By Holly Ramer and Wilson Ring
Associated Press
Here are the latest developments regarding the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic throughout New England:
New Hampshire
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed two bills for a second time Friday, along with a third aimed at protecting renters during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sununu also signed a pandemic-related bill into law — a measure that helps town and school districts whose usual process of adopting annual budgets via Town Meeting in March was disrupted. The new law allows communities to hold virtual meetings this year, and to spend money at last year’s rate in the meantime. It also requires the state to publicly list on its website details of how federal coronavirus relief is being spent, including the names of each person or entity receiving payments.
The vetoed bill would have required landlords considering eviction to first offer tenants a six-month repayment plan for rent missed during the coronavirus emergency. Sununu issued a moratorium on evictions on March 13, but it expired July 1. To ease the transition, the state has allocated $35 million of its federal funding to help people avoid losing their housing, including assistance for past due rent and utilities and help securing more permanent housing.
“We must remember that property owners have also struggled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sununu said in his veto message. Landlords with 10 or fewer units account for 90 percent of the state’s rental market, and if they can’t pay their bills, they could end up selling their property, he said. That would drive up the cost of rent statewide, he said, hurting “the very same group that proponents of this legislation suggest they are trying to help.”
The bill also would have created protections for homeowners who fell behind on their mortgage payments. Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes, D-Concord, called the veto a “slap in the face” to hardworking families.
“Creating a housing fund is fine, but a housing fund is not housing protection. Rather than allowing baseline housing protections to move forward, Governor Sununu once again sided with lobbyists and big banks over families trying to stay in their homes,” said Feltes, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.
Sununu also vetoed a paid family leave and medical bill for a second time, repeating his characterization of it as an income tax. He also again rejected so-called “no-excuse” absentee voting. While the state will temporarily allow anyone to vote by absentee ballot this fall because of the pandemic, state law limits the use of absentee ballots to only a few circumstances. Supporters of the bill argued that permanently expanding absentee balloting would ensure equal access to elections, but Sununu called it a “radical, partisan piece of legislation.”
“New Hampshire’s voting system works very well and we consistently have some of the highest voter participation in the country,” Sununu wrote in his veto message. “The proponents of House Bill 1672 seek to take advantage of a global pandemic to fundamentally and permanently weaken New Hampshire’s electoral system.”
Rep. David Cote, chair of the House Election Law Committee, said the pandemic has shown how urgent and necessary it is to give voters a choice in how they vote.
“Voters have become very concerned about the health risks they may face by voting in-person. Requiring a narrowly defined excuse for voting absentee is archaic, unfair, and should be changed immediately,” Cote, D-Nashua, said in a statement.
Sununu vetoed just seven bills in his first term when his party controlled both the House and Senate. But after Democrats took control of both chambers, he vetoed more than 50 bills. Democrats were unable to reach the two-thirds majority required to override the vetoes in all but a few instances. None of three bills Sununu rejected Friday had passed with veto-proof margins.
Fall snowmobile fundraiser canceled: A fall fundraiser to help New Hampshire snowmobile clubs maintain upward of 7,000 trails throughout the state has been canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the New Hampshire Snowmobile Association said Friday.
The “Race into Winter, New Hampshire Grass Drags and Watercross” was scheduled for Oct. 9-11 in the town of Fremont.
“This is the single largest fundraiser for snowmobiling in New Hampshire and the impact to club budgets will be substantial,” the association said in a news release.
The powersports event has drawn over 40,000 people from the United States and Canada.
The numbers: As of Friday, 5,991 people in New Hampshire had tested positive for the virus, an increase of 18 from the previous day. Three new deaths were announced, bringing the total to 390.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause more severe illness and can lead to death.
Catholic schools: New Hampshire’s Catholic schools will reopen this fall to classroom-based instruction, the Diocese of Manchester said Thursday.
About 5,200 students attend Catholic schools around the state, according to December 2019 enrollment figures. David Thibault, the diocese’s superintendent of schools, said each school has developed plans to reopen carefully and with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure the health of students, faculty, staff and the community at large.
