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NH courthouses keep travelers out; Scott proposes more economic recovery grants

By Holly Ramer and Lisa Rathke
Associated Press
New Hampshire restaurants statewide can resume indoor dining at full capacity, Gov. Chris Sununu said Friday.

Restaurants have been allowed to serve customers indoors since June 15, but those in Rockingham, Hillsborough, Merrimack and Strafford counties have been limited to 50% capacity because the majority of the state’s COVID-19 cases have occurred there and because of their proximity to the Massachusetts border. But restaurant owners have been urging the state to relax the restrictions as the end of summer nears.

“We’re coming into the fall months, and outdoor seating is not going to be as possible as it was over the summer,” Sununu said. “So effective immediately, we’ll have 100 percent capacity in restaurants that choose to do so.”

Restrictions remain related to the distance between tables, face mask requirements and limits on bar service.

Tax spat: An emergency tax rule in Massachusetts is undermining both public health and New Hampshire’s sovereignty during the coronavirus pandemic, New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald said Friday.

MacDonald wrote to the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue ahead of a public hearing next week on a July 21 rule that subjects New Hampshire residents who were working in Massachusetts before the pandemic to Massachusetts’ income tax while they work from home.

Previously, New Hampshire residents were only taxed for days spent in Massachusetts, and the regulation has raised strong objects in New Hampshire, one of nine states without an income tax. Beyond the harm to individuals, MacDonald said the regulation is at odds with efforts to protect public health, including a drastic increase in remote working.

“This increase is not a matter of convenience, but rather a concerted civic effort,” he said. “The Emergency Income Tax Rule undermines that effort by imposing a retroactive, extraterritorial income tax on individuals who are doing their civic duty to protect the broader public health at a time when they can least afford an unexpected new cost.”

He also said the rule raises significant legal concerns and is “incompatible with New Hampshire’s unique sovereign policy choices.”

“New Hampshire’s rejection of an individual earned income tax has been longstanding, consistent, express, clear and bipartisan,” he said.

Courthouse travel: The New Hampshire court system is adopting the state’s general travel guidance and requiring anyone who travels outside of New England to quarantine for 14 days before entering a courthouse.

An order issued Friday advises litigants and lawyers to plan ahead and to notify witnesses and others who would attend in-person proceedings.

Courts have been open on a very limited basis. A pilot program to resume jury trials begins next week in Cheshire County.

Dartmouth delay: Dartmouth College is delaying its decision about the date undergraduate students will begin returning to campus.

The college had planned to announce arrival dates and room assignments this week, but instead will do so early next week, Provost Joseph Helble said during a live webcast Wednesday. The goal is to ensure thoughtful, data-driven decisions, he said.

“We absolutely must continue to advance the public good and the health and safety of our community over any individual preference,” he said.

About 2,300 undergraduate students, about half the usual population, will be on campus this fall. Classes are scheduled to start on Sept. 14.

Under new rules announced Friday, all students, faculty and staff will be required to complete an online health screening every day before entering any campus building.

Students living on campus will be required to complete the screening even if they don’t leave their rooms or residence halls.

The numbers: As of Friday, 7,071 people had tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, an increase of 21 from the previous day. The number of deaths stood 428. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire decreased over the past two weeks from 29 new cases per day on Aug. 6 to 18 new cases per day on Aug. 20.

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.

Vermont

Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Friday proposed using $133 million more in federal coronavirus relief funding to help businesses and others recover from the pandemic.

The proposal, which requires legislative approval, would devote $23 million to expand the economic recovery grant program and $50 million for hospitality and tourism grants. An additional $50 million would be used to give every Vermont household $150 as part of a buy-local campaign and $10 million would go to economic development and tourism marketing.

“The reality is we don’t have the luxury of waiting for a vaccine because employers are making decisions right now about whether to fight to stay open or shutter their doors for good,” Scott said at his regular virus briefing.

The lodging sector is down 90% in revenues and food and service is down 87% from previous years, said Lindsay Kurrle, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

“These hard hit sectors need more support,” she said.

To date, more than $100 million in economic recovery grants has been awarded to more than 3,500 businesses around Vermont, she said.

The numbers: Vermont reported four new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, for a statewide total since the pandemic began of 1,541. The total number of deaths remained at 58. Three people were hospitalized with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

This week, Vermont reported 61 new coronavirus cases, up from 39 new cases last week.

“We did have a considerable influx of college students start to arrive and when you look at our testing numbers the tests conducted over the last seven days were the greatest number of tests we’ve conducted since the start of the pandemic,” said Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, who is managing Vermont’s COVID-19 data.

About a dozen college students have tested positive this month, said Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine.

“This is expected as new students are arriving and campuses have increased testing efforts,” he said, adding that there was no ongoing transmission on any campus.

As of Friday, Vermont had the lowest positivity rate in the country and continues to have the lowest case count per capita from the start of the pandemic and in the last seven days, Pieciak said.

Long-term care facilities: The state is aware of two positive coronavirus test results reported at long-term care facilities, one at Wake Robin in Shelburne and the other at Helen Porter Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Middlebury, said Human Services Secretary Mike Smith. The results came from facility-wide testing, he said.

“We may do some retesting on some of these just to reconfirm,” he said.

Epidemiological teams are making calls, getting contact information and trying to make sure that these are contained, he said.

Maine

Three University of Maine students have tested positive for the coronavirus.

University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy sent an email to the school community on Friday, saying two of the students live off campus in Orono and third lives in a fraternity house.

