vaccinations in the first month -- effectively adopting the approach proposed by President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration. Members of Operation Warp Speed are now recommending states should expand access to Covid-19 vaccines to everyone 65 and older, as well as any adult with an underlying health condition that might raise the risk for complications of Covid-19. The new guidelines are intended to prompt faster distribution of the vaccines by making more people immediately eligible for vaccination, as well as expanding the potential locations where people can receive it. Of the more than 25 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine that have been delivered nationwide, just under 9 million shots had been put into Americans' arms as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, New Hampshire health officials are trying to figure out their next steps. In a statement to News 9, Gov. Chris Sununu said: "The state is reviewing all information and new guidance coming out of Washington and is awaiting critical information from the Administration regarding supply availability." Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, said the federal government will allocate vaccines based on how quickly states are administering them, as well as the size of the population age 65 and older in each state. About 20% of people living in New Hampshire are 65 or older. (Sources: CNN, NBC News and WMUR) Meanwhile, Massachusetts has finalized plans for its first mass vaccination site at Gillette Stadium, just days after the state was moved into the "severe outbreak" category by a national data tracker. The home stadium of the New England Patriots and Revolution will open Thursday to provide the first doses of the vaccine for staff doing first responder vaccinations and it will be open to first responders starting on Monday. Gillette plans to start with 300 vaccines a day, Baker said, but is expected to eventually build up to 5,000 doses a day. (Source: NECN)

3. After Months Of Lax COVID Protocols, Valley Street Jail Struggles With Outbreak. Across the country, prisons and jails are dealing with outbreaks of COVID-19. And in New Hampshire, the crisis is most acute at the Valley Street jail in Manchester, officially known as the Hillsborough County House of Corrections. Over the past two weeks, 102 inmates there have tested positive for COVID-19. Despite the known risks of COVID-19 in correctional facilities, the jail failed to follow basic health guidance for months. The jail is currently operating below half capacity, yet inmates with COVID-19 have been isolated in cells on the same units with inmates who tested negative. Until attorneys and the press raised concerns about a potential outbreak in late December, only a handful of inmates had been tested. And it wasn’t until late last month that inmates were permitted to wear masks in common areas. And until last week, there was no active COVID-19 screening process for staff, in spite of 27 staff testing positive in December. “COVID in the jail is inevitable,” said Sarah Rothman, managing attorney in the Manchester office of the New Hampshire Public Defender. “A positive rate of over 50 percent is absolutely not inevitable. Inaction is the only thing that makes that inevitable.” At this point, most inmates are in quarantine. That includes Naresh Fuller, who recently tested positive. He said quarantine means three sandwiches a day, shoved through the space in his door; no hot meals; and no laundry to change out of fever-soaked clothes. “We’ve been in lockdown for 22 hours for the last eight days,” he said last week. “It’s like hell. It’s not even quarantine, it’s like punishment.” The jail is awaiting new test results for other inmates and staff this week. The state says it expects the number of positives to go up. (Source: NHPR)

4. Even After Vaccinations, Cases Climb at Sullivan County Nursing Home. COVID-19 cases at senior living facilities in the Upper Valley continue to climb. An outbreak at Sullivan County Health Care in Unity has now grown to include 20 people, according to Ted Purdy, the nursing home’s administrator. Since Jan. 5, 11 residents and nine workers have tested positive for the virus. Additional testing of both residents and workers took place on Tuesday, he said. Residents’ symptoms have ranged from none to coughs, nausea and elevated temperatures, Purdy said. News of the new positive tests comes after nursing home workers and residents received vaccines last week. (Source: The Valley News) https://www.vnews.com/Randolph-high-school-and-technical-center-closed-on-Tuesday-due-to-COVID-case-38280608 This case underlines the fact that people who have been exposed can contract the virus even after being vaccinated because it takes two doses, given several weeks apart, to train the body's immune system. People can be exposed to coronavirus right before being vaccinated, or right after, and there won't be time for the body to develop its defenses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says building immunity typically takes a few weeks."That means it's possible a person could be infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 just before or just after vaccination and still get sick," the CDC says. (Source: CNN Wire)

5. Rye Nursing Home Board Members 'Cut in Line' for COVID-19 Vaccine. Board members at a Rye nursing home "cut in line" for a COVID-19 vaccine, according to New Hampshire health officials. When contacted by Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette, The Webster at Rye admitted to including board members, who do not directly care for residents, on their list of eligible staff members for a vaccine. "The Department condemns the facility’s decision to allow its board members to 'cut in line' to get the vaccine by prioritizing board members alongside their direct caregivers," wrote Jake Leon, spokesman for the state health department, in a statement to NHPR. "Vaccine supplies remain very limited, and any doses provided to individuals not eligible for the first phase are doses that aren’t available to vaccinate people who are most at risk of severe complications if exposed to the virus." Thomas Argue, CEO and administrator at The Webster at Rye, said it was his decision to invite board members and he encouraged them to participate at the end of the clinic "so every employee could receive their vaccine first." The state health department has not yet responded to questions about whether the state would take any actions against the facility. (Source: NHPR)

6. State Senator Pushes Governor for Answers on Veterans Home Deaths. Senator Lou D’Allesandro has sent a letter to Gov. Chris Sununu once again calling for transparency in the state’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak at the New Hampshire Veterans Home that claimed the lives of 37 residents. This letter follows a previous request for information from the governor’s office made on December 21st per Article 1, Part 8 of New Hampshire’s Constitution that has yet to receive a response. “In the past few weeks, I have listened as the families and loved ones of residents at the New Hampshire Veterans Home expressed their concerns that the state has not done enough to protect and care for our veterans. Last month, I asked Governor Sununu to help address their concerns by providing transparency in how the state had been addressing this crisis. That request has gone unanswered.”(Source: InDepthNH)

7. State Tells Businesses To Call Law Enforcement If Customers Won't Wear Mask. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office has released new recommendations for grocery stores and retailers on encouraging mask wearing among customers, after some businesses reported employees were uncomfortable enforcing state guidance. The New Hampshire Department of Justice recommends calling local law enforcement if a customer refuses to wear a mask without a reason listed as an exception in the emergency order. "As soon as possible, preferably before your business or organization has an issue with a customer who simply refuses to wear a mask, contact your local law enforcement department to have a discussion about establishing a plan for how to deal with such a customer," the guidance states. Businesses are also advised to hang signs on their doors stating that masks are required; provide masks and hand sanitizer at each door; and establish a plan should someone refuse to comply with mask guidance. John Dumais of the New Hampshire Grocer's Association said, in the past, stores were responsible for enforcing mask guidelines, and local law enforcement was reluctant to step in. He said the new recommendation takes some weight off employees who have sometimes had to deal with aggressive confrontations from customers. (Source: NHPR)

8. State Releases New Quarantine Guidance. New Hampshire residents who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or were previously infected no longer need to quarantine after being exposed to an infected person or after traveling, according to new guidance from the state Division of Public Health Services. Under previous guidance, anyone who was exposed to the virus was advised to quarantine for 14 days, while those returning to New Hampshire after traveling outside of England were told to quarantine for 10 days. An update issued Monday says those quarantine periods are unnecessary if someone is at least 14 days past their second dose of the vaccine or if they are within 90 days of being infected. The guidance urges people with prior infections to also get vaccinated, however. Officials also continue to discourage any nonessential travel. Source: Associated Press)

9. As Pandemic Worsens, Most US States—Including NH—Resist Adding New Restrictions. As the U.S. goes through the most lethal phase of the coronavirus outbreak yet, governors and local officials in hard-hit parts of the country are showing little willingness to impose any new restrictions on businesses to stop the spread. And unlike in 2020, when the debate over lockdowns often split along party lines, both Democratic and Republican leaders are signaling their opposition to forced closings and other measures. Some have expressed fear of compounding the heavy economic damage inflicted by the outbreak. Some see little patience among their constituents for more restrictions 10 months into the crisis. And some seem to be focused more on the rollout of the vaccines that could eventually vanquish the threat. (Source: Associated Press) In New Hampshire, Governor Chris Sununu has resisted adding new restrictions other than a statewide mask mandate enacted as case numbers started to skyrocket in mid-November. But other New England governors have added a range of new measures in December and January, including curfews, capacity restrictions to increase distancing, and rollbacks of previous relaxations. (Source: The National Law Review)

10. While Expressing Concerns That New Performing Arts Relief Funds Might Not Be Enough, Some Volunteer Venues As Vaccination Sites. As part of the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package, Congress earmarked $15 billion for entertainment venues, but some New Hampshire organizations said it might not be enough. U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster and U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan on Tuesday listened to the mounting concerns of some of New Hampshire's most prominent art venues. "We're also the home for up to 12 different community arts organizations in the Upper Valley," said Joe Clifford, of the Lebanon Opera House. "They call our stage home every year, and I don't know if they'll make it through." Once venues can begin offering in-person shows, a growing concern is whether patrons will feel comfortable enough to attend. In order to usher patrons back to performing arts more quickly, the industry hopes to help expedite vaccinations by proposing that venues act as vaccination sites. "We can gather people. We do logistics. We have ticketing systems that can be put to use," said Nicolette Clark, of the Capitol Center for the Arts. "We schedule shows on one-hour blocks, sell the tickets for free and get people set up. I am really serious about this." (Source: WMUR)

11. NH Businesses Can Now Apply for New PPP Loans. New Hampshire businesses can start applying this week for the newest round of relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program. The funds are part of the relief package signed into law on Dec. 27. There are some changes, with new rules that seem to favor smaller businesses, and eligibility has expanded. Businesses that received PPP funds last year can reapply. Cava Tapas and Wine Bar is among many Portsmouth restaurants that were helped by PPP loans in 2020. Co-owner John Akar said he's now applying for round two. "That will help generate some extra revenue for the business coming out of this very, very slow winter," he said. Businesses with 300 employees or fewer can apply for the loans and must be able to show at least a 25% reduction in revenues from comparable periods. Eligibility has expanded to include chambers of commerce. Two in New Hampshire had to shut down last year. "We are hoping that this not only helps the chambers, but certainly our job is to support our businesses, and if we can continue to do that with sustainability, we are so excited," said Valerie Rochon, of the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth. (Source: WMUR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 12, 2021

• 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, January 12

A mannequin dressed for the times in the window of a boutique in downtown Portsmouth.

State health officials Monday announced 711 new positive tests for COVID-19 in New Hampshire. No new deaths were reported. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related New Hampshire news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. State Reports No New Deaths As Hospitalizations Rise Slightly. There was pause in bad numbers Monday, although Monday reports can be misleading because of delays in gathering weekend data. The number of new cases fell to 711, the third decline in a row, and no new deaths were reported. The total number of active cases in the state also dipped to 6,118. The test positivity rate, however, remains high, at an average of 6% over the past two weeks. Hospitalizations rose from 262 on Sunday to 267 on Monday. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. Sununu Plans to Extend Mask Mandate. N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu is indicating that the state's mask mandate -- set to expire Friday -- will be extended. In a statement, Sununu said that loosening or eliminating the tools the state has utilized to slow the spread of COVID-19 would be the wrong way to fight the pandemic. He said case rates are high in New Hampshire, and the coronavirus is putting pressure on the state's health care system. Even though vaccinations are underway, health officials said it will be months before enough people are vaccinated to allow restrictions to be eased. Experts have estimated that in New Hampshire, 95% compliance with the mask mandate would reduce the transmission of COVID-19 by 19-30%. (Source: WMUR) The state’s mask mandate will likely be tested almost immediately as law enforcement officials in all 50 state capitals are bracing for potentially violent demonstrations by supporters of President Trump starting this weekend and continuing through Inauguration Day. (Source: WCVB) In response, the New Hampshire Department of Safety issued a statement saying that it is prepared to ensure that the protestors are able to freely express their right to demonstrate provided they comply with all state laws. The statement also noted that the NH State Police will ensure that all events are staffed appropriately so that there is no damage to state property or injuries or loss of life. The National Guard stand ready to deploy as needed. (Source: InDepth)

3. COVID-19 Claims Three Lives at Meredith Assisted Living Center. A total of 36 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Meredith Bay Colony Club, five have been hospitalized and three have died, administrator Jim Murray said Monday. The virus is thought to have come into the assisted living community through an asymptomatic staff member. Positive tests have been registered for 24 residents and 12 staff members. Vaccinations are planned on Jan. 18. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun)

4. Outbreak Worsens at Keene Senior Living Center. The recently announced COVID-19 outbreak at Keene Center has now infected 36 people, a Genesis Healthcare official said Monday afternoon. Twenty-eight residents and eight employees have tested positive for the viral disease, according to Dr. Richard Feifer, chief medical officer for Genesis Healthcare, which owns Keene Center and several other area nursing homes.These latest numbers represent 10 more residents and six more staff than Genesis reported Friday evening. (Source: Keen Sentinel)

5. More Details About Vaccine Distribution Emerge. New data released by the N.H Department of Health and Human Services shows the state has distributed more than 30,000 vaccines to hospitals across New Hampshire. Granite State hospitals have been faster than nursing homes and other state sites at administering the vaccine — nearly 70% of vaccines given to hospitals have been used. According to the State, 98% of the high-risk frontline workers have been vaccinated, only leaving health workers who have indirect contact with patients. Still, some hospitals are making their way through their allotted vaccines faster than others. Portsmouth Regional Hospital has administered all but 33 of their 1,300 vaccines. Concord Hospital and Catholic Medical Center are also through more than 90% of their vaccines. Several hospitals have been able to vaccinate more staff members than anticipated, thanks to overfilled vials of the Pfizer vaccine. Compared to its population, New Hampshire has administered the ninth-highest number of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S — a statistic that is promising, but prone to fluctuations. Meanwhile, the next group of people will likely be vaccinated between January and March. This group includes those 75 or older, those with severe medical vulnerabilities, staff in correctional facilities, and residents and staff at facilities that serve those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It’s still not clear how Granite Staters in that group will receive their vaccines— there is not currently a waiting list or scheduling process for those in phase 1b. The N.H Department of Health and Human Services has promised to post updates on its website. (Source: Concord Monitor)

6. Some N.H. Front Line Health Workers Unable To Register For 2nd COVID Vaccine Shot. Some frontline health care workers who have gotten their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine say they're not able to register for their second shot, as the state works to move to a new registration system in preparation for future phases. Those in the state's current vaccination phase are using the CDC's Vaccine Administration Management System, or VAMS, to register for vaccine appointments. Sandra Dodge is a mental health counselor at a private practice in Barrington. She says signing up for her first vaccine couldn't have been easier. But now, every appointment through VAMS appears to be filled. "For days I was going to all the ones around, local, and further out and further out, as far away as Lebanon, and there were just not dates available. And I've tried three or four times a day, every day," Dodge told NHPR. Officials at a statewide call with health providers last week said appointments past Jan. 31 aren't currently being made available through VAMS. “You're going to have to wait to get more information on scheduling doses past this January. There are plenty of appointments available for the month of January, so you should not be experiencing issues signing up for those spots," said Beth Daly, chief of the state's Bureau of Infectious Disease Control. Andrew Gersten, a psychologist with Amoskeag Health Center in Manchester, got his first shot on Jan. 6 but hasn't been able to get a second appointment. He says the wait for further information has been frustrating, and that DHHS has told him and his colleagues to keep trying to register. (Source: NHPR)

7. New Hampshire House to Hold Hybrid Public Hearings on Bills. The New Hampshire House plans to hold “hybrid” public hearings on bills while the Statehouse remains closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Speaker Sherm Packard said Monday. Packard, R-Londonderry, told business leaders that lawmakers will attend the hearings in-person while all public testimony will be done by phone or video. Lawmakers who do not wish to attend in person also can join remotely, he said during an online discussion with other legislative leaders organized by the Business and Industry Association. “We just had the machines delivered today that are going into the committee rooms that will clean the air five times per hour,” he said. “We hope to at some point to get back to doing things in person again.” (Source: Associated Press)

8. State Senate Democrats Unveil 2021-2022 Agenda Focusing on COVID-19 Relief, Health Care, Jobs. State Senate Democrats, despite being in the minority after Republican gains in November, intend to pursue an aggressive agenda with COVID-19 as the top priority in the 2021-2022 legislative session, their caucus leader said Monday. It’s really a three-legged stool,” Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy of Manchester said in an interview. “Primarily, COVID-19 relief and recovery planning, and providing opportunities in the short term for businesses and individuals to get back on their feet. And in a more forward-thinking way, we will be trying to build a stronger economy.” Soucy explained the priorities of the agenda her caucus is calling “Granite Commitment.” Soucy said that while Senate Democrats and Republicans have a generally positive working relationship, she expects “significant differences” on cost items related to COVID-19 and priorities within the budget. “The pandemic really pulled back the curtain on some of the troubling concerns we have about long-term care facilities,” she said. “Those facilities did well, but they struggled with workforce issues, and that’s one area in particular that we have to be focused on.” (Source: WMUR)

