By Holly Ramer And Lisa Rathke
Associated Press
Here are the latest developments regarding the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic throughout New England:
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu issued an executive order Tuesday requiring masks to be worn at scheduled gatherings of more than 100 people.
Sununu, a Republican, has resisted calls to mandate the use of face coverings to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, and the new requirement falls far short of the mandates in the other five New England states, which generally require masks to be work in public when social distancing isn’t possible.
The order will be put to the test Aug. 22-30 at the annual Laconia Motorcycle Week, which typically attracts thousands of people to the state. It’s a smaller version of the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a 10-day event that began Friday in South Dakota. Organizers there expect about 250,000 visitors from all over the country — about half the number of previous years but enough for local residents and a few bikers to worry about virus outbreaks.
“Sturgis was a clear warning sign to us,” Sununu said. “I don’t think anyone saw the photos out of Sturgis and thought, ‘That looks safe.’”
The mandate won’t apply to large workplaces or to schools, unless students gather for an assembly or other large event, Sununu said. But it would apply to gatherings such as a traveling religious revival headed to New Ipswich next week, and it will be enforced, he said.
The Department of Justice is still working on the details, but enforcement will be aimed at holding hosts and organizers accountable, rather than individuals.
“I’m not a big encourager of ‘please drop a dime and snitch on your friends,’” he said. “We’re going to have our enforcement teams out there … we’re going to have people in the field and working one-on-one, so we’re not relying on people to send us their snitching Facebook photos.”
While public safety officials likely will handle enforcement of the mask requirements, the state’s liquor enforcement officers will be increasing efforts to prevent spread of the virus at bars, Sununu said. Under current guidelines, patrons can not sit or stand at bars; instead drinks must be delivered to tables. Bars and restaurants that violate the rules could lose their liquor licenses.
“These are just common-sense enforcement measures, to help ensure we do not have the large scale closure of restaurants and bars like you’re seeing in other states,” he said.
Manchester schools: The school board in New Hampshire’s largest city has approved remote learning for students entering grades two through 12 for now.
Manchester’s Board of School Committee voted Monday that students in pre-kindergarten through the first grade will be returning to school for two days a week.
Online learning for the rest will be held during regular school hours.
The superintendent and health officials will evaluate the situation in October and decide whether to move to a hybrid model. Parents will be given a choice to stay fully remote or switch to hybrid.
The numbers: As of Tuesday, 6,861 people had tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, an increase of 21 from the previous day. The number of deaths stayed at 419. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases decreased over the past two weeks from 33 cases per day on July 27 to 29 cases on Aug. 10.
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.
Rescue package talks: New Hampshire officials aren’t giving up hope that Congress will agree to another coronavirus relief package, though their patience is wearing thin.
“Congress and the White House made a commitment to the Governors that there would be a second round of relief for states — we are going to hold their feet to the fire until they uphold that commitment,” Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement Monday.
Negotiations over the relief package have failed, however, and there’s no telling when they might restart. If they do, New Hampshire officials hope they’ll result in a package that allows state and local governments to not only recoup what they’ve spent responding to the pandemic but to make up for lost revenue.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association is in the process of surveying cities and towns about the financial fallout of the virus, said its director, Margaret Byrnes. So far, she’s heard from many communities that are in “ok to good” shape in terms of collecting July property taxes but are worried about December.
“As some of that assistance that went to individuals, like the unemployment or assistance to small businesses, start to end, then it’s that rolling ball effect that’s going to hit municipalities probably more so at the end of the year,” she said. “Some of the smaller communities might not have seen impact as far as expenses, but concerns remain in New Hampshire and across the country that the real impact that all cities and towns will share is on the revenue side.”
At the state level, revenues for the fiscal year that ended June 30 were 5.5% under budget, or about $143 million. With a hiring and discretionary spending freeze in place, the state expects to see a deficit of about $350 million over the course of its two-year budget, according to the governor’s chief of staff, Jayne Millerick.