The three students are in isolation and their close contacts are quarantining, the Portland Press Herald reported.

One of the students was tested as part of an asymptomatic testing program on campus. The other students were testing at alternative places, the school said.

“We have identified our first case of asymptomatic infection through that program,” Ferrini-Mundy wrote. “We will be following our comprehensive, science-based plans to maintain vigilance and support all known affected individuals, and to trace and isolate to minimize the spread of the virus and keep our community safe.”

Wedding venue: The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday it has issued a citation of imminent health hazard to a Millinocket inn that was the site of a wedding associated with a coronavirus outbreak.

There are 32 cases of the virus associated with the wedding, Maine CDC director Nirav Shah.

Shah said the Big Moose Inn exceeded the state’s indoor gathering limit, among other violations of state rules. The citation does not carry an immediate fine, but a fine could result if the inn does not comply with the investigation.

Shah said the inn has signaled it will comply. One person is hospitalized as a result of the outbreak, which affected people age 4 to 78, he said.

“The median age is 42,” Shah said. “Most of the cases that have been detected thus far are individuals who are symptomatic.”

About 65 people attended the Aug. 7 event. A representative for the Big Moose Inn declined to comment.

Jobless claims: The number of claims for continued unemployment assistance in Maine dipped about 8% in the second week of August, though unemployment in the state remains high.

The Maine Department of Labor said Thursday there were more than 70,000 continued claims for assistance during the week. The number of individuals filing an initial claim was 1,500, which was about the same as the week that preceded it.

The labor department said it has paid about $1.38 billion in federal and state unemployment benefits since March 15. It said it’s also continuing to investigate for unemployment impostor fraud. The department said it canceled about 575 initial claims and 60 weekly certifications that were found to be fraudulent during the week that ended Aug. 15.

The numbers: Maine has had more than 4,200 reported cases of the virus. State public health officials announced an additional death from the virus on Thursday. The state has been the site of 128 deaths from the coronavirus.

The coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

Business grants: The administration of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said Thursday it’s using $200 million in federal CARES Act dollars to help businesses and nonprofit organizations that have been disrupted by the pandemic. The governor’s office said the grants are intended to help “provide short-term relief to help stabilize Maine’s economy” and not to replace lost profits.

Swab sites: The Maine Department of Health and Human Services and MaineHealth said Thursday they are launching five new “swab and send” sites to expand access to coronavirus testing. The sites in Damariscotta, Rockport, Brunswick, Norway and Farmington open next week.

The state now has 27 of the sites. The health department said in a statement that about 90% of Maine residents can now get tested within a half-hour of their home.

Bishop letter: Bishop Robert P. Deeley of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland issued a letter to Maine Catholics stating that the diocese would continue to follow safety protocols as more people return to church.

Public Masses resumed on June 1. Deeley’s letter asked “those in vulnerable populations to continue to give serious consideration to whether you should be participating in public Masses at this time or, instead, making your spiritual communion online or on television.”

The letter also asked parishioners to remember that rules requiring masks and limiting large gatherings are intended to protect the community.

Massachusetts

There likely won’t be any high school football in Massachusetts this fall, although other sports will probably be played and there is hope that football can be played later in the school year, officials said Wednesday.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Board of Directors approved a recommendation from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to allow low and moderate-risk sports to play with modifications during the fall season.

Those sports, including golf, cross country, field hockey, soccer, gymnastics and volleyball would begin practices starting Sept. 18.

So-called higher-risk sports — including football — would play during a “floating season” that would start in late February and run into April.

Sports will be played based on coronavirus risks and are subject to state office of Environmental and Energy Affairs guidelines.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in a statement Tuesday said sports play an important role in education.

“Organized physical activity should be encouraged, within clear health and safety parameters,” the agency said. “Most sports can be played in ways that minimize those risks. In many cases, that will mean that interscholastic competitions may not look the same and may need to be played under fairly stringent restrictions with modified rules.”

The numbers: Massachusetts reported 28 newly confirmed coronavirus deaths and more than 260 newly confirmed cases on Wednesday, pushing the state’s confirmed COVID-19 death toll to more than 8,640 and its confirmed caseload past 115,000.

State public health officials said the seven-day weighted average of positive tests was about 1.4%.

The state on Wednesday also reported more than 560 probable cases of COVID-19 in the past week, bringing the total number of probable cases to nearly 9,370. The state also reported an additional nine probable deaths, bringing the total number of probable COVID-19 deaths to more than 230.

The true number of cases is likely higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.

There were more than 360 people reported hospitalized Wednesday because of COVID-19, while more than 60 were in intensive care units.

The number of confirmed and probable COVID-19 related deaths at long-term care homes rose to more than 5,680 or about 64% of all confirmed and probable deaths in Massachusetts attributed to the disease.

False positive explanation: A broken vial or contaminated tray holding coronavirus specimens may have been responsible for more than 100 false positives reported last week affecting two Massachusetts cities, but the exact cause remains under investigation, state Department of Public Health officials say.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Tuesday the results came from one lab over a three-day period. There were more than 900 tests processed at the lab, which yielded 169 false positives in Fall River and Taunton, Sudders said.

“While the lab has initially reported to DPH that the error resulted from a broken vial or contaminated plate during processing, the final determination will be based upon the outcome of the ongoing investigation by DPH,” department spokesperson Ann Scales told Masslive.com. “The lab has ceased processing during this period.”

Following the false positive results, the coronavirus risk level was elevated in Fall River.

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