9. Dentists Warn About Continuing to Delay Dental Visits During Pandemic. Dentists are warning that putting off oral health care during the pandemic could result in long-term problems. "There's no doubt you see more evidence of grinding and evidence of tooth pain, bite alteration, fractured teeth," said Dr. Gary Lindner, of Lindner Dental Associates. "The moment you start feeling oral pain, you've got a problem," said Michael Auerbach, of the New Hampshire Dental Society. According to dental society, many oral emergencies became even worse in the early part of the pandemic because of the fear of getting COVID-19. Many patients also found it impossible to get an appointment. But after dentists adopted strict hygiene policies, dental visits are back to near 75% of pre-pandemic levels, officials said. (Source: WMUR)

10. Defense Lawyers Warn About Growing Backlog of Trials. Defense lawyers in New Hampshire are warning about an ongoing backlog of court cases because of the coronavirus pandemic. Officials said the court system is still getting the same number of cases, but the pandemic has put the brakes on handing out justice. Robin Melone, of the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers said that before the pandemic, her group was handling 10-20 jury trials per month. Since March, the association has only had three. Melone said attorneys and jails have concerns about the health risks of in-person meetings, but and noncontact communication makes it difficult to gain her clients' trust and discuss their case. "I have folks that I have to review video surveillance footage or interrogation video, lengthy documents," she said. "That's incredibly difficult to do through glass." Judge David King, who oversees the state's 34 circuit courts, said the most serious and pressing matters are still dealt with quickly, but many cases are going to have to wait. "We're months, if not years, away from digging out from the full backlog, and by that. I mean all of the criminal cases that need trials and all the civil cases that need trials," he said. (Source: WMUR)

11. Tracking COVID Stimulus Checks: What You Should Know. If your money doesn’t show up via direct deposit, IRS you to urge to watch your mail closely this month for either a paper check or a prepaid debit card. The economic impact payment cards are blue with stars and the Visa logo on the front. They will arrive in a plain white envelope with a U.S. Department of the Treasury seal, so be careful not to throw it away! And according to the IRS, the form of payment for the second stimulus payment may be different than the first. So if you received a paper check the last time, you might receive a prepaid debit card this time, and vice versa. If you don’t receive your economic impact payment, you can claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return. (Source: NECN)

12. Raymond Schools, Community Work to Provide Mental Health Support to Students. The Raymond School District is working with community mental health centers to make sure its students feel supported during the pandemic. After being in a hybrid model for most of the school year, Raymond schools are almost fully remote because of the pandemic. "A consistent theme across all of our students is that they are really feeling that isolation piece, and they are really missing their friends and direct, face-to-face interactions with their teachers," said Jessica Caron, director of student behavioral health. That isolation is being discussed between school counselors and students. "We are screening a lot more students for additional services than we have before," Caron said. "And we are not unique. This is a national issue for all school districts." (Source; WMUR) Meanwhile, college students are also dealing with mental health issues. With limited opportunities for social interaction, the demands of virtual classes and the ongoing instability posed by the pandemic, fall term saw students at Dartmouth College grappling with isolation and anxiety alongside their coursework. Now, as students gear up for a New Hampshire winter and another pandemic-era term, Dartmouth has taken recent steps to increase mental health support — yet concerns linger that resources may still be lacking. In an effort to expand its mental health resources, the College has worked to hire a cohort of new counselors and reassess how it delivers services amid the pandemic. Additionally, the College’s fall restrictions on gatherings, which garnered criticism from parents and students alike, have been loosened as it seeks to increase opportunities for socialization in the winter. (Source: The Dartmouth)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 11, 2021

• 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

Monday, January 11

A Portsmouth homeowner shows support for frontline medical workers by flying a Red Cross flag.

On Sunday, N.H. DHHS announced 7 additional deaths and 797 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 Monday.

1. Hospitalizations Decline for 8th Consecutive Day. 262 Granite Staters were in hospitals battling COVID-19 on Sunday, the lowest daily total so far in 2021. Since Jan. 2, the number of people hospitalized for the virus has declined every day of the new year. However, new cases continue to be detected at a rate that would have seemed stunning before December’s surge with 797 new positive tests announced yesterday. DHHS has also announced seven additional deaths related to COVID-19. All were residents age 60 or over. New Hampshire communities with the most active cases are Manchester (762), Nashua (561), Dover (214), Concord (190), and Merrimack (169). Portsmouth had 85. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. NH COVID-19 Hospitalizations Fall, But Hospitals Still Experiencing Post-Holiday Surge. This weekend, New Hampshire saw COVID-19 hospitalizations drop to the lowest point since at least Dec. 27. But medical professionals cautioned against reading into that too much as hospitals handle the post-holiday surge. Staff at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester and St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua have reported their intensive care units are at or near capacity. Staffing is still an issue, and at times, some hospitals have moved patients to other facilities to make room and make sure they get the proper care. “While the overall number has gone down, we are seeing increases in hospitalizations in other parts of the state,” New Hampshire Hospital Association President Steve Ahnen said. “So, while the overall number may come down, it may mask what individual hospitals are facing.” St. Joseph Hospital staff said in some cases, they have effectively treated ICU patients in other areas of the hospital. Both facilities said staffing is still an issue. “We’ve had upwards of 100 staff quarantine, 50 of which were nurses,” Catholic Medical Center Executive VP and COO Alex Walker said. (Source: WMUR)

3. COVID Tracker: For Most of Us, Vaccines Aren’t Coming for Months. In its weekly analysis of New Hampshire COVID-19 metrics, the Concord Monitor says there is no good way to figure out when you will be eligible for a vaccine “aside from waiting for the Monitor and others to tell you, or constantly refreshing the state’s COVID website.” It is very unlikely that vaccination levels will get us anywhere near herd immunity levels in New Hampshire before mid-summer, at the earliest. The good news, and it is very good news indeed, is that both vaccines approved in the the U.S. as well as a third one OK’d in Europe appear to be at least 90% effective after two doses, and immunity remains strong for at least eight months with all indications that it will last for years. Meanwhile, hospitals are doing a much better job than other sites in getting vaccines into people’s arms, having given out about 70% of their allocated 30,545 doses as of Saturday. The uncertain news is that we don’t have good data about whether vaccination prevents you from spreading the virus to others. And the bad news, of course, is that COVID-19 mutations are already appearing which make it more contagious, if not more dangerous. In the past week, cases have stabilized at around 700-800 per day— a number that is still way too high. While hospitalizations have dipped slightly in recent days, those numbers are also too high. The state saw its highest one-day total of deaths last week and the tally is only accelerating. It took us 27 days to go from 500 deaths to 600 deaths but only 14 days to top 700 deaths, then just 11 days to get above 800 deaths. To put this in context, more state residents have died from COVID-19 in the past year than died from influenza in the past two decades. (Source: Concord Monitor)

4. 2020 Saw Fewest Bankruptcy Filings in N.H. in More Than 30 Years. Despite the pandemic-induced recession, the number of bankruptcies filed in New Hampshire in 2020 was the lowest in 32 years. Some 67 individuals and businesses filed for bankruptcy protection in December, the lowest number for any December since 1987, save for the three months following a 2005 change in the bankruptcy law that made it much harder to file. It was only seven more than the 60 filed in November, which set the modern record for any month. The low number of filings persists despite high unemployment and the phase-out of both federal and state assistance to individuals and business – aid that will return this month – and the COVID-19 resurgence. For months now, bankruptcy attorneys have predicted an increase in filings, but that hasn’t happened. Businesses and households, bolstered by federal aid and sheltered from most evictions and foreclosures, have managed to hang on, perhaps teased by the hope of future assistance or an easing of the pandemic. (Source: NH Business Review)

5. Poverty Grows Despite Economic Recovery. Even as average personal incomes rose during the pandemic largely because of government aid, millions of people who didn’t receive such help have fallen into poverty, struggling to pay for food and other basic expenses. That group, trying to get by with the help of local charities, may have been excluded from the federal payments because of immigration status, lack of time in the labor force needed to claim unemployment benefits, or just red tape in states that have been slow to pay jobless claims. In Nevada according the a Census Bureau survey, 44.7% of residents are struggling to pay basic expenses. Experts say the hardest-hit areas have large numbers of immigrant workers who aren’t entitled to pandemic relief, or, like Nevada, have an unemployment system that has broken down under the strain of unemployment applications in the pandemic. Nevada also lacks a state income tax, which can help verify unemployment claims. The new COVID-19 relief bill Congress passed in December includes help for more families with mixed immigration status, who were excluded from previous $1,200 stimulus payments. And lawmakers in some states such as New York are proposing measures that would create relief funds for workers shut out of jobless payments. Between June and November, poverty rose more than 2 points nationwide to 11.7%, the fastest jump in history, according to a study by the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame. The recent increase of 7.8 million more people in poverty hit minorities and those without a college education the hardest, along with residents of states with less effective unemployment systems, said Bruce Meyer, a co-author of the study and University of Chicago professor of public policy. While the unemployment rate has dropped since its springtime high—the rate declined from 14.7% in April to 6.7% in November—low-wage restaurant and hospitality jobs have been slow to come back, and many of those employers are now shutting down again as the virus surges. (Source: Stateline.org via the Manchester Union Leader)

6. Colleges, Universities in NH Prepare to Welcome Students Back for Spring Semester. As COVID-19 cases surge in New Hampshire, colleges and universities are now getting ready to welcome students back to campus. In three weeks, more than 2,300 students will return to Plymouth State University’s residence halls for their spring semester. Their start date was delayed by a week to Feb. 1. “I feel really good about our ability to bring students back and keep them safe,” said Marlin Collingwood, vice president of communications, enrollment and student life at Plymouth State University. In the fall, the school officials said they conducted about 36,000 tests and found 70 cases. When students come back, they will need to produce a negative test within seven days of arrival. Students will be tested again when classes resume, followed by tests every week. School leaders will also watch the COVID-19 positivity rates to determine if classes must go remote. “Our goal is to make it through this semester until the vaccine’s readily available. But we’re going to do our best to try to have a somewhat normal semester for our students who want that and we think deserve that,” Collingwood said. (Source: WMUR)

7. NH Senate to Continue Holding Remote Meetings as GOP House Majority Pushes Forward with Plans for In-Person Meetings. The New Hampshire Senate is moving ahead with remote public hearings and sessions, while the House is still figuring out how to conduct its business safely during the coronavirus pandemic. The 24-member Senate convened for the first time last week online, and has scheduled public hearings for 15 bills. Those hearings also with be conducted early in the week online, with options for members of the public to speak. The 400-member House is still getting organized and has scheduled several online committee orientation meetings. The House met last week for a drive-in style session in a University of New Hampshire parking lot. “We can’t rush to make expensive, permanent solutions to what we hope is a temporary problem,” Speaker Sherm Packard, R-Londonderry, said in a message to members Friday. (Source: Concord Monitor) Meanwhile, a rule change pushed through during Wednesday’s drive-in House session at UNH by House Majority Leader Jason Osborne over the objections of House Democrats would allow the House to use parts of the “State House complex” beyond Representatives Hall to hold their sessions. Plans are in the works to “wire” both sound and video into nine expanded committee rooms inside the Legislative Office Building, which will serve as “satellite” sites for the House chamber. General Court Chief Operating Officer Terry Pfaff said plans were already in the works to deliver portable HEPA filters to “several meeting spaces,” since the Legislative Office Building doesn’t have a HVAC system that constantly recirculates air. But problems remain, including what to do about GOP legislators who refuse to wear masks and lack of in-person access for both the public and the media (reporters would be required to cover sessions and committee hearings virtually). While legislators would be allowed to participate remotely in committee hearings at some level, there are currently no plans to accommodate legislators who would like to attend and vote on session days virtually.(Source: Union Leader) Democrats continue to insist that holding in-person sessions indoors in the middle of a pandemic is irresponsible, unsafe and unnecessary when online technologies are readily available that allow legislators to participate in sessions virtually without endangering their own health and risking spreading the virus to their communities.

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 10, 2021

• 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

Sunday, January 10

(Source: WMUR-TV)

On Saturday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 16 additional deaths and 817 new positive tests for COVID-19. Here’s what else you need to know about the state and local response to the pandemic to start your Sunday.

1. New Year Surge Pushes NH Coronavirus Death Toll to 862. Another 16 deaths from COVID-19 were announced Saturday night, bringing the state’s total fatalities caused by the virus up to 862. More than 100 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in New Hampshire in the first nine days of 2021. With the 817 new positive tests announced yesterday, there are now 6,635 current cases statewide. As the post-holiday winter surge continues, some sobering analysis of the numbers from WMUR. While it took 236 days for New Hampshire to reach 10,000 cumulative cases, it took only 12 days for the the state to go from 40,000 to 50,000. (Source: N.H. DHHS and WMUR) Similarly, at the national level, after the first coronavirus case was reported in the United States in early 2020, it took about 90 days to reach 2 million cases. But just nine days into 2021, more than 2 million people have been infected with COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Source: CNN) However, there is some good news. For the second day in a row, the number of residents hospitalized—268 as of Saturday—was less than 300. Also encouraging is that since the beginning of the year, the state’s 7-day average positivity rate for PCR and antigen tests has declined from 10.1% to 7.1%. Hotspots are Manchester (11.8%), Nashua (10.3%), the rest of Hillsborough County (9.4%), Strafford County (9.2%), Sullivan County (8.8%) and Rockingham County (8.4%). (Source: N.H. DHHS COVID-19 Trends Dashboard)

2. When Can You Get Your COVID-19 Vaccine? In New Hampshire, the first round of two-dose vaccines was reserved for about 110,000 frontline health care workers, first responders, and staff and residents of nursing homes. Those groups are expected to have received both doses by the end of this month, if the state receives the amount of vaccine it’s supposed to, officials say. After that, the state is using a simple metric to determine who gets vaccinated when: Those most likely to die if they get COVID will be at the front of the line. So how long you’ll have to wait for the vaccine depends on your age and what medical conditions you have. If you’re 75 or over or have two or more serious medical conditions — such as cancer, coronary artery disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes or obesity — you’ll be in the next group to be vaccinated, as soon as this month. Teachers and residents age 65 to 74 will begin receiving their shots in March. It likely will be springtime before most others get shots. And if you’re young and healthy, count your blessings and be prepared to wait until May or later. Providers will determine which patients should be vaccinated first. Dr. Michael Calderwood, associate chief quality officer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, said health care systems are reviewing patient records and coming up with their own lists. “There will be direct notification of patients,” he said. “You don’t need to call them. They’ll call you.” Calderwood said the state health department will offer clinics “to make sure everyone has access to this vaccine even if you don’t regularly get health care.” Many health care systems, including Dartmouth-Hitchcock, plan to set up their own clinics as well, he said. About 150 New Hampshire National Guardsmen are working at 13 vaccination sites around the state. So far, they have been inoculating first responders, but at-risk members of the general public soon will be lining up to get their shots. Maj. Gen. David Mikolaities, adjutant general for the Guard, said guardsmen with medical training are dispensing the vaccines, while others handle traffic control and technical issues. The sites have each been averaging 180 to 200 vaccines a day, Mikolaities said. This week, the six busiest locations (Concord, Manchester, Exeter, Nashua, Londonderry and Rochester) will add lanes to increase the number of people they can serve. (Source: Union Leader) You can view the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services’ estimated timeline for vaccinating key groups here.

