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NH lawmakers offered virus testing; Vermont ready for COVID-19 vaccine

By Wilson Ring
Associated Press
Here are the latest developments regarding the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic throughout New England:

New Hampshire

Republican legislative leaders announced plans for drive-up testing this weekend for legislators, legislative staff and their families in the wake of House Speaker Dick Hinch’s death from COVID-19.

In a joint statement Friday, Senate President Chuck Morse of Salem and Acting Speaker Sherman Packard of Londonderry said they wanted to offer the testing on Saturday “because the health, safety and peace of mind of our legislators and staff is our top concern.”

No appointments are required for the testing at the state’s National Guard Test Sites in Concord and Londonderry.

Nursing students: Gov. Chris Sununu has issued an emergency order allowing some nursing students to get temporary licenses to help with staffing shortages at long-term care facilities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sununu said in a statement Friday that workforce shortages remain a challenge in New Hampshire and across the country.

The order affects senior nursing students expected to graduate by May 31, 2021. Students would be supervised while providing health care services in response to COVID-19 needs.

The numbers: More than 29,000 people have tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, with 899 cases announced Friday that included results from several days earlier in the week. Six new deaths were announced, for a total of 590 since the pandemic began.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire has risen over the past two weeks from over 350 new cases per day on Nov. 26 to over 760 new cases per day on Thursday.

Vermont

Even though Vermont could begin receiving the first doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 as soon as next week it will be at least two months before it starts to reduce the prevalence of the disease, officials said Friday.

Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said Friday that even for people in long-term care facilities who will get the vaccine first, the vaccine must be given in separate doses three weeks apart and then the people who receive them must generate an immune response that will protect them from the virus.

“I am not taking away hope here. I am just providing a reality context that the stark statistics on the TV of hospitalizations, deaths and cases aren’t going to change with the snap of a finger because there is a vaccine on the market,” Levine said. “But they are going to change, and the changes will occur after February, more dramatically we hope.”

Gov. Phil Scott said that the number of doses the state gets will determine how quickly it drives down the number of cases in Vermont.

The federal government has promised to distribute the vaccine to the states based on population. Vermont officials have said the state expects to receive about 6,000 doses in the first round, but more doses will be arriving after that on a regular basis.

“We feel we are prepared and ready to go just as soon as we receive those supplies from the federal government,” Scott said.

The numbers: On Friday, the Vermont Department of Health reported 113 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to more than 5,540.

There are currently 26 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, including two in intensive care.

The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Vermont has risen over the past two weeks from 1.51% on Nov. 26 to 2.09% on Dec. 10.

The state also reported four new deaths Friday from COVID-19, bringing the total to 93.

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