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School reopening, tourism at center of state virus decisions

By Holly Ramer, Lisa Rathke and David Sharp
Associated Press
Families trying to squeeze in a summer vacation before school starts better do some homework on COVID-19 restrictions before loading up the minivan.

The web of state and local quarantines is growing more tangled by the day: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have ordered visitors from a whopping 34 states to quarantine for 14 days. Chicago and Washington, D.C., have each singled out travelers from about two dozen states. Other states have their own lists. Some have an option for visitors to get tested instead.

“Complicated doesn’t begin to describe it. I feel sorry for people. They just want to go to Cape Cod. They want to go to Vermont. I don’t know what to tell them. People are pretty much left on their own to figure out,” said Kathy Kutrubes, owner of a travel agency in Boston.

The restrictions — and maybe the confusion, too — are contributing to a sharp drop in travel, dealing a blow to a key industry.

When it comes to travel restrictions in the U.S., the situation varies widely. Many states have no restrictions whatsoever for domestic travel. But the number of states with quarantines is growing as governors move to protect residents amid flareups in places such as Florida, Texas and Arizona.

The results are confusing, to say the least.

For example, Maine requires Massachusetts visitors to either quarantine or take a test, but Mainers may travel freely in Massachusetts. Chicago’s quarantine order includes neighboring Wisconsin. But people who cross the state line for work are exempted.

In Connecticut, Paula Simchock and her husband are planning to hit the beaches in Delaware with their daughter en route to dropping her off at college in South Carolina. But because both of those states are on Connecticut’s quarantine list, they expect to have to isolate upon returning home.

“We’re definitely stir crazy. So we’re really looking forward to getting down to Delaware and enjoying our favorite restaurants and surf shop. We’re really excited about it,” Simchock said. “To see that it’s on the Connecticut hot spot list is disappointing.”

Here are the latest developments regarding the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic throughout New England:

New Hampshire

Some New Hampshire teachers who squeeze in last-minute vacations or other trips just before school starts this fall would be able to bypass quarantine restrictions under public health guidance discussed Friday.

The state’s general travel guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus say that New Hampshire residents should quarantine at home for 14 days after traveling anywhere outside New England.

“We have heard that this is potentially prohibitory for starting of schools because many teachers and staff may be traveling outside of New England to, for example, bring their own children to college,” state epidemiologist Dr. Ben Chan said during a weekly call with school nurses.

In light of those concerns, the state is recommending that for the start of the school year, teachers who have traveled be allowed to work if they traveled by private car, had no close contact with anyone with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 and wear a face covering at work for at least 14 days.

Chan and deputy state epidemiologist Dr. Elizabeth Talbot answered dozens of questions from nurses, including whether siblings of students being tested for the virus need to quarantine (in general, no) and whether students should be required to wear face masks outside (yes).

“I myself feel a tremendous relief when I take my mask off at the end of a very long day, when I’m outside in the sunshine, but I only do it if I can be 100% sure no one is going to come into my downwind space or within 6 feet, and I don’t think that’s the precedent we want to set in school settings,” said Talbot.

“We’re facing together as a culture a new normal of wearing masks and whatever we can do to facilitate that, and look for ways to reward it and encourage it and enable it, is going to put us in a better place,” she said. “We have been thoughtful and conservative about this guidance, and I’m afraid this is one I’m just gonna say, yeah, that’s the ideal. That’s what we want to accomplish — people becoming used to and familiar with wearing their masks.”

The state isn’t mandating masks, but rather leaving such decisions to individual school districts.

Cash for camps: Overnight summer camps in New Hampshire that together have lost nearly $160 million because of the pandemic are seeking additional federal aid.

According to information submitted to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Relief and Recovery, many camps have struggled to obtain funding through the various programs the state has set up to distribute federal funds.

Some weren’t eligible because they are affiliated with hospitals, schools or out-of-state parent organizations, said Ken Robbins, president of the New Hampshire Camp Directors Association. Day camps were directed to a child care relief fund but couldn’t apply unless they opened. In other cases, applications had passed before camps ultimately decided not to open because officials were waiting for final state guidance.

While camps “chose” not to open, “the realities of state action and COVID-related regulations and guidance have essentially compelled that choice for most camps,” he wrote to the recovery office’s legislative advisory board.

According to the office, 19 of 26 camps that applied to the state’s Main Street relief fund were approved for grants totaling $3 million.

The numbers: As of Friday, 6,583 people had tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, an increase of 42 from the previous day. The number of deaths stood at 415. The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire has risen over the past two weeks from 23 new cases per day on July 16 to 31 new cases per day on July 30.

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.