3. State Allows Doctors Flexibility to Bump Vulnerable Patients Up in Vaccine Line. The state’s vaccine distribution plan allots residents to one of six phases: teachers are in phase 2a, adults 75 and older are in phase 1b, those moderately medically vulnerable to the virus are in phase 3a, and so on. While age and profession can be sorted into categories, medical vulnerabilities are not so easily classified. In an attempt to operationalize “medical vulnerability,” the state lists 12 medical conditions on its website, including obesity, pregnancy and cancer. If you have one of the listed conditions, you’re in phase 3a. Two conditions? Phase 1b. To account for the seemingly infinite combination of conditions that could make someone vulnerable to COVID-19, the state is giving doctors latitude to move people between phases. What this exception process might look like in practice is still fuzzy. Asked about how the state would ensure doctors are consistent in their exceptions, Gov. Sununu said the state hasn’t come up with a way to standardize the program, nor do they necessarily plan to. He said decision-making will be left to the “best and the brightest,” which he expects to lead to some inconsistency. Stephanie Patrick, executive director of the Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire, said flexibility is essential to ensure vaccines are going to the most vulnerable Granite Staters, even if they don’t fit neatly into one of the state’s phases. (Source: Concord Monitor)

4. NH First Responders Receiving First Shot of Vaccine. As some Granite State health care workers are receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, some first responders are getting their first. At state-run vaccination sites, paramedics with American Medical Response have been rolling up their sleeves for the past two weeks. About 90% of AMR's staff will have their first shot by the end of next week. “I'm really encouraged that many of our staff have received the vaccine. Very low number of people who are not interested in getting it,” said Chris Stawasz, the regional director of AMR. It's the same story at the Manchester Fire Department, which isn't requiring the vaccine but says most of its firefighters have received their first dose. “We've had over 10% of our workforce actually come down with COVID. We've had two members hospitalized. We've had members of their families hospitalized, so it's important that we take every step,” said Manchester Fire Department District Chief Jon Starr. (Source: WMUR)

5. Dartmouth Shifts Plans Remote Classes for Students Returning to Campus as Grafton County Cases Climb. Half of the student body at Dartmouth College will be back on campus by Jan. 18, but most undergraduate classes will continue to be taught remotely. In an online community conversation last week, Provost Joseph Helble said confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Grafton County are 10 times higher than they were in October. “If the disease begins to accelerate and we find that we are getting increasing caseloads that reach the point where they are difficult to manage, we are going to have to very carefully assess our plans,” Helble said. (Source: Seacoast Online) Some Dartmouth students have voiced concerns over the availability of support from the College should they become infected. According to several students who contracted COVID-19 during the fall term, the College’s academic and mental health support systems were inadequate during their illness and recovery. Students infected with COVID-19 may struggle with symptoms for weeks, potentially causing them to miss class and fall behind in their work. However, should students need extensions to complete assignments or exams beyond the official end of the term, they have limited options, which undergraduate deans must approve. Some have complained that the student-driven process of obtaining accommodations is an extra burden on top of recovering from a serious illness, and one that can be draining on students’ time and mental health. (Source: The Dartmouth)

6. NH Government Opens 2021 Peacefully But With Restrictions. Thanks to the pandemic and our turbulent times, the first actions of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and of Gov. Chris Sununu last week were restrictive, scripted and potentially uncontrollable in unprecedented ways. Yet each ended peacefully and non-violently, in utter contrast to last week’s riotous upheaval in Washington, which claimed five lives, including a Capitol police officer. Many in New Hampshire were left wondering whether intolerant discourse in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic will make 2021 a year of less — rather than more — transparency and openness, even as all New Hampshire adults get access to the vaccine in the coming months. The debate over public access vs. danger has greater significance and implications here. New Hampshire is one of a handful of remaining states that do not require citizens to walk through metal detectors to enter the State House. It’s believed to be the only state capitol building that permits anyone to walk in and visit any office — including the governor’s suite — without an appointment. “The world has really changed, and I don’t see how it fails to affect us,” said Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. “Whether it’s threats against the governor or legislators flaunting a state mask mandate, this change has been coming for a while. It did not begin with COVID-19 or President Trump. Both simply accelerated it,” Levesque said. (Source: Union Leader) Meanwhile, a state representative from Hooksett has withdrawn a bill that would have reversed the current New Hampshire ban on “armed civilian groups.” Although Michael Yakubovich, R-Hooksett, says he believes the law in unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment, he withdrew the bill in light of last week’s insurrection at the Capitol Building in Washington. “With everything happening around the country it turned into this huge new deal. Some Second Amendment groups said they did not like it at this time. The title of it sounded very scary to a lot of people,” Yakubovich said. But despite the scary title and scarier implications, he hasn’t ruled out bringing it back in the future. (Source: Union Leader)

7. Volunteers Step Up to Help COVID Vaccine Efforts On Seacoast. Representatives of regional public health networks said more than 300 people signed on to help with distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Seacoast and Strafford County areas via the NH Responds online form. While currently uncertain how many vaccine distribution sites will be needed, Scott Schuler, incident commander for Strafford County and Seacoast Public Health Networks, said each site will need about 10 to 15 volunteers. “And we’re so overwhelmed by the community who are looking to help,” Schuler said, adding that, while the form is still active online, recruitment is currently closed for those looking to help with the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. While it was possible to vaccinate the first group of people in Phase 1A in a limited number of locations, such as nursing homes for long-term care residents and hospitals for health care workers, future phases have far more people spread across every community in the state. (Source: Seacoast Online)

8. Spike in COVID-19 Cases, Lack of Outdoor Dining Creates a Difficult Winter for Restaurants. With cases of COVID-19 on the rise and winter weather causing a lack of outdoor seating, many New Hampshire restaurants are wondering how they’ll survive the next couple of months. Currently, restaurants are allowed to have customers, but despite following COVID-19 guidelines, business owners have said that not as many people are showing up in the winter months as they had hoped for. Companies like Stark Brewing Company in Manchester took advantage of the warm summer weather and expanded seating to outside. The expansion via outdoor seating helped keep business afloat at the time, but Stark Brewing Company owner, Peter Telge, told WMUR that sales have dropped significantly since November. Telge explained that since November the business has leaned on takeout and alcohol sales from the brewery to keep money coming in, but the cashflow has only been enough for him to be able to keep his employees working. Vincent Vella, the CEO of The Common Man, which has restaurants located throughout the state, said that restaurants are seeing a decrease in sales across the state. "Going a little further north in our Lincoln location we're starting to see a little uptick than some of the southern stores, but it's still way down from where it was last year," explained Vella. (Source: WMUR) You can view a partial list of the Seacoast restaurants planning to stay open this winter here. (Source: Seacoast Online)

9. Former Keene Fire Chief Urges People to Take Precautions After He and Wife Battle COVID-19. In his 35 years with the Keene Fire Department, Gary Lamoureux became familiar with life’s fragility. The lifelong Keene resident, 60, who spent a decade as fire chief until his retirement in 2013, said he was recently reminded of that lesson, during a chilling bout with COVID-19 that left him hospitalized for nearly a week. Lamoureux still has no idea how he contracted the airborne virus. After he tested positive, he and his wife moved to separate sides of their home. He said he started feeling stronger symptoms, including a complete loss of energy, the following day, Thanksgiving. That arrangement — with Gary living at one end of the house and Holly at the other — continued until Dec. 2, when he heard a loud crash in the bathroom. Holly, 60, had passed out and collapsed to the floor. She was taken by ambulance to Cheshire Medical, where doctors diagnosed her with COVID-19. About an hour later, Gary needed his own medical transport to the emergency room because he was having trouble breathing. After nearly a week in the hospital, Lamoureux was discharged from Cheshire Medical on Dec. 8 without a fever and returned home to Holly, whose condition had also improved by then. He said the couple was cleared by a doctor to end their quarantine 13 days later. In the meantime, Lamoureux — who said he feels fortunate to have needed only supplemental oxygen — said everyone must exercise caution and take seriously the dangers that he and Holly learned personally. “Please wear a mask if you can’t socially distance,” he said. “It’s not just about you — it’s about everybody.” (Source: Keene Sentinel)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 9, 2021

• 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

Saturday, January 9

New Hampshire coronavirus hospitalizations are at an all-time 7-day average peak. (Source: CovidActNow)

On Friday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 19 additional deaths from COVID-19 and nearly a thousand new positive test results. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. N.H. Sees Deadliest Week So Far With 87 COVID-19 Deaths in 2021. With 19 additional deaths reported Friday, New Hampshire has recorded 87 deaths from the coronavirus since New Year's Day. It's been the deadliest week since the pandemic began. State health officials announced 981 new COVID-19 infections, 6,811 current cases statewide, and 297 residents hospitalized due to the virus. Since the pandemic began, there have been 846 deaths. On Friday the state also topped the 50,000 mark in confirmed cases. 50,152 Granite Staters have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in March. (Sources: NHPR and N.H. DHHS)

2. The New COVID Variant Has Arrived in New England. A COVID-19 variant first found in the United Kingdom and believed to be more easily transmitted has arrived in New England, with Connecticut confirming two cases this week. The office of Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday the variant, known as B.1.1.7, was found in two people between the ages of 15 and 25 who reside in New Haven County. One of the individuals who tested positive for the variant recently traveled to Ireland, while the other traveled to New York State, officials said. The two individuals developed symptoms within three to four days of returning to Connecticut. According to the state, the two cases are unrelated, according to genetic sequencing of the virus. “The U.K. variant is widely assumed to be more highly transmissible than other strains of the virus,” Connecticut Public Health Acting Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford said in a statement. “However, our current vaccines should be effective against this strain, and we continue to urge everyone who is currently eligible to get the vaccine to do so. Not everyone who tests positive will know whether they have this particular strain of the virus, so it is imperative for people to continue to follow all the public health guidance – continue to wear masks, social distance, and avoid gatherings with anyone outside your household. And if you test positive for COVID-19, you must isolate and take all precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.” (Source: NECN)

3. Delayed Approval of Coronavirus Relief Bill Impacts Testing at N.H. Hospitals. The delayed passing of the coronavirus relief package is impacting COVID-19 testing at New Hampshire hospitals. Hospitals were contracted with the state to help conduct coronavirus testing across communities. But those contracts, along with the resources and funding through the CARES Act to support them, ended at the end of the year. Officials say Congress did not approve the relief bill soon enough to allow states to access additional funding before it expired. Other testing sites in the state, like city public health and national guard sites, say they weren't impacted by this change. While hospitals say they still have enough testing supplies to service those who want to get tested, Jamie LaRoche, director of provider network operations at Lakes Region General Healthcare, says it may become a challenge as demand for tests remains high. "We have probably a three week-ish supply of test kits available. And so we're actually trying to reach out to the vendors to see if we can open our own accounts and start to get testing materials," LaRoche said. (Source: NHPR)

4. State Issues Update on Vaccination Progress. According to the state’s weekly vaccination summary released on Friday, New Hampshire vaccination sites—including hospitals, fixed state sites, public health mobile sites, and the federal long-term care pharmacy partnership program— have received 71,715 doses and distributed just over 1/3 of them (39,222). High risk health care workers have received 21,144 doses and administration of the first dose to that segment of the population is nearly complete. Residents and staff of long-term care facilities have received 7,283 injections with 23,400 doses having been distributed, an indicator that just over 1/3 of the necessary first doses have been administered to that population. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

5. Frustrations Reported With Vaccination Rollout at NH Long-Term Care Facilities. Some long-term care directors said the process has been bumpy, while others said they are happy with the way things are going. Some long-term care facilities in New Hampshire are just beginning their first round of COVID-19 inoculations, two weeks after the state's most vulnerable population received its first shots, but there are ongoing questions about the rollout plan. Brendan Williams, president of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said the vaccine process brings new hope, but also some frustration. "This is being handled by pharmacies through the Trump administration, so a lot of this has been opaque," Williams said. "We really don't have access to the data." Vaccinations at the association's facilities began the week of Christmas and are expected to wrap up next week. Williams said there seemed to be some confusion on the part of CVS pharmacy, which is administering the vaccines. "There were instances where if you had assisted living and nursing home residents under one roof, that all those residents should be vaccinated," Williams said. "In some cases, they were just choosing to vaccinate nursing home residents, and that just wasn't appropriate." The Hillsborough County Nursing Home started its vaccinations Thursday. It has also partnered with CVS. "Ninety-two percent of our residents that are eligible for the vaccine will be receiving it between yesterday and today," said administrator David Ross. "Over 50% of our staff are going to receive it." (Source: WMUR)

6. Questions Remain as N.H. Preps for Next Vaccination Phase. Earlier this week, New Hampshire health officials announced more details about the next stage of the state's vaccine plan, which they say will begin in mid- or late-January. But many are awaiting further information that they hope will clarify the available guidance. Doctors like Douglas Phelan, a family medicine doctor with Elliot Family Medicine in Bedford, say they’ve been overwhelmed with phone calls from patients who want to know when they can get the vaccine. Phelan said his practice still doesn’t have much information to offer, though officials say physicians will be some of the ones administering vaccines in the coming weeks. “We feel the anxiety from patients as they ask us in the office and on the phone when they can get their shot,” he said. Part of the challenge has been communication between the state and the public, said Stephanie Patrick of the Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire. She said people with disabilities and their caregivers still don’t know when it might be their turn. "There continues to be a lot of uncertainty," Patrick said. "And people with disabilities, like the general public, I don't think are sure where to go to get the answers if the public information provided by the state is not helping to answer their questions." As of Tuesday, over 30,000 health care workers, first responders, and long-term care facility residents and staff in New Hampshire had received a COVID-19 vaccine. (Source: NHPR)

7. Health Officials in Other States Says Feds ‘Over-Promised and Under-Delivered’ on Coronavirus Vaccines. While the response of Gov. Chris Sununu and New Hampshire public health officials has been muted when it comes to the performance of the federal government in distributing vaccine supplies, officials in other states are slamming the federal response. "We overpromised and underdelivered as a nation," Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, told a briefing sponsored by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). "We only got a third of what we thought we were going to get based on the initial modeling." The federal government confused states and the public by promising millions more doses than were actually delivered. Operation Warp Speed, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and other top officials initially promised 40 million vaccines would be delivered by the end of December, and first doses given to 20 million people by that time. It took until the first week of January to get 20 million doses distributed, and only about 6 million people have been vaccinated, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This gap between expectations and reality could have implications for public reception of the vaccine program, the officials said. "I think it's important not to set unrealistic expectations that then disappoint the public. It could make them become disillusioned with this program," said Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary of health at the Pennsylvania Department of Health and and president of ASTHO. "We end up knowing a week or two in advance what the what the possibility is of how much vaccine we're getting," she said. "But then the actual amount that is going to be transported often ends up being somewhat different depending upon the variables that Operation Warp Speed has to deal with in terms of manufacturing and how much they get." (Source: CNN) Meanwhile, with COVID-19 surging and vaccinations off to a slow start, President-elect Joe Biden is planning to rapidly release most available vaccine doses to protect more people, his office said Friday, a reversal of Trump administration policies. Biden’s plan would accelerate shipment of first doses and use the levers of government power to provide required second doses in a timely manner. A recent scientific analysis in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine estimated that a “flexible” approach roughly analogous to what Biden is talking about could avert an additional 23% to 29% of COVID-19 cases when compared to the “fixed” strategy the Trump administration is following which has resulted in 50% of vaccine supplies being held back rather than shipped to the states. Biden’s experts believe that pushing out available vaccine as fast as possible will not create problems for people needing their second dose. Biden’s administration plans to work with manufacturers to accelerate production. Biden will also likely make broader use of a Cold War-era law to direct private industry to supply materials for vaccine production, should that become necessary, his office said. (Source: Associated Press)

8. Shaheen and Hassan Vaccinated After Capitol Hill Violence, Lockdown. New Hampshire's U.S. senators have received their initial doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan were vaccinated Thursday. They said the attending physician of the U.S. Congress urged senators to get vaccinated after the violence at the Capitol on Wednesday, when many senators were in a confined space for an extended period. The senators said they want constituents to know that they have full faith in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. (Source: NHPR)

9. Experts Say Precautions Still Needed After Vaccination to Avoid Infection Before Full Immunity Builds Up. Vaccination against the coronavirus can be a lifesaver but it is not a magic bullet. According to public health officials in both New Hampshire and Maine, even after being fully vaccinated, people should continue to take public health precautions, including wearing a face covering and maintaining physical distance. After vaccination, it can take up to 2 weeks to start building up immunity. According to COVID-19 expert Dr. Ben Locwin, a second shot is needed to achieve full immunity—and even then some people will continue to be susceptible until their bodies have time to build up full immunity. “Until the full immunity is there, you can still get it.” The two authorized coronavirus vaccines both require two doses, given several weeks apart, to train the body's immune system. So it’s possible that the immune system in a person exposed to coronavirus right before being vaccinated, or right after, won't have enough time for the body to develop its defenses. As to whether or not people who have been vaccinated can still transmit the virus should they become infected, early signs suggest fully vaccinated people are unlikely to spread the virus to others. But public health officials don't have enough information yet to say for certain whether vaccinated people can or cannot spread the virus, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah said Monday. “Only immunity in the vaccinated individual has been studied, so we can’t definitively say that the immunized person cannot somehow still transmit the virus to others,” said Dr. Evangeline Thibodeau, an infectious disease doctor at York Hospital. (Source: Seacoast Online)