“We know that revenues are down, and I’m concerned there’s no movement at the federal level to give relief to the states around lost revenue because of COVID, which New Hampshire is going to desperately need,” said Rep. Mary Jane Wallner, chair of the House Finance Committee and member of a legislative group advising the state on spending the federal funds.
She said she was particularly worried about President Donald Trump’s move to have states foot part of the bill for unemployment benefits. He announced an executive order Saturday that extends additional unemployment payments of $400 a week, with states paying a quarter of that amount.
“With new Hampshire’s revenues the way they are already, where would that come from?” said Wallner, D-Concord.
New Hampshire state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, called Trump’s executive order “nonsense.”
“Only a crazy man would do that,” he said. “We’re already in tough shape with that fund to begin with.”
While New Hampshire is likely in better shape than many other states, it will be in big trouble if the federal government doesn’t do something to help it backfill its budget, he said. The state is looking at a roughly $300 million deficit for its two-year budget.
“Can we manage it, yeah, sure, but not without a lot of pain,” he said.
Sen. Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, said compromise ought to be possible, though he put much of the blame on what he called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “all or nothing approach.” He particularly objects to provisions that include a rescue plan for union pension plans nearing insolvency.
“Revenue replacement for the pandemic is legitimate, but bailing out states that won’t make the kind of decisions New Hampshire made 10 years ago on pensions? I get where my former colleagues are coming from in Washington,” said Bradley, a former U.S. House member.
Election prep: Masks, face shields, gowns, gloves, and other personal protective equipment have been delivered to communities across New Hampshire for the upcoming primary and general elections.
Polling places will be open for those who want to vote in person for the Sept. 8 and Nov. 8 elections, the secretary of state’s office said Monday. Social distancing will be practiced and precautions are being taken to keep voters and poll workers safe.
High school sports: High school fall sports can start practicing next month, according to the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Practices are scheduled to start on Sept. 8. Bass fishing and golf can start competition on Sept. 10, while cross country, field hockey, soccer and volleyball can start their seasons Sept. 18. Competition for football and spirit can start Sept. 25.
The number of schools participating in sports is still unknown; school district will be making its own decision.
Vermont
With the start of school less than a month away in Vermont, state officials on Tuesday announced some revisions to the school restart guidance and Republican Gov. Phil Scott reiterated how important he thinks reopening schools is.
Scott said he worries about the children of parents who work in grocery stores, construction, and others who don’t have time to teach their kids and struggle to pay for child care and the negative effect not reopening schools would have on them and children of more vulnerable families.
“I truly believe that if we don’t provide a way to get those kids back into school we’ll see the ramifications for years to come,” said Scott, who acknowledged the anxiety of some parents and teachers.
The state will likely see some cases and clusters connected to schools, even though it has the lowest number of coronavirus cases in the country, he said. But the state has worked hard to build up its testing and tracing capacity, Scott and State Epidemiologist Patsy Kelso said.
“Our experience with child care indicates that we have an effective approach to identify clusters and contain them without seeing broader community spread,” Kelso said.
The state is changing its physical distancing guidance for children under the age of 10 from 6 feet apart to 3 to 6 feet apart. For those kids, “staying 3 feet apart is enough to prevent the majority of transmission,” Kelso said.
The decision to close a school or certain classroom for in-person teaching, and dismissing students or doing remote learning for the day will be decided on collaboration with the superintendent or head of the school and the Vermont Health Department, she said.
Many Vermont school districts are planning to reopen this fall, with hybrid, in-person and remote instruction.
Older adults in schools and people with underlying health conditions should talk with their health care provider about their risks to figure out if they should avoid in-person contact when physical distancing cannot be maintained, Kelso said.
“We’ve been building our contact tracing capacity since March and we have a robust team that’s ready. We can open schools safely,” she said, adding that there may no safer place to do it other than Vermont.
The Vermont National Education Association, the union representing teachers, is “increasingly frustrated with the inconsistent and seemingly changing ‘guidance’ from the administration,” said union president and high school teacher Don Tinney in a written statement. “Instead of joining us in an orderly, phased-in, statewide approach, he has chosen to allow districts to make critical decisions on their own. Let me be clear: When it comes to the health and safety of students, school employees, and communities, there can be no compromise.”
