Author: The Hippo Press

Covid-19 news

During the state’s weekly public health update on Dec. 22, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that, while hospitalization rates due to Covid-19 have declined slightly in recent weeks, New Hampshire is still seeing just over 1,000 new infections per day on average. “We are watching very closely what’s happening with the omicron variant … but the vast majority of infections that we are seeing through New Hampshire continue to be with the delta variant,” Chan said. The following day, Dec. 23, the number of hospitalizations dipped below 400 for the first time in more than three weeks. As of Dec. 27 there were 8,026 active infections. Gov. Chris Sununu also announced during the Dec. 22 press conference the state Executive Council’s vote earlier that day to approve six additional fixed vaccination sites, in Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Keene, Salem and Exeter. Each site will administer booster doses on a walk-in basis, but if you prefer to make an appointment, you can sign up for the state’s second “booster blitz” event on Jan. 8. Registrations will open online on Jan. 3 at covid19.nh.gov/booster-blitz. Find fixed vaccination sites as well as the location of the state’s mobile vaccination van (which has stops scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 30) at vaccines.nh.gov.

Rooms and meals tax

The recently enacted state budget means New Hampshire municipalities are receiving a 45-percent increase in revenue from the Meals and Rentals Tax, according to a press release. In the new budget, the local share of revenues from the state’s tax on restaurants, hotels and car rentals increased to 30 percent, compared to 22 percent in the last budget. “Together with strong growth in New Hampshire’s hospitality industry, this results in more than $100 million going directly to local coffers to help keep local property tax rates down,” the release said. The state Treasury was set to transfer $100,143,752 to cities and towns by the end of the day Dec. 27; that’s an increase of about $32 million from Fiscal Year 2021. “We cut the rooms and meals tax to its lowest level in over a decade and yet we still sent even more money back to cities and towns,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement. “Instead of downshifting costs, we downshifted cash, giving cities and towns extra flexibility — a win for our citizens.” Sen. Denise Ricciardi (Bedford) spearheaded the legislation, which was incorporated into the state budget package in June. “I made it my goal this past session to protect local property taxpayers by making certain the state kept its promise to share more of the revenues that our M&R tax generates. … Today, our cities and towns will finally receive the amount they’ve been promised for so long,” Ricciardi said in the release. The budget also lowered businesses’ taxes and cut $100 million from the Statewide Property Tax, according to the release.

Jury trials on hold

All jury trials in the New Hampshire Superior Court system are on hold through the end of January. According to a report from WMUR, Chief Justice Tina L. Nadeau said the increasing number of Covid cases prompted the decision. “[Jurors are] all very good at following protocols, but we are noticing that some are becoming a little bit more nervous about serving,” Nadeau told WMUR. “We’ve had a couple of cases where a juror has had close contact with someone who tested positive so they need to stay home.” She said there is concern that might lead to mistrials. Grand juries and 40 to 50 jury trials across the state planned for January are now on hold, though courts will stay open for other services, according to the report.

Health service concerns

A one-day survey of a sample of hospitals, home care agencies and nursing homes conducted in the Granite State on Nov. 4 found at least 200 individuals were unable to access the right level of care. According to a press release, the survey was conducted by the New Hampshire Hospital Association, Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Health Care Association to figure out what is preventing patients from getting appropriate care in a timely manner, and it found that many factors impact their transition to other health care settings. Most of these patients had been medically cleared to leave the hospital but couldn’t because they were waiting for placement in a nursing home; on the day of the survey the 102 patients in 15 hospitals who were waiting to leave had been in a hospital bed anywhere from one to 276 days after being medically cleared. Barriers include lack of available nursing homes beds or home caregivers, patients waiting for Medicaid eligibility to be finalized and behavioral issues, the release said. More than 200 nursing home and home care agency referrals from hospitals were made that day, and most could not be accommodated due to lack of staff, with shortages of Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Licensed Nurse Assistants. The state has implemented several short-term initiatives, like expediting licensing and guaranteeing Medicaid payments to open more nursing home beds, according to the release, and several of the report’s recommendations seek the adoption of these short-term measures into long-term change, along with additional investments in health care staffing and Medicaid coverage.

Kathryn Routhier of Somersworth, a senior at the University of New Hampshire, received a $2,500 check to help with college expenses from the Orphans of Veterans. According to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Education, Routhier’s mother served in the Army during the war on terrorism and died from a service-related illness in 2018. Routhier is majoring in justice studies with a minor in forensic science.

For the second week in a row, the state Division of Historical Resources has installed a new Historical Highway Marker, this one in Newfields. According to a press release, this marker commemorates members of the Hilton family who first lived in Newfields nearly 400 years ago after establishing a fishing settlement in what is now Dover Point.

The Nashua Public Library is challenging kids, teens and adults to work together to read for 550,000 minutes in eight weeks during Mayor Jim Donchess’s Winter Reading Challenge. According to a press release, all ages can read anything of their choosing — with challenges to read books of different genres — from Jan. 3 through Feb. 28 and keep track of the time they spend reading to help Nashua reach its goal. Sign up at nashualibrary.beanstack.org.