10. One-Time Stimulus Aid Not Enough to Allay Local School Budget Woes. New Hampshire schools are set to receive millions in one-time aid from the new COVID-19 relief bill signed into law last week, but leaders of the state’s largest school districts warn the pandemic’s effects on school funding formulas could persist through next school year. The state Department of Education announced Thursday that New Hampshire will get more than $156 million with the new stimulus package for public schools, both districts and charter. The use of those funds will be limited to “preventing, preparing for, and responding to COVID-19,” according to the state Department of Education. Unless the Legislature takes action to amend the funding formula, nearly every school district will face cuts to their “adequacy aid,” the funds the state gives to schools, distributed based on student population. The state gives adequacy aid to school districts based on how many students there are in each district in October of the previous year. This year’s aid was based on school enrollment in October 2019. Next year’s aid will be based on October 2020 enrollment — and that’s one way the pandemic could leave a mark on New Hampshire schools. Nashua, Manchester and nearly every other school district in the state saw a dip in enrollment this fall, especially among kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students whose parents enrolled them in private kindergartens at child care centers, or decided to try homeschooling. Unless the Legislature acts to change the funding formula — even temporarily — Nashua, for example, will be short $4.5 million if the 800 children who were not enrolled this year come back to Gate City schools next year. (Source: Union Leader)

11. Schools Consider Shifts in Plans As COVID-19 Continues to Spread. School officials across the state are closely watching COVID-19 case numbers as they decide whether to move forward with plans to increase in-person instruction. The Rochester School Board is scheduled to decide next week whether to send students back to the in-person plan it started with. Like in most districts in the state, learning is currently remote. Nashua and Dover schools have been remote since day one. Their boards are debating a move to a hybrid model as they consider factors other than COVID-19. In Portsmouth, the school board is greenlighting a plan to increase in-person learning. The district has been in a hybrid model since September, but when the second half of the school year starts Feb. 1, many students will move from one day in class to several half days. "Students in school won't be in any greater density than they had been at the beginning of the year, but all students will be coming in more frequently," said Superintendent Steve Zadravec. He said he believes the school district can manage safely, even with the ongoing community spread of COVID-19. "Our school nurses and school staff have done a tremendous job establishing really solid safety protocols, and what the first half of the year taught us is that those work," he said. (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, the virus is proving once again that it will have the final say in any plans to shift away from remote learning. Amid an increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Claremont, including one each in the Claremont Middle School and Stevens High School, the Claremont School Board voted to shift to remote learning through next Friday. The 5-2 vote on Wednesday evening came the same day the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ map showed that Claremont’s case count had risen to 75. (Source: The Valley News)

12. Report Finds a ‘Tidal Wave’ of Homelessness. The number of homeless people was already growing fast before the pandemic, and now the problem has grown larger than we know, experts say. In Manchester alone, the count of unsheltered homeless has more than doubled from July 1, with about 170, to over 480 as of Nov. 30. Last month, the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness (NHCEH) released its annual report on the state of homelessness. In addition to the point-in-time headcount they perform at the start of the year, the organization included data from a national database for the first time, which provides more detailed information about the individuals who don’t have a home, including demographic data that shows Black and Hispanic people represent a disproportionate percentage of the homeless population. In January, the point-in-time study found that homelessness had grown by 21% (293 people) over 2019 with a total of 1,675 unsheltered people. “And that’s before the pandemic, which is almost sticker shock,” Savard said. “And we know the pandemic escalated that even more.” While Savard said she’s not aware of any significant economic shifts that could have sped up the growth of homelessness prior to the pandemic, a lot of the contributing factors have been steadily adding to the problem, such as a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, high eviction rates and the number of people for whom rent represents more than half of their income. “We were riding a wave of that perfect storm for many years. With the pandemic, we hit a tidal wave,” Savard said. (Source: Concord Monitor)

13. Groundwork for COVID-19 Vaccine Laid at Dartmouth. Discoveries originating in a basic science lab at Geisel School of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology are being used in the newly approved Covid-19 vaccine from the Pfizer/BioNTech partnership. Beginning in 2016, structural biologist Jason McLellan and his colleagues at Geisel and two other prominent labs, conducted groundbreaking research on the coronavirus spike protein, the major surface protein that this type of virus uses to bind to human cells and invade them. McLellan and his team designed a special form of the spike protein that makes it more likely to be effective as a vaccine antigen, a part of the virus that can be used to stimulate antibody production in advance, and thus help the body fight off infection. “It is very gratifying to see fundamental discoveries from the McLellan research team translated into a leading Covid-19 vaccine,” says Charles Barlowe, chair of biochemistry and cell biology at Geisel. “Jason’s contributions to vaccine development are also a wonderful testament to his insightful and collaborative approach to science.” (Source: NH Business Review)

14. Surprisingly, State Revenues Continue Strong Showing in December. Despite daily deaths, hospitalizations and new case records for COVID-19, state revenues continue to perform better than budget writers anticipated when they crafted the two-year operating budget 18 months ago. The state’s revenue stream is a mixed bag with business taxes and real estate transactions producing more money than budget writers expected, while hospitality industry taxes continue to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. Tax receipts for December were $224.4 million, which is $10 million above the budget plan for a balanced budget at the end of the biennium June 30, and $3.2 million more than a year ago. According to the state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Audit released last month, the state ended the 2020 fiscal year with a $81.5 million deficit, which is less than anticipated in the midst of the pandemic. The deficit will have to be filled this fiscal year to have a balanced budget at the end of the biennium June 30, which may be possible with better than anticipated revenues for the first half of the year. (Source: InDepthNH)

15. Affordable Housing Muscles In as a Key Topic in NH’s New Legislative Session. Even before the New Hampshire House of Representatives met for the first time Wednesday, one thing was clear: Lawmakers both parties want to do something about the state’s affordable housing shortage. One bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Alexander, R-Goffstown, with some Democratic support, would offer incentives to developers that build workforce housing and help clear the way though municipal barriers that often thwart its development. Another bill, House Bill 154, sponsored by Rep. Casey Conley, D-Dover, would empower municipalities to expand redevelopment tax breaks now used to encourage downtown development in order to create jobs, to the town outskirts to encourage affordable housing as well. The proposal has gotten Republican support in the past. Conley’s bill, also similar to one lost in last year‘s legislative Covid chaos – would ex[and community revitalization tax incentives, expanding it to create a “housing opportunity zone” that doesn’t necessarily have to be downtown. Conley also has proposed a trio of bills aimed at helping tenants. One, not in bill form yet, would postpone evictions am extra month (should the moratorium on evictions lapse) for those demonstrating that they are seeking housing assistance. The other would require landlords to provide a 60-day notice for rent increases that exceed 5 percent and a 90-day notice for rent hikes over 8%. For Alexander, 26, housing is both a business and a generational issue. “There are businesses in the state that need to attract young talent. This is the age spectrum where we need housing to be more affordable, so we can increase the supply and make the state more marketable to us.” (Source: NH Business Review)

16. State Suspends Liquor Licenses Of Two Manchester Night Clubs. State liquor officials last week suspended the license of two Manchester nightclubs — Whiskey’s 20 and Jewel Music Venue — claiming recurring violations of COVID-19 guidelines. But the lawyer for one of the clubs, Whiskey’s 20, said the New Hampshire Liquor Commission provided no details about what specific transgressions led to the suspension, which is required by state law. (Source: Union Leader)

17. COVID Forces Cancellation of Sled Dog Derby. The Laconia World Championship Sled Dog Derby, which attracts hundreds of spectators for the three-day event, has been canceled due to COVID-19, The race had been scheduled for Friday, Feb. 12, through Sunday, Feb. 14. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 8, 2021

• 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

Friday, January 8

(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

On a Thursday when over 4,000 Americans fell victim to COVID-19, N.H. public health officials announced 11 additional deaths and 515 new positive test results. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to start your Friday.

1. 68 Have Fallen to Coronavirus in First Week 0f 2021. While the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 appears to be trending downward in New Hampshire for the first week of 2021, the news is more grim when it comes to deaths and hospitalizations. With the announcement of 11 additional deaths on Thursday, the state’s death toll for 2021 rose to 68. For the pandemic as a while, 827 people have now died in New Hampshire as a result of contracting the coronavirus. Over the last 7-day period, positive tests have averaged 599 per day—a 17% decrease over the previous period. 314 people are currently hospitalized in N.H. with COVID-19. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Meanwhile, a new, faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus has now been detected in eight states, including Connecticut. Researchers believe current COVID-19 vaccines will likely protect against this more contagious version of the virus, but say more data is needed. "From what we know from experience with this mutation and other mutations, it's unlikely to have a large impact on vaccine-induced immunity, or existing immunity from previous strains," said Dr. Greg Armstrong, director of the CDC's Office of Advanced Molecular Detection.(Source: USA Today)

2. State Sketches Timeline for Vaccine. New questions about the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plans are cropping up almost as quickly as new details are released. On the heels of Tuesday’s press conference, during which the state laid out the broad strokes of the distribution schedule, several logistical questions have popped up: When can I get my COVID-19 vaccination? Where can I sign up to get my vaccine? Unless you’re in the first group of vaccine recipients, there’s no easy answer. The state schedule for when vaccines are expected to be given to each group contains a rough timeline, but the state hasn’t announced any mechanism for signing up for a vaccine appointment but recommended people check the DHHS COVID-19 page and stay in touch with their primary care providers to stay up to date on announcements about distribution. Those who are receiving healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs will be notified when they are eligible for the VA’s supply of the vaccine. (Source: Concord Monitor) Here are some answers to commonly asked questions about the vaccine, such as the cost. The Centers for Disease Control has also published a helpful list of FAQs.

3. Some Seacoast Nursing Homes with COVID-19 Outbreaks Getting Vaccine. Residents and staff have begun receiving their vaccines for COVID-19 at Oceanside Center where an outbreak of 71 cases resulted in 13 deaths this winter. The nursing facility run by Genesis HealthCare at 22 Tuck Road saw its first vaccination clinic on Saturday, the first of three scheduled to be provided by CVS in the coming weeks according to Genesis spokeswoman Lori Mayer. She said CVS will return in three weeks to provide the second of the two booster shots required to take the vaccine, as well as to give the first shot to those who missed their chance the first time. They will then return three weeks later for a third visit to provide the second shot to those who still need it. The vaccine is being rolled out as other outbreaks continue in long-term care facilities and elderly communities. A new outbreak has been identified at the Rockingham County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Brentwood where one resident and 10 staff members have tested positive, according to DHHS. No deaths have occurred in the outbreak. Residents and staff there have also begun receiving their vaccine, their second clinic scheduled for next week, Jan. 12. Their first took place Dec. 22. Next week will be the first vaccination clinic for the Pines of Newmarket where an ongoing outbreak has claimed six lives, according to the Pines’ parent company Merrill Gardens. (Source: Seacoast Online) Also vaccinated this week were residents of the Golden View Health Care Center in Meredith, where 10 residents have died in a COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 141 vaccinations were given to staff and residents. There are currently 77 cases of the virus among Golden View residents and 44 among staff members, according to the New Hampshire Health and Human Services Department. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun) Nationally, only about 16% of vaccines distributed for use in nursing homes have been injected into residents and the staff who care for them, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But federal, pharmacy and nursing home officials continue to say they are on track to finish the job before the end of the month. (Source: USA Today)

4. Latest New Hampshire Jobless Claims Data Shows Big Increase in Filings. Some 4,106 initial unemployment claims were filed in the week ending Jan. 2, an increase of 1,174, or 40%, compared to the numbers released the previous week. But at deadline it was not clear how many of the week’s total included some people already on benefits who were reapplying because of changes in unemployment as a result of the new stimulus bill passed by the outgoing Congress. Continuing claims – people who are already collecting jobless benefits – reported the week ending Dec. 26 increased to 24,203, 15% over the prior week’s total. Those numbers reflect only state-administered claims. There were actually 39,387 Granite Staters collecting benefits in total during the week ending Dec. 26, if the more than 15,000 people collecting federally extended benefits and business owners and others receiving extraordinary Covid-related unemployment assistance. (Source: NH Business Review) Nationally, America's job market recovery ground to a halt in December, making President-elect Joe Biden's task to repair the economy that much harder. The US economy shed a staggering 140,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday — a far worse outcome than economists predicted.The unemployment rate remained flat at 6.7%, marking the first time the rate hasn't improved in seven months. (Source: CNN)

5. Over 20 Active COVID Cases at Dartmouth As Students Ready to Return Next Week. According to the college’s dashboard, Dartmouth College has 24 current cases of COVID-19, including 22 students on campus or elsewhere in the Upper Valley and two employees. Winter term resumed Thursday for undergraduates at the college, though classes are starting remotely and most students aren’t slated to return to campus until Jan. 16 or 17, the college has said. As with fall term, only about half of Dartmouth’s 4,400 undergraduates are being allowed back on campus for the term. (Source: The Valley News) In sharp contrast, the information listed on the state’s COVID-19 Schools Dashboard as of Thursday shows that no N.H. colleges or universities are currently experiencing active cases, including Dartmouth. The ongoing disconnect between information being provided by schools themselves and the information the state provides in the dashboard is not helping the credibility of state health officials or making it any easier for local officials trying to use the state’s data to make informed decisions.

6. Sununu Takes Oath While Anti-Mask Protesters Condemn Him Outside State House. Gov. Chris Sununu took the oath of office to a third term in a private, low-key ceremony inside the State House Thursday, while roughly 200 protesters, none wearing masks, loudly condemned steps that Sununu had taken in response to COVID-19. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Gary Hicks swore in Gov. Chris Sununu to his third term Thursday at noon in what Sununu described as likely the shortest inauguration ceremony in state history. “We are here under very unusual circumstances,” Sununu told the small gathering citing safety concerns that came up in the last month with protesters picketing his home in Newfields, culminating in what he called “the tragedy we saw yesterday in Washington.” Mask-less protestors opposing Sununu’s statewide mask ordinance and what they call his unconstitutional emergency orders to curb the spread of COVID-19 gathered outside the State House during the ceremony. Crowd estimates ranged from 100 to 200 people protesting. Protester Carla Gericke, former state Senate candidate, said: “I was there because I really am concerned about our loss of liberties. I’d like to see people unite over the concept of self-ownership.” (Sources: Union Leader and InDepthNH) In a philosophical inaugural address delivered Thursday evening, Gov. Sununu called state residents to community responsibility in an era emphasizing personal freedom. He said the state’s “Live Free or Die” is not only about personal freedom, but also about caring for neighbors and communities. The call for shared responsibility comes as the state faces record daily deaths, hospitalizations, and new cases of the coronavirus and a growing backlash after he issued a mask mandate in November. Protesters have picketed his home after the mask mandate and last week, an armed protester was arrested near his home. On Tuesday he said the threats to him and his family have escalated. He urged people to look in the mirror and said the pandemic provides opportunity for people to make positive change. (Source: InDepthNH) You can read a transcript of the governor’s address here. (Source: NHPR)

7. State Reopening Task Force Hears About Vaccine Distribution, Struggling Restaurant Industry. Public health officials told the governor’s Economic Reopening Task Force that distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is important for public safety and the economy and getting people to buy into being vaccinated is the key. In a recent national poll, when asked what people want most from a vaccine the respondents have said a return to normal, followed by safety and immunity. Family is by far the most powerful motivator for vaccine acceptance. The task force heard a presentation from the restaurant and lodging industry. Officials said since the start of the pandemic they have lost about $750 million in sales. While that directly hurts businesses and employees, it also translates into lost revenue for New Hampshire. The task force also heard public comment about a proposed change to the state’s entertainment guidelines that would allow for singing duos, small bands and karaoke. (Source: WMUR)

8. Some Seacoast Dining Spots Stay Open to 'Survive Winter' Rather Than 'Hibernate'. In recent weeks, many eateries in Portsmouth, known beyond New Hampshire as a restaurant destination city, have announced “hibernations” for the winter to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and because of simply not having enough customers during this tough time to make the finances work. They include Cava Tapas and Wine Bar, Jumpin’ Jay's Fish Cafe, The Franklin, Moxy, Row 34, Rudi’s Portsmouth, Cisco Brewers, Poco’s Bow Street Cantina, and Martingale Wharf, as well as many others around the Seacoast. Amid the flurry of closing announcements, some are taking to social media to state their intention to remain open. Kevin Dwyer, owner of Dwyer’s Pub on Bridge Street, said he plans to fight on through the season, unsure of what the immediate future holds for Dwyer’s Pub and other local food and drink establishments battling lower patronage due to the coronavirus. Similarly, Cup of Joe owner Joanna Kelley said she feels obligated to keep her business open, particularly for the welfare of her eight current staffers. "At the end of the day, we’re asking people to work during a global pandemic. As an owner, it’s our job to make everyone comfortable," she said. (Source: Seacoast Online) You can see a partial list of the restaurants that are still open for takeout and/or for indoor dining here. (Source: Seacoast Online)

On a non-COVID topic, InDepthNH has published an op-ed I wrote yesterday after the events Wednesday in Washington and some disturbing parallel events that took place at the same time in New Hampshire. I have also submitted it to Seacoast Online. As the father of a young man who spent 10 years on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide, as a citizen who has always revered our democratic institutions, and as a state representative who too often hears the same sort of inflammatory rhetoric from some of my colleagues that we heard from the rioters, Wednesday’s events shook me to my core. Hopefully they will serve as a wake-up call to all of us that our words matter.

