By Rick Green
THE KEENE SENTINEL
Despite increasing COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths, Gov. Chris Sununu said at a news conference Wednesday that he doesn’t intend to impose any state government mandates for prevention of the disease.
Early in the pandemic Sununu imposed emergency orders that restricted public gatherings and business and school operations, while requiring use of face masks in some instances.
More people are sick with the disease now, but the state mandates disappeared months ago and they’re not coming back, the governor said.
“We’re not looking at that right now,” Sununu said. “When you start putting these blanket limitations and the restrictions that we had back in 2020, when there were no other tools out there, you’re putting those in place for folks who are fully vaccinated and may have gotten their booster shot and are being, I think, very smart and taking the right steps.”
Such mandates would effectively penalize a good portion of New Hampshire residents who have been vaccinated, Sununu said.
“It’s really about individuals making the right choice for themselves, taking what they’re seeing in hospitals incredibly seriously,” he said. “Sometimes you really need to see what’s happening in the hospitals or with a neighbor or with a loved one that didn’t think they were going to get sick, or didn’t think they were going to get as sick as they did, for folks to realize how serious this delta variant is.”
While he is not in favor of government mandates, he is not opposed to businesses putting in place their own mandates.
In a public health update at the news conference, Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist, reported 1,184 new cases of the disease in New Hampshire, which has been seeing 1,200 to 1,300 new cases daily over the past week.
A total of 9,868 people now have the virus in the state, 462 people are hospitalized, the test positivity rate is 12.3 percent and 11 new COVID-19 deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 1,768, Chan said.
New England is a national hotspot for COVID-19, and New Hampshire, as of Monday, had more than 90 daily cases per 100,000 people, highest in the region.
Chan said the new omicron variant of the disease has not yet reached the state but that it is only a matter of time until it does. He recommended getting a vaccination booster, which he says seems to provide additional protection against this variant.
Sununu said the state is taking a number of steps to gear up against the surge of the virus in New Hampshire, including bringing some National Guard troops into hospitals to fill ancillary roles, bringing in paramedics to help at some medical facilities and forming “strike teams” of medical professionals to boost capacity at long-term care facilities.
Also, vaccination access is being boosted by four new fixed sites statewide for people to receive the shots. Booster blitz events also are being held, including in Keene this weekend, and mobile vans are being deployed to deliver vaccines.
Licensing flexibility is being provided to get more medical workers in place in the state, Sununu said. The state is guaranteeing payments to long-term care facilities for patients in the process of receiving Medicaid certification. In this way, these patients can be transferred out of hospitals, freeing up space.
Across the state, 10 percent of staffed hospital beds are available, and 2.6 percent of staffed adult intensive-care unit beds are available, according to a state website.
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