Vermont

Vermont retail businesses may expand capacity from 25% to 50% starting Saturday at the same time that Vermont’s statewide mask mandate goes into effect, Republican Gov. Phil Scott announced Friday.

The state will also start giving out up to 200,000 free cloth masks. The masks will be distributed through emergency management factions of communities, at community action organizations and by the Vermont National Guard at food distribution sites, said Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith.

“The fact is we’ll continue to fight back against this virus until a vaccine has been developed and distributed, which is in all reality several months away,” Scott said. “So it’s up to us to protect the gains we’ve made and take steps forward when it makes sense to do so. If we all do our part to suppress this virus we can get our kids back to school and keep our businesses open.”

People can make a difference by staying at least 6 feet apart when possible, wearing masks in public places, washing their hands a lot, and staying home when sick, Scott said.

The mask mandate requires people to wear facial coverings in public spaces, including in stores, but stores won’t be required to enforce the mandate, Scott said. All public and private businesses must display signs saying masks are required for anyone over age 2. There are a number of exemptions, including people who are eating or drinking, engaged in strenuous exercise or those who have a medical exemption.

Meanwhile, Vermont officials are keeping a close eye on surges in other parts of the country and a rise in cases in the Northeast.

“For example, this past week in Rhode Island and New Hampshire reported their highest daily case count since early June, Massachusetts saw a similar case growth that they have not seen since the middle part of June, and even in Quebec, where the virus has been in retreat for a very long time, it is seeing a new uptick in new cases,” said Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, who is managing Vermont’s COVID-19 data during the pandemic.

Although the case growth in the Northeast is slight compared with other parts of the country, the region has seen four weeks of case growth, with new cases about 25% higher this week than they were at the end of June, he said.

Infected returning inmates: After six inmates who returned to Vermont from a Mississippi prison tested positive for COVID-19, the Vermont Department of Corrections instructed the remaining inmates at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, to be tested.

The inmates, who had arrived at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland on July 28 by van transport, were immediately placed in medical quarantine and tested, the Corrections Department said. They are now in medical isolation.

Another Vermont inmate at the Mississippi prison also has tested positive. The remaining Vermont inmates were tested on Thursday night and Friday, Smith said. The state is expected to get the results on Saturday.

The numbers: Vermont reported eight new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, for a statewide total to date of 1,414. The number of deaths remained at 57, after the state reported it’s first death from COVID-19 in 43 days on Thursday. Two people were hospitalized with the illness, the Health Department said.

The state has the lowest rate of positive tests and the lowest number of cases in the country, Scott said.

Maine

Schools around Maine are at relatively low risk for the new coronavirus, and that means all of them can open with in-person instruction this year, state officials said Friday.

The state is using a three-tiered system for recommendations about how schools should function as they reopen. The state is rating each county as “green,” “yellow” or “red.” “Green” signifies low risk and means in-person instruction is appropriate.

The administration of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said Friday that every county in the state is in “green” status. That means they can reopen in person as long as they follow safety protocols such as the use of face coverings and physical distancing.

The guidance from the state is intended to be a recommendation, and individual school districts will craft their own plans, officials said. Maine education commissioner Pender Makin said she anticipates some school districts will begin the year with hybrid instruction models.

On the state’s risk chart, “yellow” means elevated risk, and calls for the use of a hybrid model of in-person instruction and remote learning. “Red” means high risk and calls for remote learning. No counties are listed under either of those statuses at the moment, state officials said.

The designations are a tool for local school communities to use as they prepare for the coming academic year, said Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Nirav Shah, who added that the statuses will be updated every two weeks.

“Green designation here is not like the green lights you would find at a drag strip, where green signifies pushing the accelerator as fast as possible and going as fast as possible,” Shah said. “Green here is more like the green light at a car wash, where you with proceed with caution.”

The Mills administration said the health advisory system that categorizes the schools by color is based on data such as case rates and positivity rates.

The numbers: Public health authorities in Maine reported one death and 26 new cases of coronavirus in the state on Friday. Maine has had more than 3,900 reported cases of the virus and 123 deaths.

For most people, the 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, or death.

Social isolation: A Maine charity fund said it will focus upcoming grants on combating social isolation among older residents of the state.

Maine Community Foundation said Friday the coronavirus pandemic has created a clear need to help keep older residents connected during a period of physical isolation. Older residents face threats to quality of life and health otherwise, it said.

The foundation said almost a third of older Mainers live in communities that don’t have access to public transportation, and that can lead to missed medical appointments, declining nutrition and loneliness. The problems can be especially acute in remote, rural areas of the state, it said.

Grants of up to $10,000 are available through the Maine Charity Foundation Fund, the foundation said. It’s taking applications until Sept. 15.

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