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 7, 2021

• 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

Thursday, January 7

Newly elected House Speaker Sherman Packard presides over a session of the NH House of Representatives held Wednesday in a UNH Parking lot because of COVID-19 and the refusal to consider rules changes that would allow the legislature to meet remotely.

New Hampshire public health officials announced a record 24 additional COVID-19 deaths and 912 new infections on Wednesday. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related NH news you need to know to start your Thursday.

1. NH Health Officials Announce Highest Single-Day Total of COVID-19 Deaths. New Hampshire health officials announced Wednesday that 24 more Granite Staters have died of COVID-19, the highest total announced since the beginning of the pandemic. It also raised the two-week death toll to 125–another pandemic high. All but one of the deaths were for people age 60 or older and were related to long-term care facilities. The previous single-day record-high number of deaths in New Hampshire was 21, announced on Dec. 16. There have now been 816 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in New Hampshire over the course of the pandemic. The Department of Health and Human Services also said it is no longer tracking total hospitalizations because of the suspension of its contact tracing program. The department is still keeping track of current hospitalizations and said 301 Granite Staters are currently hospitalized for COVID-19. There are 6,785 current cases of COVID-19 in New Hampshire, the highest total since Dec. 27, when there were 6,994 cases. (Sources: WMUR and N.H. DHHS)

2. Long-Term Care Facilities Say Scheduling Vaccine Clinics Hasn't Been Easy. The effort to vaccinate New Hampshire's long-term care population against COVID-19 is off to a somewhat rocky start, according to the statewide association representing these facilities. “The pace has been slow,” New Hampshire Healthcare Association President Brendan Williams said Tuesday afternoon. “I think Operation Warp Speed has sort of devolved into Operation Pony Express when it comes to the actual vaccinations.” Most of New Hampshire’s long-term care facilities are relying on a program called the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care, which is run by the federal government and administered by large pharmacy chains, for their COVID-19 vaccines. In the initial weeks of the program, New Hampshire facilities have run into scheduling problems or other roadblocks to getting those doses to the residents who need them as efficiently as possible. Williams said some problems have also come up at facilities that house both nursing home and assisted living beds. One of the participating pharmacy chains, which he declined to identify, restricted some of its clinics in such facilities only to nursing home residents, until the state stepped in to correct the issue. (Source: NHPR)

3. Health Officials Plan to Reach Out to Minority Groups to Encourage Vaccinations. While minority and ethnic populations in New Hampshire have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, many in the minority community have expressed distrust when it comes to getting vaccinated. "Our plan around that is to meet people where they are at our in the community," said Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the state Bureau of Infectious Disease Control. "We will be working with our regional public health networks to identify those groups within their communities." In Phase 1B of vaccinations, Daly said the state will set aside doses of the vaccine for ethnic and minority groups across the state. "We want our messaging to be culturally responsive and addressing that there may be some mistrust with government and the health care system, and that is why it is so important to connect with community leaders," Daly said. Eva Castillo, director of Welcoming New Hampshire, works with immigrants and refugees daily. "For the vaccine to really be effective, 70% of people need to be vaccinated," Castillo said. "It's very important that we make sure that we access those groups, that we explain to them what the vaccine is all about, and also about the safety of the vaccine." She said she plans to visit churches and community groups to help spread the word. (Source: WMUR)

4. On Same Day Armed Rioters Trash US Capitol Building, NH House of Reps Votes to Allow Guns on House Floor and To Allow 6 NH GOP State Reps Advocating Revolution to Keep Their Seats. While the unique drive-in legislative session in a UNH parking lot drew most of the attention along with numerous technical SNAFUs that delayed the proceedings, the NH House or Representatives eventually managed to elect a new Speaker of the House and voted on numerous rule changes. Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, who had been serving as the Acting Speaker of the House since the previous Speaker, Rep Dick Hinch of Merrimack died of COVID-19, was elected Speaker of the House over Hampton Democratic Rep. Renny Cushing. As news broke of rioters taking over the halls of Congress, Rep. Cushing and new GOP Majority Leader Jason Osborne proposed a suspension of the rules to vote on a resolution condemning the violent takeover of the US Capitol Building by pro-Trump rioters. While 35 GOP legislators voted against suspending the rules to take up the resolution, a majority of legislators voted to suspend the rules. Claiming not to hear a request for a roll call vote which would have identified legislators voting for or against the measure, Speaker Packard called on legislators to honk their horns or flash their lights to indicate their approval. After a cacophony of horn-blowing and light flashing, Packard declared the vote unanimous. Over the course of the afternoon, numerous rule changes for the 2021-2022 session were debated and voted on. Among those approved were several minor changes that will result in making it easier to act more efficiently on bills during the pandemic. But rejected on the same day that armed rioters took over the US Congress, a sought by Democrats to ban firearms in Representatives Hall was rejected along with an attempt to refer the cases of six GOP legislators who filed a petition with the House Clerk advocating “termination of the state” to the Legislative Administration Committee for potential removal from office. Also rejected 187-149 was a proposed Democratic rule change that would have paved the way for remote attendance and voting during the pandemic. Republicans said there was still more to be worked out about how such remote meetings would actually be conducted. Because GOP leaders still insist that a rule change will be needed before legislators can attend sessions remotely, another trip back to the UNH parking lot may be needed to approve any rule change allowing remote participation. Democrats also attempted to prohibit hate speech by House members again but the move was voted down by the GOP majority. Also rejected were Democratic moves to reinstitute rules from the 2019-2020 session that required committee chairmen to allow citizens to speak before lobbyists at public hearings, and would have mandated sexual harassment and implicit bias training for all legislators. (Source: Personal Notes and InDepthNH)

5. COVID-19 Outbreak Over at NH Vets Home As Other Facilities Continue to Battle COVID-19. On Wednesday, a COVID-19 outbreak at the New Hampshire Veterans Home was declared over. But the Department of Health and Human Services has announced a new outbreak at a long-term care facility in Lancaster and the worsening of one in Meredith. Sarah Stanley, public information officer at the Veterans Home, on Wednesday said the facility was notified by DHHS that the outbreak that began Nov. 10 was over. According to the DHHS, as of Jan. 5 the Veterans Home had 93 residents who were positive for the virus and 58 staff members. The agency reported 36 deaths. Of the 45 active outbreaks at institutions around the state, the one at the Veterans Home is the deadliest. Meanwhile, Country Village Center in Lancaster made the state’s outbreak list on Jan. 5 with nine resident cases, eight staff cases and one death. Dr. Richard Feifer, MD, chief medical officer and president of Kennett Square, Pa.-based Genesis Physician Services, which operates the Country Village Center, said in an e-mail Wednesday that the situation was actually worse than what DHHS reported. As of Wednesday, he said 13 residents and 16 staff members had COVID-19 and that four residents had died since the outbreak began Dec. 3. (Source: Union Leader)

6. Advocates Relieved DHHS Now Managing Outbreak at Valley Street Jail. The New Hampshire ACLU and other advocacy groups are expressing relief that state health officials are now in charge of managing a COVID-19 outbreak at the Valley Street Jail in Manchester. Protesters gathered Wednesday outside the Hillsborough County House of Corrections over the way the COVID outbreak was handled. "There's no way to describe what's happening at Valley Street other than this is flat-out a disaster," said Joseph Lascaze, of the New Hampshire ACLU. Health officials said 100 inmates and 27 staff members tested positive as of Tuesday, and the numbers are expected to climb as testing continues. "The fact that since the beginning of the pandemic, only 11 individuals were tested is just mind-blowing," Lascaze said. The ACLU said the corrections system is legally obligated to supply medical care. A judge recently called the situation the result of deliberate indifference by jail leadership. (Source: WMUR) Meanwhile, Manchester’s Health Department disavowed any oversight of the jail. In an unsigned statement issued Tuesday night, the city Health Department said state Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette “incorrectly stated” during a news conference that the city department originally was in charge of oversight of the jail and its COVID-19 response. “In New Hampshire, a city health department has no jurisdiction or oversight of a county governmental facility,” the letter read. Shibinette’s office did not provide a response. (Source: Union Leader)

7. State Announces How Federal COVID Relief Money Will be Doled Out. On Tuesday, the state started mailing out unemployment checks with the new $300 per week federal benefit. Money to aid unemployed Granite Staters is part of a list that includes millions of dollars for vaccine distribution, COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, emergency rental assistance, childcare development and funding for all levels of education. Specific amounts include $36M for vaccine distribution, $180M for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, $20M for childcare development, $150M in new education funding (elementary and secondary), $90M for higher education, $200M for emergency rental assistance, and $40M for highway maintenance. (Source: WMUR) Given the suspension of the state’s contact tracing program, it is expected that most of the $20M received for testing and contact tracing will now be spent on testing, but state officials have yet to supply details on how the money will be spent.

8. Health Care Center Expands Food Program to Help Quarantining Families. A health care center in Plymouth is using grant money to expand services to their patients beyond doctor visits and COVID-19 testing to make it easier to quarantine for two weeks. The quarantine food boxes will help people feed themselves and their families while quarantining. In 2019, Mid-State Health Center launched the Feed the Need program for its patients, but the grant allows it to take the initiative to another level. The food boxes are available to patients who need to quarantine. (Source: WMUR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 6, 2021

• 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, January 6

The State of New Hampshire’s updated vaccination timeline. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

On Tuesday, New Hampshire public health officials announced 11 additional deaths and 667 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 Wednesday.

1. State Outlines Vaccination Timeline for Spring and Summer. New Hampshire health officials have outlined a COVID-19 vaccination schedule stretching into the summer that prioritizes health care workers and those at highest risk of developing serious symptoms if infected. Phase 1A is underway now and is focused on vaccinating high-risk health workers, long-term care residents and first responders. Phase 1B will run from January to March and include anyone age 75 and older, along with people with medical conditions that put them at a significantly higher risk. Staff and residents of facilities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities will be part of this phase, along with corrections officers and staff members. Phase 2A, running from March to May, will include anyone from 65 to 74 years old, along with K-12 teachers and school staff, and child care workers. Phase 2B is also slated to run from March to May and will include people ages 50 to 65. Phase 3A should begin in May and will include medically vulnerable people at moderate risk age 50 and younger. Phase 3B is set to begin at the same time and will include everyone else. Granite Staters are urged to talk to their health providers and keep an eye out for state guidance to determine when they're eligible to get vaccinated. Information will also be updated on the state's COVID-19 website. (Source: NHPR) Meanwhile, county, regional and city officials are asking the public not to call fire, police and public health departments seeking information about when COVID-19 vaccines will be available. The Strafford County and Seacoast health care networks are asking for residents to be patient as they wait to learn about COVID-19 vaccine information. Please do not call health care offices, fire or police departments, emergency medical services or local officials until you are individually directed to do so by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, regional public health networks or your health care office, officials said in a statement released Tuesday. (Source: Seacoast Online) Meanwhile, the New Hampshire National Guard is calling up additional personnel to help vaccine distribution efforts. The National Guard is providing assistance at 13 vaccination clinics across the state for first responders. The Guard is also planning to mobilize at least 50 more members by the end of the week to provide additional assistance and is planning ahead for when the vaccine is made available to the general public. (Source: WMUR)

2. New Hampshire Faces its First Test of Vaccine Confidence. Even as scientists raced to produce effective vaccines in record time, a question gnawed at the minds of public health officials – how many people will actually take the vaccine? According to a December poll from the University of New Hampshire, 61% of Granite Staters will almost certainly or probably get the vaccine when it becomes available to them. At Concord Hospital, most employees have jumped at the opportunity to receive some of the first doses in the state. A quiet minority has harbored hesitations. So far, about 67% of employees who have been offered the opportunity to get vaccinated have signed up for an appointment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has signaled employers can legally require staff to take the COVID-19 vaccine, with some notable exceptions – those with certain medical conditions or religious beliefs may be granted an exception. Brendan Williams, the president of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, prefers a gentler approach to vaccination. “We really want people to come to the vaccine,” he said. Lynda Goldthwaite, the administrator at Pleasant View Center in Concord, fears mandating the vaccine would politicize the decision and stoke resistance. So far, her staff and residents have been excited about getting a shot. After watching nursing homes across the state experience devastating outbreaks, she said she thinks her staff understands the gravity of what’s at stake. Residents understand their decision could be the difference between life and death. Other nursing homes have had a harder time convincing their staff. Based on conversations Williams had with nursing home administrators, he estimates about a third of staff eligible for the vaccine have declined the opportunity. (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. 11 More Eleven Granite Staters Died of COVID-19. New Hampshire’s pandemic death tool climbed to 792 as officials announced on Tuesday that the coronavirus has claimed 11 more lives. However, officials say that case numbers have been stabilizing in New Hampshire, even as hospitalizations and deaths have gone up. There were 667 new positive cases announced Tuesday and there are now 6,480 active cases of COVID-19 in the state, about the level that it was a couple of weeks ago. The combined PCR and antigen test positivity rate was 8.7%, also about what it was a couple of weeks ago. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

4. State Announces 15 New Outbreaks at Congregate Living Facilities, Fatalities at Portsmouth Nursing Homes. The N.H. Department of Health and Human Services announced 15 new outbreaks at long-term care facilities or other congregate living facilities. While three previous outbreaks were declared closed, the new outbreaks means the state’s current list now totals 45. As recently as October 29, the state’s total stood at three. The largest outbreaks reported were both at correctional facilities. The NH State Men’s Prison reported 184 cases among inmates and 58 among staff with one inmate death. The Hillsborough House of Corrections reported 103 inmate and 27 staff cases. Also provided in the daily DHHS summary were updates on existing outbreaks, including the first fatalities—one each—at Portsmouth’s Clipper Harbor home and the Wentworth Senior Living Center. (Source: N.H. DHHS) While new infections and outbreaks continue to be a major issue for nursing homes, jails, and treatment centers, Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the state’s Bureau of Infectious Disease, had more encouraging news when it came to vaccinations. Daly said that there have now been 62 vaccination clinics at long-term care facilities and 66 more are planned in the coming weeks provided by state partners CVS and Walgreens. Daly also said the state has received 30,035 vaccine doses and noted that 17,175 new doses were received this week. (Source: InDepthNH http://indepthnh.org/2021/01/05/nh-officials-outline-whos-next-to-get-covid-19-vaccine/ ) It is worth noting that despite the fact the state’s two largest outbreaks are in correctional facilities, jail and prison inmates do not appear on the state’s updated vaccination timeline.