The diocese also is offering a new incentive program called “See You in Class!” for transfer students. Those in grades 1-8 who transfer to a Catholic school from a non-Catholic school will receive a $1,000 grant toward tuition, while those transferring in grades 9-12 will get $2,000 tuition grants.
Younger cases: Public health officials are closely monitoring an increase in the number of children and young adults testing positive for the coronavirus in New Hampshire.
From June 8 to July 8, the number of positive tests among people under age 30 increased 22% from 1,030 to 1,255, compared to a 16% increase among older residents, according to daily data posted on the Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.
“We are watching this very carefully as we see the trends that are happening in the rest of the country,” Patricia Tilley, deputy director of the state Division of Public Health, told the governor’s Economic Reopening Task Force on Thursday.
In recent weeks, college towns across America have seen clusters of cases that have been traced back to bars, and several states have reported outbreaks at summer camps.
Shopping bags: The task force guiding the reopening of New Hampshire’s economy during the coronavirus pandemic continues to hear from residents eager to dust off their reusable shopping bags.
Gov. Chris Sununu issued an executive order in March requiring retailers to use single-use paper or plastic bags. But opponents have repeatedly questioned whether scientific evidence supports that move.
Gail Page, of Concord, questioned whether state officials had been influenced by lobbyists for the plastics industry.
“Whenever I go shopping I carry things in my arms rather than take a plastic bag, and then go to my car and bag them,” she said. “I am hoping you’ll drop this ban on using your own personal bags.”
The session was the 10th public input session hosted by the task force, but it lasted only half an hour because only seven people called in. Two voiced concerns about President Donald Trump’s planned rally in Portsmouth on Saturday while the others spoke about the plastic bags.
Vermont
Statistics show that the average age of people becoming infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 is declining in Vermont, officials said Friday.
In March and April the average age of people testing positive was between 50 and 55, said Financial Regulation Commissioner Michael Pieciak, who has been overseeing the collection of data about the COVID-19 pandemic in Vermont. In May, the average was between 40 and 50. Over the last six weeks, it has been under 40.
“This illustrates that more vulnerable Vermonters, at least by age, have done a really good job of protecting themselves during Vermont’s re-start and so have the many facilities across our state that house vulnerable Vermonters, nursing homes or other long-term care facilities,” Pieciak said during the regular virus briefing by state officials.
Vermont continues to meet the metrics established to continue the reopening of the state.
But Pieciak said the number of counties from across the Northeast where residents are eligible to visit Vermont without quarantining has gone down in the last week. Now about 11.5 million people are eligible, down from about 13.5 million people a week ago.
People from the areas deemed too high to visit Vermont without quarantining may still visit the state, but they must quarantine for two weeks upon arrival or quarantine for a week and then test negative for the virus.
Housing assistance: Gov. Phil Scott and other administration officials on Friday announced programs to help Vermont renters and homeowners avoid eviction or foreclosure and to help landlords whose tenants are having trouble paying their rent.
Starting Monday, renters will be able to apply for help via a $25 million program run by the Vermont State Housing Authority .
Homeowners who are having trouble making mortgage payments will be eligible for assistance through the Vermont Housing Finance Agency.
The Vermont Landlord Association will be helping landlords whose tenants are unable to pay their rent.
Tenants and homeowners will be able to get help applying for funds through Vermont Legal Aid.
The numbers: On Friday, the state reported five new positive cases of the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to just under 1,280.
Vermont has not seen a COVID-19 fatality since mid-June, with the number holding at 56.
Vermont is continuing to see a small, but steady number of new cases from across the state, but none appear to be part of wider community spread of the virus, said Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine.
“This is indeed our new normal in the COVID-19 era,” Levine said. “It is the expected consequence of the transition from stay-home, stay-safe to our current, less restrictive existence.”