Fall sports: There will be a fall sports season for schools but it will look a lot different this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, said Jay Nichols, executive director of the Vermont Principals’ Association.
Schools may start sports practices on Sept. 8, the universal start of school in Vermont, which is a week later than usual to allow schools to prepare. Facial coverings will be required for all players, coaches, officials, staff and spectators, he said. The one exception is for cross-country running, which will have other guidelines, such as possible staggered starts.
Volleyball teams will be not be able to have indoor matches with other schools, Nichols said. Football may hold practice sessions with limited contact but full-contact football scrimmages and games will not occur in the fall 2020 season, he said. The football committee is developing a plan for a touch football season for this fall, he said.
The VPA hopes that schools will be able to have interscholastic events with other schools by Sept. 21, “if all goes well,” he said. Any outside sporting event held by a school must be limited to 150 people, based on state rules.
The numbers: Vermont reported 11 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, for a statewide total so far of 1,472. The total number of deaths remained at 58. One person was currently hospitalized with COVID-19.
Norwich U: Vermont’s Norwich University reported Monday that three newly arrived students on campus tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.
In a message to the Norwich community posted Monday on the school website, the Northfield college reported 500 students returned to campus as part of a six-phase schedule to begin the fall semester.
Every student was tested and on Monday the school reported three tests came back positive. The students were quarantined.
Earlier Monday, Norwich said after students arrived on campus, there were reports Saturday that some students failed to follow the coronavirus-related safety guidelines and were socializing in the front yard of their house without masks or social distancing.
Anarumo met with the student who hosted the event. He said he accepted the explanation that all people at the event had been living locally for more than two weeks and had followed Vermont’s standards of behavior and quarantine.
Anarumo said he explained to them the importance of perception even when following rules closely, and asked for the student’s help in maintaining a positive relationship with on- and off-campus communities.
“Our meeting was productive and we will use it as a teaching moment for all,” Anarumo said in the letter.
Under the school’s contract with students, they agree to follow safety measures, including abiding by occupancy limits in dormitories and common areas as well as physically distancing and wearing a mask in public spaces. On-campus students may not leave the campus without approval.
Maine
Dozens of cities, towns and tribal governments around Maine will receive $4 million in grants to improve their response to the coronavirus pandemic, the administration of Gov. Janet Mills said Tuesday.
The grants are designed to help fund projects that support public education campaigns, physical distancing projects and local businesses. Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said the money has supported “innovative responses on the front lines of this pandemic.”
One of the proposed projects is a campaign featuring a “Masked Moose” character in the town of Bethel. The campaign would include a costumed character who will visit schools and businesses to demonstrate the importance of coronavirus prevention.
The round of grants is the second of its kind. The state announced nearly $9 million in grants to almost 100 municipalities in June.
School meals: The federal government must renew waivers for programs that increase access to school meals amid the coronavirus pandemic, Maine’s Democratic congresswoman said.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree joined more than 100 members of Congress in a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that called for the department to extend flexibility in school food programs through the coming school year. Pingree said “school meals programs are an essential lifeline” for students in Maine and the pandemic has worsened food insecurity for children.
The letter specifically calls for the USDA to renew waivers that enable the implementation of the Summer Food Service Program and the Seamless Summer Option. The lawmakers also want the department to waive area eligibility requirements for the entire coming school year.
The Congress members said some schools won’t be able to keep providing meals to students next year without the added flexibility.
A group of U.S. senators including Republican Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine made a similar push last week.
The numbers: Maine public health authorities reported an increase of only one case of the virus on Tuesday. The total number of reported cases is more than 4,000. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention also reported one death. The state has had 126 deaths because of the virus.
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.
Farmer aid: Maine farmers have been awarded more than $14 million to help with the economic harm caused by the pandemic.
The money is via the CARES Act, Republican Sen. Susan Collins said. She said about half the aid for Maine farmers is going to dairy farmers. More than $5 million is slated for specialty crop farmers, and the rest is set aside for livestock farmers and others.
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