5. As COVID-19 Hospitalizations Remain High, Some N.H. Hospitals Say They Need More Support. For almost a week, COVID-19 hospitalizations in New Hampshire have hovered above 300 people, more than double the peak seen in the spring. Since about mid-December, according to federal data, roughly 1 in 5 of New Hampshire's ICU beds was occupied by a patient with a confirmed case of COVID-19. At the start of January, that translated to about 60 COVID patients in ICUs statewide, up from about 30 a month before. On Tuesday, 305 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 34 more presumed positive patients in state hospitals, according to the New Hampshire Hospital Association. Bed capacity is changing by the hour at many hospitals. As of Tuesday morning, Dr. Greg Baxter, president of the Elliot Health System in Manchester, said 42 of 250 inpatients had COVID-19. In the Elliot Hospital's ICU, which Baxter said is now full, half have COVID-19. Additional ICU beds were added this weekend. It’s a similar story at Concord Hospital, where Chief Quality Officer Chris Fore says hospitalizations peaked last week and have begun to level off, but the ICU has been full “more often than not.” (Source: NHPR) The state’s largest hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, had two dozen patients with COVID-19 in the hospital on Monday, the most the Lebanon hospital has seen during the pandemic. (Source: The Valley News)

6. Over 100 Valley Street Jail Inmates Have Now Tested Positive. Over half of the inmate population at Manchester’s Valley Street Jail (also known as the Hillsborough County House of Corrections) has now tested positive for COVID-19. Twenty-seven staff are also currently positive with the virus, and more will be tested later this week. The facility has faced criticism for its handling of COVID-19 protocols – including mask-wearing, test availability, and quarantine procedures. The state health department said Tuesday it has taken over management of the Valley Street outbreak and is in regular contact with medical staff there. It is also monitoring new outbreaks at correctional facilities in Sullivan and Rockingham Counties. (Source: NHPR)

7. COVID-19 Cases in Nashua Youths Doubling Each Month. As Nashua public schools prepare to return to in-person learning, the city is reeling from a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases among its school-age population, which city health experts say won’t subside soon. “Our cases under the age of 19 have essentially been doubling themselves month-to-month, and it is highly likely that this trend will continue,” Angela Consentino, an epidemiologist with the Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services, told school board members on Monday night. In August, 18 people ages 10 to 19 tested positive for the disease, followed by 30 in September, 70 in October, 158 in November and 298 in December. As alarmingly, the next-youngest age category — 20 to 29 — now has the highest case count in the city, Consentino said. The latest numbers underscore that not just the elderly and those in long-term care are at risk for the virus, she said. (Source: Union Leader)

8. NH House of Representatives Meets for Drive-In Session Today in UNH Parking Lot. While the unusual drive-in venue and the stubborn insistence of House GOP leadership on meeting in-person have drawn most of the attention, “Convening Day” is when the legislature meets to vote on rules for the new session. Because of the untimely COVID-19-related death of newly elected Speaker of the House Dick Hinch, the House will also elect a new Speaker. Candidates for House Speaker include GOP Rep. Sherman Packard and Democratic Rep. Renny Cushing. At the Dec. 2 session, House Republicans broke from years of tradition by voting to roll back House rules to the rules that were in effect in the 2017-2018 session (when the GOP last held the majority) during what is traditionally only a swearing-in ceremony. The changes in December reversed rule changes by Democrats in the previous session that banned guns from the House floor and mandated sexual harassment training for all legislators. At tomorrow’s session, rule changes will be introduced by Democrats that would once again ban deadly weapons from House sessions, prohibit drinking alcoholic beverages during sessions, allow citizens to speak before lobbyists at public hearings, and would mandate sexual harassment training and implicit bias training for legislators. Other rules to be voted on include measures that would make it easier for the House to meet during the pandemic, including changes that could potentially pave the way for some level of remote participation by legislators and the public. (Source: NH House Calendar ) Across the state, legislators have been weighing the decision about whether to attend. While Democrats have pressed GOP House Leadership to meet remotely and have expressed concerns over the safety of a 400-person meeting being held in the middle of a pandemic, Republicans say the steps they have taken will ensure the safety of legislators who attend. Also problematic is the lack of accommodations for differently-abled legislators who do not drive and will not be able to attend. Rep. Anita Burroughs (D-Bartlett) said the decision on whether to attend the opening session was a wrenching one. “After much back and forth, I will be attending as I feel it’s my responsibility to vote on behalf of my constituents,” she said. “To the best of my knowledge, six colleagues in the House have now tested positive for COVID-19,” she said. “One (Speaker Dick Hinch) has died, and another is on a ventilator, with a number of representatives still refusing to mask up. It is unsafe to use an enclosed porta-potty with individuals who may not be wearing masks, or who may be positive for the virus. “I did not sign up to put my life at risk to attend a legislative session or to potentially infect my husband and community. I will not be leaving my car for the duration of the meeting,” Burroughs said. (Source: Conway Daily Sun) Note: I will be attending the session because I am willing to give the House leadership the benefit of a doubt that the safety measures being taken will be adequate and that facemask requirements will be enforced. While I feel the level of risk in attending is likely to be low as long as legislators stay in their cars and mask-up when they stretch outside, I also respect the fact that every person’s situation and level of risk is different. So I am fully supportive of my colleagues who have made the difficult decision not to attend. On the other hand, like many of my colleagues, I am extremely upset that the Acting Speaker refused to find a way to allow legislators who are differently-abled and can’t drive—or who are advanced in years and/or have a serious health condition—to participate remotely. Members of the New Hampshire Senate and members of other state legislatures across the country have made the decision to meet virtually. By being present today, I will be in a position to support rules changes to make this possible for both legislators and members of the public.

9. Disability Rights Activists To Protest NH House Meeting in Cars at UNH Parking Lot. Disability rights activists say they plan to demonstrate disapproval of the drive-in House session with a peaceful demonstration Wednesday. “These drive-in sessions put vulnerable legislators and their families at risk, are terrible for air quality due to cars idling for hours on end and discourage public participation in house proceedings while also creating a lack of transparency,” said the organizer of the protest, Juliana Good, a disability rights activist and UNH graduate student. “A remote meeting by video conference, like the state Senate will be having at the same time, is the safe, simple, and accessible solution.” Representative David Cote will not attend Wednesday’s House session because of underlying health conditions and a confusing response to his request for accommodations under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Cote, a Nashua Democrat who has cerebral palsy and coronary artery disease, said he doesn’t understand why the House leadership didn’t opt to allow him and all 400 members to participate remotely for the constitutionally required Convening Day. “It’s an individual decision and everyone’s situation is obviously different. I made the decision that it is too dangerous in my case,” Cote said. (Source: InDepthNH)

10. Cava Tapas and Wine Bar to 'Hibernate' for Winter Due to COVID-19. Cava Tapas and Wine Bar is the latest to join the growing list of Portsmouth restaurants shutting down for the winter months due to the impacts of coronavirus. A Facebook post from the Commercial Alley restaurant Tuesday afternoon thanked customers for their continued support throughout 2020 and announced their "hibernation" will begin next Monday, Jan. 11, writing they "hope will be a very short winter season." (Source: Seacoast Online)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 5, 2021

• 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, January 5

(Source: The CovidTracking Project)

On Monday, New Hampshire public health officials announced one additional death and 879 new positive tests. Here in the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Tuesday.

1. Hospitalizations Due to COVID-19 Remain High. On Monday, 319 residents were in the hospital due to the virus. Meanwhile, the number of new cases of COVID-19 in the state remains relatively stable at a two-week average of 731; but another death means 125 have succumbed to the disease in two weeks, the highest two-week number ever. Statewide, there are 6,200 active coronavirus cases and 879 new infections announced. The fatality was a woman from Hillsborough County, who was older than 60, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. (Source: N.H. DHHS) Meanwhile, Eliot Hospital officials in Manchester said that as hospitalizations increase, flex sites are a last resort and using them would strain hospital staff in different ways. Instead, Eliot’s strategy has been to transfer patients when it hits capacity and officials said the strategy is working. When the ICU at Elliot Hospital hit capacity this weekend, it utilized the hospital’s surge unit for two patients and transferred two patients to other hospitals. Only half of those in the ICU have COVID-19. The Department of Health and Human Services released a statement on Monday afternoon that said in part, “The state’s health care system has not reached capacity, and surge sites within hospitals would be used first before moving to the flex sites.” (Source: WMUR)

2. More Than 50 Manchester Jail Inmates Test Positive for COVID-19. Fifty-one inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Valley Street Jail in Manchester, according to Superintendent Willie Scurry. The positive cases were discovered after the jail began testing inmates last week, amidst concerns from attorneys about COVID-19 protocol and a judge's Dec. 31 order warning of "deliberate indifference to the health of inmates" at the facility. Superintendent Scurry says the jail is still awaiting results from another tests for an additional 135 inmates. The state health department confirmed that there were "additional cases" since last week but said it was still verifying the numbers. (Source: NHPR)

3. 53 Post Office COVID Cases Cause Mail Delays in Dover, Around NH. There are 53 positive COVID-19 cases involving United States Postal Services employees in New Hampshire, including some at the Dover post office, a spokesperson said Monday. USPS spokesperson Stephen Doherty stated he could not confirm the number of cases at Dover’s post office or other individual locations “due to privacy laws.” “I can tell you that we do not have multiple positive cases in Dover,” Doherty said Monday. He acknowledged “like every business, our staffing has been impacted by COVID.” That impact, “combined with historic record volumes in the past weeks, has caused some short-term” delivery delays, he said. (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. More Infectious COVID Variants Have Yet to Show Up in NH, But State is On the Lookout. On Monday, officials announced the state is adjusting its testing practices as it monitors for new strains of COVID-19 that have been discovered in other states and countries. State health officials said so far, there have been no new variants of COVID-19 detected in New Hampshire. But, they add it is possible. State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said viruses go through changes or genetic mutations as they spread between people. Like how the flu changes every year. A new strain of COVID-19 was recently discovered in South Africa that is different from the other variant that has emerged in the United Kingdom as well as a few states in America. Chan said it is likely that a new strain of COVID-19 will be seen in New Hampshire as well. He said state officials are coordinating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to try to do more genetic testing on specimens that are positive for COVID-19. To take a close look at the make-up of the virus. “There’s no evidence that these new strains cause more serious disease,” Chan said. “There’s no evidence that these new strains are more likely to cause somebody to die from COVID-19. There’s no evidence that the vaccines are less effective against these new strains. That’s obviously still being studied.” (Source: WMUR)

5. Post-Holiday COVID-19 Testing Demand Could Leave Asymptomatic People Waiting. Getting access to COVID-19 testing is proving to be not as easy in areas of the state with a high rate of COVID-19 infections. “I wish we had the staff to do evening clinics and test everyone who wanted to be tested. We just don’t have the staff,” said Dr. Holly Mintz from hard-hit Manchester’s Elliot Health System. Although state officials say the demand for COVID-19 testing has stabilized since Thanksgiving, people who aren’t showing symptoms may have to wait or try other locations. “There’s going to be priority given to staff, students who might have symptoms and need more rapid turnaround time in order to be allowed back into school or work,” State Epidemiologist Benjamin Chan said. “But, certainly testing whether they have symptoms or they are asymptomatic remains available.” (Source: WMUR)

6. NH’s Vaccination Allocations and Injections Administered Lag Vermont’s and Maine’s As Sununu Says NH Plan Is “On Schedule”. Gov. Chris Sununu has called the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in the state’s long-term care facilities “bumpy” but he said the plan is not behind schedule yet. New CDC data has shown New Hampshire has been slower out of the gate than some of its New England neighbors when it comes to administering COVID-19 vaccination shots. The state is lagging slightly behind Vermont and Maine in terms of doses administered per 100,000 people, but it is also receiving fewer doses per 100,000 people than its neighbors. Sununu said he believes New Hampshire is getting its fair share and for now, this is just about supply. “I think the reliability of the federal system is there, we’re simply not getting as much as we would like,” Sununu said. “So, what we originally anticipated getting, we’re not getting, but I think we have a better understanding of why that is and what we’re getting going forward.” The governor pointed to a federal program responsible for administering doses to long-term care facilities as part of the problem. “The CVS-Walgreens model, and how they administer the vaccine to our long-term care facilities has been bumpy,” Sununu said. (Source: WMUR) Sununu said the state is staying on top of the situation with the pharmacies. But State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua disagrees. She said it was her understanding that the state has not asked the pharmacies where the program stands. “Governor Sununu is wasting precious time to get this life-saving vaccine to those who need it most in our state,” Rosenwald said. “Other states have been able to quickly and effectively distribute the vaccine, and it is unacceptable that the governor is letting New Hampshire fall behind,” Rosenwald said. “I urge the governor to act quickly to ensure those who need the vaccine can receive it in the coming weeks.” (Source: InDepthNH) In Massachusetts, which has administered a lower percentage of doses than New Hampshire, Gov. Charlie Baker expressed irritation that that so much federal attention has been placed on the November election results and not on the pandemic. “That in my view is where our colleagues at the federal level should be focusing their time and their attention,” Baker said Monday. (Source: Boston 7 News) As hospitalizations soar across the country and America starts to feel the impact of recent holiday gatherings, CDC data indicates that about 15.4 million doses have been distributed nationwide but only 4.5 million have been administered. While Gov. Sununu has pointed to issues with the federal pharmacy distribution program for long-term care facilities as part of the problem, federal officials are pointing their fingers right back at governors and the states. When asked about the discrepancy between the vaccine doses distributed and those administered, Operation Warp Speed chief scientific adviser Moncef Slaoui said "nothing has gone wrong," adding it's the responsibility of the states to actually administer vaccines. "We agree that there is a lag," Slaoui told CNN. "We are available and ready to help the states as they ask specifically for help." (Source: CNN)

7. With One-Third Of Available Vaccines Given So Far, N.H. Plans for Next Phase. As New Hampshire’s most vulnerable groups continue to receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, health officials are working on plans for future steps in the state's vaccination plan. As of Thursday, 21,126 of the highest-risk people in New Hampshire have been vaccinated against COVID-19, or about 1.6 percent of the total population. Data from the CDC shows that New Hampshire is vaccinating at a similar rate to most other states across the country, but lagging behind neighboring states like Vermont and Maine. The state is behind its goal to vaccinate all 112,915 people in the initial group by the end of January. According to state data, 64,775 total doses of the vaccine are available, and about a third of available doses have been given out so far. Of those, more than half have been administered at hospitals. Another 17,175 doses are expected to arrive this week. (Source: NHPR) Despite reports of a slow rollout, things appear to be going smoothly in some parts of the state for those being vaccinated in Phase 1A. “The vaccine roll out at MCH has gone smoothly. We have offered the vaccine to all of our frontline employees who fall in the high-risk category, those with direct interactions with patients,” said Laura Gingras, Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Relations at Monadnock Community Hospital. On Monday, Gingras said 195 high-risk employees have been given their first dose of the vaccine. Peterborough-area first responders also report the process has been easier than expected. (Source: Monadnock Ledger-Transcript)

8. Sununu Tells CNN He Has No Plans to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine. In an interview with CNN, Governor Chris Sununu said he has no plans of mandating the vaccine in New Hampshire and that the state is currently focused on vaccinating the high-risk population. Sununu also talked about the importance of precautions, like masks, to keep everyone safe from the virus. “I can't convince people of the science. If you're not buying into the science of what's happening now, there's not a lot of hope there, frankly. What I do implore people to understand is the restrictions are not about you. It's about your neighbors and your community. We wear masks for others. We maintain social distance for others,” Sununu said. (Source: WMUR) Note: While child vaccine mandates are common and maximizing the number of people vaccinated is a key goal, adult vaccine mandates are rare. However, at least 16 states require influenza or hepatitis B vaccinations for postsecondary education. Given the rarity of adult mandates, the authors of an opinion column in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that states are unlikely to enact mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for the adult population, especially in the absence of long-term safety data. They also write that mandating COVID-19 vaccines approved under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)—as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been—may also be legally and ethically problematic because an EUA requires less safety and efficacy data than full Biologics License Application (BLA) approval. Individuals would also likely distrust vaccine mandates under emergency use, viewing it as ongoing medical research. (Source: JAMA)

9. How Community Leaders In N.H. Are Working To Build Trust In COVID-19 Vaccines. In New Hampshire, and nationally, while people of color are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, surveys show they’re also more hesitant to get vaccinated against it. Marie-Elizabeth Ramas and Nia Smart host Facebook broadcasts that try to get more reliable public health information to communities of color in the state by meeting them where they are: on social media. Ramas says communities of color are skeptical of the vaccine because of a long history of medical racism.“The medical community has not given the community of color really a lot to trust," she said. "We have the Tuskeegee trials; we have in the slave times when people of color were taken advantage of and researched upon. So we understand that there’s this push and pull.” Other concerns include the potential cost of the vaccine and its safety due to quick development. Among Black and Latinx adults, there's broad distrust in government and medicine, and for some immigrants, the fear of being tracked by federal officials. So what’s the best way to build trust among people who are already skeptical? Dr. Melissa Martinez-Adorno, an OBGYN at Southern New Hampshire Health, has been making sure COVID-19 vaccine information is available at her hospital in diverse languages. She’s already started getting the word out herself through local Spanish media. Dr. Melissa Martinez-Adorno, right, was one of the first people in the state to get vaccinated publicly against COVID-19. Martinez-Adorno was also one of the first people in the state of New Hampshire to get vaccinated publicly. “My hope is that as Latinos see that I, as a Latina who has four children and who just kind of came from the same kind of background...to be able to model the behavior of receiving that vaccine, I think that’s step one," she said. (Source: NHPR)

10. Several NH Hospitals Now Offering Monoclonal Antibodies to Combat COVID-19. Several hospitals in New Hampshire are starting to offer an antibody infusion therapy to those at risk of being hospitalized by COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies are now being offered through Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Frisbie Memorial Hospital and Parkland Medical Center. “The way they work with the COVID virus, it surrounds the virus and stops the virus from getting into the cells, it blocks it during a critical phase,” Chief Medical Officer at Portsmouth Regional Hospital Dr. Thomas Wold said. “There is always that chance that the virus will progress regardless of what we do, the only true definitive therapy that we have is vaccination.” Wold said the one dose, outpatient IV treatment, is for people who have mild to moderate symptoms and are at risk for hospitalization. He said people should inquire about this therapy through their primary care physician within 10 days of contracting COVID-19. (Source: WMUR) Monoclonal antibody treatments have been credited with President Trump’s rapid recovery following his infection. But the treatment has been slow to reach others that could benefit from it. (Source: USA Today)

11. Statehouses Could Prove to be Hothouses for Virus Infection. As lawmakers around the U.S. convene this winter to deal with the crisis created by the pandemic, statehouses themselves could prove to be hothouses for infection. Many legislatures will start the year meeting remotely, but some Republican-controlled statehouses, from Montana to Pennsylvania, plan to hold at least part of their sessions in person, without requiring masks. Public health officials say that move endangers the safety of other lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists, the public and the journalists responsible for holding politicians accountable. The risk is more than mere speculation: An ongoing tally by The Associated Press finds that more than 250 state lawmakers across the country have contracted COVID-19, and at least seven have died. The 400-member New Hampshire House plans to hold its first session day Wednesday with a drive-in event at the University of New Hampshire in what acting Speaker Sherm Packard called the body’s “most risk-mitigated session” yet during the pandemic. New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch, a Republican, died from COVID-19 on Dec. 9, a week after being sworn in during an outdoor gathering at UNH. Democrats have pushed for remote gatherings, but so far Republicans have refused to enact the rules changes they insist are needed before members can participate in House sessions remotely. (Source: Associated Press) Last week, several Democratic lawmakers said that the car meeting plan would also be a problem for people with disabilities. Three representatives released letters they had written to acting-House Speaker Sherman Packard requesting accommodations to allow them to participate remotely due to disabilities. Some said that sitting that long in cars would be painful; others said that they had been avoiding gatherings of lawmakers to avoid COVID-19. But on Monday, the speaker’s office repeated its position that without a change in the chamber’s rules to allow convening remotely, the meetings must go ahead in person despite the pandemic. (Source: Concord Monitor) Democrats have argued that no rule change is needed, pointing to a N.H. State Supreme Court ruling stating they are permissible under the N.H. Constitution as well as to the New Hampshire State Senate, which has agreed to meet remotely without a rules change (or the need to conduct a risky car-hop congress).