He said he has noticed that the number of new cases reported has fluctuated greatly day-to-day, but he did not have a good explanation.
“I do go to bed at night asking that question,” Levine said. “We do go from five, to 17 to zero.”
He said the state is testing more than 1,000 a day and pop up testing locations set up to deal with local outbreaks could also be playing a role.
“It’s really, really very random,’’ he said.
Nursing home case: A new resident under quarantine at a Burlington nursing home has tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said Tuesday that the person was under a quarantine for new admissions at Elderwood.
“We should actually record this positive case as a success story,” Levine said. “And the reasons I say that is because this case involved an individual who was actually under quarantine already at the facility. ”
The senior care facility said family members of residents have been notified and limited outdoor visitation has been suspended for 28 days.
“Elderwood has implemented established isolation and infection control protocols as well as those protocols consistent with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Vermont State Department of Health for persons suspected of having the virus. This includes comprehensive COVID-19 testing of all residents and staff,” it said in a statement.
The protocols call for new residents to be isolated, tested periodically and monitored for 14 days following admission and staff caring them are required to wear full personal protective equipment, it said.
Lacrosse tournament: Organizers of a lacrosse tournament in Stowe say they have canceled the event after receiving threats.
The annual Stowe LAX Classic was scheduled for the weekend of July 18-19 and has drawn thousands to Vermont. Some residents told WCAX-TV that they were concerned about out-of-staters coming to Vermont amid the coronavirus pandemic. The event for boys’ and girls’ lacrosse has drawn 3,000 to 5,000 people to Stowe in previous years.
Organizers told the station in an email that they were receiving threats from local residents so decided to cancel the tournament.
Maine
Maine’s casinos are emerging from a COVID-19 closure.
Hollywood Slots opens on Friday, a day after the opening of the Oxford Casino. Both have limits on capacity and strict rules for disinfecting to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
The openings come after the office of Maine Gov. Janet Mills released safety protocols for casinos and short-term rentals that want to participate in the state’s latest phase of reopening.
Mills, a Democrat, released “COVID-19 prevention checklists” for businesses on Thursday. Her office also released updated safety guidelines for nail salons, community sports, day camps and overnight summer camps. The state is in the midst of its third stage of reopening its economy.
The state intends to “support Maine businesses while remaining vigilant in the fight against this virus and planning our long-term economic recovery,” said Heather Johnson, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
The governor’s office said the “vast majority” of the state’s economy is now reopened.
The numbers: Maine officials reported 13 more cases of the virus on Friday, bringing the total reported cases to 3,499. The state has also reported 111 deaths.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
Island refuge: A Maine island that once served as a quarantine site during the Spanish Flu is being marketed as a refuge from the coronavirus for a cool $250,000 a week. Plus expenses.
Portland entrepreneur Noah Gordon planned to host high-end weddings on the 12 acres he purchased for $4.5 million on House Island. Now he’s marketing at a coronavirus virus-free safety zone.
House Island sits just offshore, between South Portland and Peaks Island. And it’s a quick helicopter ride from the mainland. Staff at the island will follow health protocols ensuring a “safe haven bubble of privacy, safety and security where guests can socialize, party and play,” according to promotional materials.
“It’s not that safety is the new luxury. Safety is luxury,” Gordon said.
The island was the site of the city’s inspection and quarantine station between 1907 and 1937.
Colleges reopening: Maine’s largest private university said Friday it plans to resume on-campus instruction in a modified format for the coming academic year.
The University of New England said all undergraduate students will be required to bring evidence of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival to campus. They’ll then be tested again shortly thereafter.
The university said it plans to use a hybrid model that includes face-to-face instruction and online experiences.
Maine Maritime Academy also announced that it will reopen campus and hold in-person courses starting Aug. 31.
Legislative safety: The Maine Legislative Council adopted new guidelines on Thursday that are designed to protect legislators, staff and others during Maine Legislature activities. One of the new rules states that legislative spaces are open only to legislators, staff and essential third parties such as media members.
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