12. Portsmouth Schools Approve Plan for More In-Person Learning. The city School Board has approved new operational phases for grades 3 and up, scheduled to take effect for the second half of the school year. The new plan results in additional in-person instruction for grades 3-12, and will likely begin in late January or early February. "The main goal of the plan is to increase in-person learning for those who were previously only coming in one day per week," said Superintendent Steve Zadravec said Monday. Per the School Board's Dec. 17 vote, which updated the initial reopening plan first approved in July, grades 3-5 will move to an a.m./p.m. split, similar to the current K-2 model of students in school for half days, four days per week. Portsmouth Middle School will shift to two in-person days for all students, split alphabetically, while Portsmouth High School will shift to an a.m./p.m. split four days a week. (Source: Seacoast Online)

13. Movement Growing to Fly Red Cross Flags to Thank Those Helping COVID-19 Patients. For a former Portsmouth deputy city manager, the Red Cross flag is taking on a new meaning these days. The symbol of the international aid organization is also being flown as a way to say thanks. On Thanksgiving, Ted Jankowski started flying a Red Cross flag at his Portsmouth home as a way to say thanks to first responders helping those with COVID-19. It's an idea that appears to be spreading. “I saw flags over the weekend flying in Rye and other places. I know that they're flying today at the town hall in Newington,” Jankowski said. Jankowski said he hopes that two thoughts go through people's minds when they see the flags. “First and foremost, is to say 'thank you' to these people that are on the front lines — that's the most important," Jankowski said. The second hope is that the flag serves as a reminder to wear a mask. “If we don't start stepping up and doing something, this pandemic is never going to end,” Jankowski said. Jankowski and Newington resident Bob Hasshold are also making flags available for free through the Portsmouth Public Library. They are also working to make them available through Newmarket Town Hall, and that process is in the works. (Source: WMUR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 4, 2021

• 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

Monday, January 4

(Source: The Covid Tracking Project via The New York Times.

11 additional deaths and a record 1,317 positive tests announced on Sunday. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news your need to know to start your Monday.

1. COVID Tracker: Vaccines a Bright Spot Amid Worsening Numbers. In its weekly analysis of New Hampshire COVID-19 metrics, the Concord Monitor notes the arrival of vaccines has been a bright spot amid the dismay – but uncertainty remains. The two-week average of new cases rose sharply for two months and peaked around Dec. 20, three weeks after all the Thanksgiving travel. Since then it has slipped from 855 to 745. That’s a good trend but the figure is still seven times higher than it was during the spring phase of the pandemic. The number of New Hampshire residents who died from COVID-19 has also quadrupled this month, from slightly less than 2 deaths per day at the start of the month to about 8 a day as of Dec. 30. As before, almost all of these are occurring in our elderly population. The December surge in the state’s positivity rate (the percent of people tested who test positive for the virus) is another reason for concern. Before late November, the positivity rate on any given day was almost never above 5%, a commonly used guideline to reflect whether the virus is spreading widely. Since then it has almost never been below 5%. Worse, it is moving higher: The two-week average went from 5.9% the week before Christmas to 6.4% on New Year’s Eve. As much as any single measurement on this list, that trend indicates that SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not only spreading but spreading more quickly through the Granite State. That’s bad news, especially since, as far as we know, the new mutation that makes the virus more contagious has not arrived here yet. (Source: Concord Monitor) Over the weekend, daily hospitalizations in New Hampshire also hit an all-time high of 335, although that number fell to 325 on Sunday. Officials from the Elliot Health System said starting Monday, they will have to cut back on elective surgeries and focus on time-sensitive or cancer-related procedures. That will last for at least the coming week. Officials at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester said they may have to cut back on elective surgeries as well. (Source: WMUR)

2. New Cases Soar As N.H. Active COVID Case Count...Declines? On Sunday, January 3, 2021, N.H. DHHS announced 1,317 new positive test results for COVID-19 and updated its active daily case count to 6,096. The 1,317 new positive tests represent the highest number of new cases announced on a single day in NH during the entire pandemic. Despite the record number, the total active daily case count actually FELL on Sunday by 299 cases after being listed at 6,468 on Saturday. (Source: NH DHHS) Note: If this trend continues, New Hampshire could continue to add 1,000+ cases per day and somehow would arrive at no active cases in about three weeks. (Not sure what is going on with the state’s numbers here, but I will try to find out.)

3. Anti-Mask Protesters Return to Gov. Sununu's Home Despite Town Law. State police remained watchful Sunday as about 75 protesters who were told last week a new town ordinance prohibited them from picketing in front of Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s home came back anyway. The protesters, who oppose Sununu's mask mandate and other coronavirus restrictions supported by state and federal public health officials, remained peaceful. State police took no action, sitting in cars in Sununu’s driveway and standing alongside his home near the public access path. The group had divided themselves into three before they left Town Hall. Brennan Christen, one of the organizers from Absolute Defiance, which has been organizing protests regularly outside Sununu's home since he ordered a statewide mask mandate in November, said most of the people taking part in the protests voted for Sununu, but are now losing faith in him. “We will pray for an end to tyranny,” Christen said. “We will pray for an end to all types of tyranny here in New Hampshire, not just that of one man.” (Source: Seacoast Online)

4. Taxes, COVID-19, Education, Voting to Dominate 2021 N.H. Legislature. New Hampshire lawmakers will try to move beyond an unprecedented 2020 and start plowing through nearly 900 bills facing them in 2021. Gov. Chris Sununu and the newly-in-charge Republican legislative leaders want lawmakers to narrow their focus to top priorities and lower their expectations as the State House, along with the entire state, limps through the pandemic. The printed copies of the bills are a few weeks from coming out, but the top four topics, in order, are taxes, COVID-19 and the state of emergency, education and voting/election laws. Sununu has stressed that his No. 1 job is to craft the next two-year state budget, which will deal with the aftermath of the economic fallout that came from the coronavirus. While a budget deficit of $500 million to $700 million was initially predicted, state revenues have since recovered, powered by a booming real estate market and robust business from “box stores” and home improvement centers. The latest estimate of what the deficit will look like by July 1 is well under $100 million. Greg Moore, state director of the fiscally conservative Americans for Prosperity, said a fervor for tax cuts is strong among the narrow 212-187 Republican majority in the House. “You have a House majority that is absolutely demanding a tax reduction,” Moore said. Gov. Sununu has proposed cutting both the Rooms and Meals Tax and state business taxes. Despite projected shortfalls for 2020, both make up a sizable portion of state revenues. State Senator Lou D’Allesandro warned this tax cut mania could wind up dismantling essential services. “There is a thread of hypocrisy in all this. We have to deeply cut the budget so we can cut more taxes and that’s going to make New Hampshire stronger? I don’t think so,” D’Allesandro said. One issue where some Republican legislators are not on the same page as the governor is his authority to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Several GOP legislators have introduced bills that would roll back emergency orders, reduce Sununu’s powers to issue new ones, and would return fines collected from violators. On the education front, Sununu and Acting House Speaker Sherman Packard are expected to push for “education freedom accounts,” which will enable parents to take part of that per-pupil state education grant and use it to send their children to alternative public or private schools. Democrats have opposed the idea because it would divert public tax dollars to private schools at a time when the state is already being sued for coming up short in its responsibility under the N.H. Constitution to adequately fund the state’s public schools. (Source: Union Leader)

5. Another N.H. Restaurant Goes into Hibernation Until Spring. Bonfire Restaurant and Country Bar on Elm Street in Manchester is the latest eatery to temporarily close as COVID-19 cases continue to spike. The restaurant announced Saturday it will temporarily close and reopen in February. (Source: Manchester Union Leader) Several Portsmouth restaurants, including Martingale Wharf, Jumpin' Jay's Fish Cafe, The Franklin, Moxy, Rudi's Portsmouth, Poco's Bow Street Cantina, The District, and Cisco Brewers have also announced temporary closures, but plan to return in the spring. The Black Trumpet restaurant has announced it will suspend indoor dining for January while continuing to offer takeout and will reevaluate the situation in February.

6. Interest in Outdoor Activities Expected to Heat Up this Winter in New Hampshire. Outdoor winter event planners and safety officials are anticipating a busy season following the unexpected rise of outdoor enthusiasts earlier this year. Barring a lack of ice and snow, or more heavy state restrictions, ice fishing derbies, winter carnivals, and pond hockey events scheduled for February and March will be held. But organizers aren’t sure what to expect for turnouts. In the meantime, events are being adjusted to meet state pandemic guidelines. The Great Meredith Ice Fishing Derby, scheduled for Feb. 13-14, is one of the largest statewide ice fishing events. This year it will feature an online “virtual fish board” to replace the large wooden fish board where anglers and derby officials usually hang the largest catches as they come to derby headquarters. Many winter carnivals, such as those in Hanover, Alton and Newport, are still on schedule for February and March, as are numerous fishing derbies statewide. Mask and social distancing restrictions are noted on event web pages, but officials say that because these are outdoor events, spread over a wide area, they can be held safely with some modifications. (Source NH Business Review)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 3, 2021

• 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

Sunday, January 3

(Source: UNH Survey Center)

On Saturday, N.H. public health officials reported 10 additional COVID-19 deaths and 1,178 new positive tests. Here is the rest of the coronavirus-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Sunday.

1. N.H. Hits New Daily Highs for Hospitalizations and PCR Positivity Rate. Another 10 Granite Staters have died from COVID-19, the state announced Saturday. All the deceased were older than age 60 and eight were residents of long-term care facilities. New Hampshire has had 769 coronavirus fatalities -- and confirmed 45,184 positive cases -- since the pandemic began. The 1,178 new cases are from test results over the past handful of days, with 378 new infections from Thursday, and 712 from Wednesday. Of the new cases, 150 are under the age of 18. The daily active case count statewide continues to fluctuate between 6,000 and just under 7,000 as some people recover and others test positive. There are currently 335 people hospitalized with the coronavirus, surpassing the previous record of 317 set Thursday, which is when state officials last provided a COVID-19 update. The daily PCR test positivity rate reported Saturday was 9.3%, the highest since widespread testing began in the state. (Sources: WMUR and N.H. DHHS) Nationally, at least 123,639 people were in the hospital with coronavirus on Saturday, marking 32 consecutive days that the number of US hospitalizations has exceeded 100,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Cases have skyrocketed since the Thanksgiving holiday, and impacts from Christmas and New Year's celebrations are still unfolding. As of Saturday, more than 20.4 million people have been infected with the virus in the US and at least 350,186 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Source: CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/03/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html )

2. Those We've Lost to COVID-19. In this article, the NH Sunday News takes a look at the lives and the legacy of three of the people we lost to COVID-19 in 2020. A veteran who survived some of the fiercest battles of World War II, a retired postal carrier, and an unassuming accountant. It’s easy to become numb to the number of deaths reported: 769 as of Saturday, and 68 in the past week. But each one of those numbers represents a family’s broken heart. (Source: NH Sunday News)

3. Politics, Age, Race, Education, and Income All Impact Who in NH Says They Will Get Vaccinated. Six in ten New Hampshire residents say they will almost certainly (42%) or probably (19%) get vaccinated when a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to them in the new year. That’s the finding of a recent Granite State on-line poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. According to the survey, approximately three in ten say they will probably not (10%) or almost certainly not (21%) get vaccinated. The numbers were roughly in line with national surveys conducted around the same time in early December. More interesting than the top-line numbers are the partisan, generational, education, geographic, and income divides. Eighty-five percent of self-described Democrats in the Granite State say they’re likely to get vaccinated. That number drops to 52% among independents and 41% among Republicans. According to the survey, those age 65 and older (76%) are more likely than younger people to get vaccinated. Those with postgraduate (80%) or college degrees (72%) say they’ll definitely or probably take the shots. That number drops to 48% for those with a high school degree or less. The survey indicates that Seacoast (75%) or Massachusetts border (75%) residents said they were likely to get vaccinated. That number plunges to just 35% of North Country residents who feel the same way. And higher-income residents were more likely than lower-income Granite Staters to take the shots. One of the largest and most concerning gaps is an apparent racial divide. (Sources: Concord Monitor and UNH Survey Center) According to the survey, 65% of people identifying as white or Caucasian say they will get the vaccine but only 29% of people identifying with other ethnicities or racial groups. This finding is of particular concern because the coronavirus has impacted racial and ethnic minorities disproportionally in NH and other states.

4. What COVID Relief Package Round 2 Means for NH. In signing the end-of-year spending package last month, President Donald Trump put in motion the latest stimulus effort by Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, over $2 billion in aid will head to New Hampshire in the next few months. In total, about $614 million in direct federal stimulus payments (the $600 checks) will flow to New Hampshire residents and families. The new aid bill also includes a $685 million federal enhancement of state unemployment benefits. Starting Jan. 2, recipients of unemployment benefits will begin seeing $300 a week added on to the benefits they already qualify for from state unemployment. That could mean that weekly checks could be as low as $332 and as high as $727, depending on the recipient’s previous salary. New Hampshire will also get $36 million to help with distribution, and an additional $183 million to assist in ongoing contract tracing and COVID-19 mitigation. It remains to be seen how the state implements this aid. In recent weeks, the state had pulled back on its contact tracing efforts, pointing to the surge of the second wave of the virus as being too strong to keep up with using its resources and staffing. Also included in the package are rental relief, child care assistance, funeral assistance, and more aid for small businesses. (Source: Concord Monitor)

5. NH Trails Most States in Collecting Unemployment Overpayments. New Hampshire recouped the smallest share of overpaid unemployment benefits east of the Mississippi River in 2020, but that hasn’t stopped people from stressing about it. “It’s been a long, tiring emotional toll on me,” Seacoast resident Suzanne Anderson wrote in an email. “The stress alone is horrendous.” Employment Security wants the 50-something Anderson to repay more than $4,000 in unemployment benefits she received last year. She now lives in a Portsmouth homeless shelter. In November, the New Hampshire Sunday News reported that Employment Security was seeking nearly $25 million in “overpayments” from more than 10,000 people among a record number who received unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic. Overpayments can result from people incorrectly answering one of the weekly questions required to receive benefits, or they might not have included all income earned in a given week. People receiving overpayment notices usually have their weekly benefits shut off immediately. Deputy Commissioner Rich Lavers said the state has chosen not to aggressively pursue the collection of overpayments during the pandemic. “The bottom line here is that each case needs to be looked at individually, and if you are not at fault in causing the overpayment, then if it is a state benefit overpayment, you will not be required to repay.” New Hampshire’s recovery rate of 25.26% was the nation’s fifth lowest, behind only Washington, Texas, Utah and Colorado. “We have temporarily halted our more aggressive collection methods due to the circumstances of the pandemic. These include wage garnishment, real estate liens and bank account levies,” Lavers said in a recent email. (Source: NH Sunday News)

6. State Revenue Recovery Continues as 2020 Ends. It’s beginning to look a lot like New Hampshire state revenues will recover. December is one of the critical economic barometer months. As of last Thursday, on the eve of 2021, the state seemed poised to show another month in the black. Through Dec. 30, revenues were $6.3 million ahead of pre-pandemic forecasts. While the hospitality industry continues to crater, bringing in 21% less than expected, more than making up that shortfall, however, were real estate transactions. They came in 49% higher than expected for the month, contributing a $6.3 million surplus all by themselves. Tobacco sales continue to boom with revenue 54% over expectations. Meanwhile business taxes continued a steady rebound, finishing 2.1% over plan. (Source: NH Sunday News)

7. Amid January Rush, NH Gyms are Optimistic Heading Into 2021. Thanks to New Year’s resolutions, January is normally a busy time of year for gyms. But with the pandemic and capacity limitations, what “busy” means has changed. “Despite the different circumstances, we have to say things are going much better than what would be anticipated,” said Andy Marino, chief operating officer of Best Fitness in Nashua. New Hampshire fitness centers are striking optimistic tones while factoring in the limitations of COVID-19 protocols. At Best Fitness new memberships are down 10-15% from this time last year. Fortitude Health and Training in Manchester says sales for 2020 were down 20-25%. One area where gyms are seeing an increase in signups: personal training sessions. “Although there may be less people coming in, I think people value their health more than ever and understand the value of having a plan and the value of being healthy,” Marino said. (Source: WMUR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – January 2, 2021

• 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

Saturday, January 2

On Dec. 31, the communities in NH with the most active COVID-19 cases were Manchester (621), Nashua (455), Concord (289, and Dover (193). Portsmouth had 93. (Source: N.H. DHHS).

On Friday, New Years Day, the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services did not issue an update because of the holiday. Here is the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Saturday.

1. Vaccine Distribution Ramps up in NH, Phase 2 Goal is 100 Shots per Hour at Fixed Sites. As efforts to rapidly distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in New Hampshire continue, state officials are currently drafting a vaccine plan for Phase 2 which has a goal of administering 100 shots per hour at each of the 13 fixed sites statewide. Perry Plummer, the former Assistant Commissioner of Safety for New Hampshire, that goal is realistic and achievable for New Hampshire, but it will take time to get the effort up to speed. "We expect this to be a little bit of a windy road, and to make sure we're ready to take turns wherever we need to, to make sure we can get people vaccinated in the State of New Hampshire as quickly as possible," said Plummer. Plummer also says the state’s vaccine delivery system is working as planned right now and any hold-ups at the moment are related to incoming vaccine allocations, which has prompted health officials to hold a certain amount of vaccines in reserve. Second shots for those who received their first round of the COVID-19 vaccine in December will begin next week. As of Friday, more than 21,000 vaccines have been administered. (Source: WMUR) Timing for the start of Phase 2 remains up in the air as only 19% of the first responders, health care workers, and nursing home residents and staff have received their first dose. According to the CDC, New Hampshire was expecting almost a hundred thousand more doses than have arrived so far, a proportion similar to other states, as Operation Warp Speed has rolled out slower than anticipated. (Source: NHPR)

2. School Nurses Receive First Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine. For New Hampshire school nurses, most of whom have been directly exposed to COVID-positive students in their jobs this year, the vaccine brings the promise of safety and a sense of hope during a difficult year in education. Many school nurses received their first dose of the vaccine this week, including nurses from the Concord, Bow-Dunbarton and Hopkinton school districts, and others will be getting it in the weeks to come. Stuart Gesen, the nurse at Broken Ground School in Concord, was vaccinated Thursday at the Steeplegate Mall location. Gesen said getting the vaccine makes her feel hopeful. “I have seen firsthand what the pandemic has done to many of our families in our schools,” Gesen said. “It’s been such a hard time for many of our families. I feel like this will be our first big chance to get out of this. I hope people will trust the science to take the vaccine.” School nurses are being vaccinated as part of New Hampshire’s Phase 1 vaccine rollout, that prioritizes health care workers. (Source: Concord Monitor)

3. As COVID-19 Hits 3 Belknap County Facilities Hard, Discrepencies Found in DHHS Reporting. Golden View Health Care in Meredith is in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that has claimed several lives and infected dozens of residents and staff members. On Thursday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services said that as of Dec. 30, 62 residents and 33 staff members at Golden View had tested positive for the virus and that three people had died from it. Rosemarie Simino, who is the administrator of Golden View Health Care Center, did not return a message left for her about the outbreak. Previously, DHHS said there was an outbreak at the NH Veterans Home in Tilton that has claimed the lives of 35 residents, although the Veterans Home reports the number as 36. On Dec. 30, the St. Francis Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Laconia said on its Facebook page that 17 residents and three staff members had tested positive, but as of Friday afternoon, that outbreak had not yet been reported by DHHS. A day earlier, however, DHHS did cite an outbreak at the Lakes Region Community Services’ Fairview Home in Laconia where there had been six resident cases, nine staff cases and one death reported. Brenda Buttrick, who is the administrator at St. Francis, wrote that residents who tested positive were moved “to our quarantine unit on the Lodge and any staff members who have tested positive are not working.” (Source: Union Leader)

4. Town Meeting 2021: Lots of Alternate Options, and Uncertainty. Town warrants for 2021 are just around the corner, and with them looms a decision that many town officials are calling too soon to call: how to hold 2021 Town Meeting admidst a pandemic? The state made provisions for towns to hold virtual meetings in legislation approved in 2020. “There’s flaws in all of these things,” Dublin Moderator Tim Clark said, describing the numerous options that town moderators throughout the state are currently discussing online. Although towns can legally hold drive-through ballot voting, and address residents’ questions about the warrant in virtual information sessions under the state’s guidance, “both of those really don’t permit the kind of open, free debate that we’re accustomed to at Town Meeting,” he said. Then there’s the moving target of the coronavirus pandemic. Clark said it’s anyone’s guess what the threat of COVID-19 will be in just a few short months. Although postponing the meeting remains an option, it carries all the same risks it did a year ago, he said. “It’s better to get the budget approved and start the year right,” he said, but that he was yet to decide what to recommend for Dublin. The dilemma over how to best hold meetings isn’t limited to municipalities: three Democratic members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives with disabilities that don’t allow them to drive are pushing for a virtual meeting option for “Convening Day” on Jan. 6, rather than the drive-in model now planned where legislators sit in their cars in a parking lot at the University of New Hampshire and hear the speeches over FM radio. (Source: Monadnock Ledger-Transcript)

5. Vermont Town Votes to Overturn Governor's COVID Restrictions. The Vermont town of Stamford has voted to overturn in its community Gov. Phil Scott's emergency orders issued to protect the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. The select board of the town of about 800 people along the Massachusetts border voted 3-2 Tuesday to "terminate'' the governor's restrictions. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Phillips said Wednesday in a letter to the town that state law does not give the town authority to terminate the state of emergency. (Source: NECN)

6. Portsmouth Restaurants Turn to Creativity, Temporary Closure to Remain Open Long-Term. Restaurants in Portsmouth are planning strategic moves, such as choosing to temporary close until at least Mar. 1, as a way of remaining open long-term. Martingale Wharf, a restaurant with a popular deck that overlooks the Piscataqua River, is one of the recent restaurants to announce a temporary closure. “Winters are tough on the water anyway in Portsmouth and then when you do the reduced seating, there's still a lot of people that do not want to dine inside,” explained Michelle Matthews, the director of operations for the restaurant. Matthews added that the staff of the Martingale Wharf will focus on its sister restaurants, the Rosa, which has a more takeout-friendly menu, and the Sol, which is set to open soon. Cafe Nostimo is taking a different approach. According to the restaurant, takeout accounts for 90% of their business and they recently added an indoor Greek market with prepared entrees for people to buy and bake at home. “This is going to be a transition period, the Covid virus is still right around us on our door step and we have to continue to be innovative,” said Dean Zottos, the owner of Café Nostimo. “We have a new business plan for lack of a better explanation, every day of the week." (Source: WMUR)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 31, 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

Friday, January 1

(Source: N.H. DHHS)

18 additional deaths and 848 positive test results were announced on Thursday by N.H. public health officials along with the good news that over 21,000 Granite Staters have been vaccinated to date. Here in the rest of the pandemic-related N.H. news you need to know to start your Friday—and your new year.

1. State Releases Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution. According to new numbers released by the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, 47,645 vaccine doses have been distributed to vaccination sites across the state and 21,126 doses have been administered. Close to 16,000 additional doses have been allocated and are available to order by vaccination sites charged with vaccinating people in the high-risk groups in Phase 1A. The update also reveals New Hampshire expects to receive 17,175 additional doses next week, which will be allocated to the federal long-term care pharmacy partnership program, hospitals, Regional Public Health Networks, and the state-managed fixed sites.There are approximately 112,915 people scheduled to receive shots during Phase 1A. To date, 57% of the number of vaccine doses needed for this group have been “allocated” while 43% of the total doses needed have actually been ordered and delivered to vaccination sites. So far, 19% of the people eligible for vaccination in Phase 1A have actually been vaccinated. Worth noting is that while the numbers shed light on the quantity of doses the state is receiving and how many people are being vaccinated, they don’t include information on the number of doses received by individual facilities, such as hospitals and nursing homes. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

2. COVID Vaccines Bring Hope to Seacoast Long-Term-Care Facilities. Tom Argue, CEO of the Webster at Rye long-term-care facility, is thankful that no residents at his facility have tested positive during the pandemic. “We have been pretty lucky here, but we are constantly shifting our views on things like family visitation. At first we closed that down. Then we allowed window visits, and then visits outside. We began to do inside carefully staged visits and then we had to shut that down again. We were testing every two weeks, then every week, until we were up to two times a week when the cases in the state began to go higher. It’s been a roller coaster for sure.” The rapid development and approval of effective COVID-19 vaccines and their arrival at long-term facilities represents a turning point in a nine-month battle that has seen 600 of the state’s 758 deaths take place in long-term care settings. Webster at Rye held its first COVID-19 vaccination clinic Wednesday, Dec. 30, with 145 people receiving their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the first approved in the United States. It was administered by pharmacists from CVS. The second clinic will be held Jan. 20. (Source: Seacoast Online)

3. COVID Claims Another 18 Lives As Long-Term Care Deaths Hit 600 and State Reports Record Hospitalizations. Of the 18 fatalities announced on Thursday, 16 involved residents age 60 or over and two involved people younger than age 60. 758 people have now died in New Hampshire from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, including 600 residents of long-term care facilities. Hospitalizations climbed to 317, setting a new single-day record. Of the 848 new positive test results announced for COVID-19, 118 were for residents under the age of 18. (Source: N.H. DHHS)

4. Six Dead as COVID-19 Outbreak Rocks Golden View Home in Meredith. An outbreak of COVID-19 at the Golden View Health Care Center now involves half of the residents as well as more than a quarter of the staff and six people have died, nursing home administrator Rosemary Simino said Wednesday. A total of 56 residents and 52 staff members have tested positive for the virus, she said. Seven residents have recovered. The home is licensed for 105 residents and has a staff of 182. “The virus is very contagious,” Simino said. “Individuals who don’t have any symptoms or are presymptomatic can and do spread virus unknowingly despite mitigation measures, personal protection equipment and daily screening. “Due to the nature of personal care at bedside, social distancing can’t always be maintained.” Vaccinations are planned at the facility on Jan. 6. (Source: Laconia Daily Sun) Vaccination clinics can’t some soon enough as other nursing homes continue to experience outbreaks. A resident of the Maplewood Nursing Home has tested positive for COVID-19 just days after a staff member tested positive. The facility is operated by Cheshire County and the first vaccinations have been scheduled for Monday. All residents are also being tested. (Source: Keene Sentinel) Thursday also brought news of 3 staff members testing positive in the Sullivan County Nursing Home in Unity as vaccinations for residents and staff of that facility are scheduled to begin on Jan. 6. (Source: The Valley News)

5. No Resident COVID-19 Cases at New Hampshire Veterans Home for First Time Since Early November. For the first time since an outbreak hit the New Hampshire Veterans Home, there were no known active COVID-19 cases involving any residents Friday. Since the outbreak started at the Tilton facility on Nov. 10, more than 90 residents contracted the virus, with 37 of them dying. Nearly 100 staff members also became infected with coronavirus. Four were still recovering on Friday. Vaccinations at the home started on Dec. 23 and they are expected to be completed by next Wednesday. In a Facebook post on Friday, the facility wrote that testing of residents will continue.“In the interim, with the new year comes new hope for a permanent end to our outbreak.” (Source: WMUR)

6. COVID-19 Variant Not Detected Yet in New Hampshire. A new, more contagious strain of COVID-19 detected in three other US states has not made its way to New Hampshire. The variant, known as B-117, has been found in California, Colorado and Florida. While no cases of the variant have been detected in New Hampshire, the state's top doctors are preparing for that possibility. Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, the deputy state epidemiologist, said it’s no surprise to see mutations to COVID-19, but some of the new data is concerning. “Viruses constantly change due to mutation,” Talbot said. “The preliminary analysis suggests that this variant is 1.4 to 1.7 times more transmissible than the usual strain of virus.” In other words, the variant is up to 70% more contagious than the typical COVID-19 strain. (Source: WMUR)

7. Judge Orders Man Freed from Valley Street Jail Citing Jail's 'Cavalier Attitude' Toward COVID. A Superior Court judge ordered home confinement Thursday for a Valley Street jail inmate who caught COVID-19 there, noting a “cavalier attitude” toward the deadly disease at the facility. Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Charles Temple ordered William James, 37, freed at 6 p.m. Thursday. The order came a day after a lengthy hearing that disclosed nearly non-existent testing for inmates, a high rate of infection among staff and practices that do not conform to state and federal guidelines. “The court is deeply troubled by the cavalier attitude that (Hillsborough County House of Correction) had shown towards its inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Temple wrote. He noted that James has risk factors that put him at danger for complications and that James was being held in a quarantine unit with incoming inmates. He warned they could become infected and spread the virus throughout the facility. “Suffice it to say, that the deliberate indifference at this facility to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as it relates to high-risk inmates, is troubling at best,” Temple wrote. (Source: Manchester Union Leader)

8. With COVID-19 Rapidly Spreading, Inmates Worry They Can't Stay Safe. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly through the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord. As of Thursday, the state says there are 49 active cases of COVID-19 among inmates and another 16 among staff. The men say they have very little ability to social distance, and because New Hampshire’s prisons only test inmates with symptoms and those who have been in contact with positive cases, they’re worried the virus will spread unchecked. Zebadiah Kellogg-Roe, currently incarcerated at NHSPM, until recently was living in his usual pod of about two dozen inmates. When one tested positive, that inmate was pulled from the pod, and the rest quarantined together. And then Kellogg-Roe’s roommate began coughing - but there was nowhere Kellogg-Roe could go to keep his distance. “I can’t proactively move to a healthy place. This is considered a healthy place now that they’ve moved the sick people out," he said. "I can’t say, ‘I feel at risk.’” The DOC reported its first death due to COVID-19 on Wednesday, of an inmate at the State Prison for Men. For privacy reasons, the department declined to confirm that person’s identity. One woman NHPR spoke to believes that inmate was her father, 72-year-old Ransford Lovely Jr. His death certificate shows COVID-19 as one cause of his death on December 16th. Amanda Lovely says she was notified by a chaplain about an hour after he died. She says it had been hard to keep up a relationship with him while he was incarcerated and that she knew nothing about his living conditions before he went to the hospital. She didn’t even know he was sick. “I just feel like I was robbed of any opportunity to say goodbye…He was treated as a third-class citizen, and I don’t think that’s fair, to my sisters, myself, even my mother.” She says she has reached out to Commissioner Hanks of the DOC but has received no response. (Source: NHPR)

9. Sununu Order Allows Some Military Members, EMTs to Become Nursing Assistants. Gov. Chris Sununu signed a new emergency order Thursday that allows some members of the military and emergency medical technicians to be temporarily licensed as nursing assistants. "I think every fire department, EMS department in the state probably has personnel that want to do more, want to help out more," Chief Todd Germain of the Portsmouth Fire Department said. "And this is an opportunity for them to do that on their days off. They can certainly make that happen." There are nearly 5,000 people in the EMS system alone who could opt in. The temporary license lasts for up to four months. (Source: WMUR)

10. Another Portsmouth Restaurant Goes Into Hibernation for Winter. The popular waterfront restaurant Martingale Wharf announced Thursday it will take a "short hiatus during the winter months," like many Seacoast restaurants have chosen to do in light of COVID-19.The Bow Street restaurant stated it will reopen April 1. "To continue to be the best we may possibly be, we will be taking a short hiatus during the winter months and focusing on developing our new menu for spring and summer, giving the restaurant and deck a fresh coat of paint, and focusing on building on two sister restaurants, The Rosa and Sol, opening in early 2021," Martingale Wharf management announced. (Source: Seacoast Online)

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

• NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – December 31, 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