| Covid-19 update | As of August 3 | As of August 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Total cases statewide | 6,660 | 6,840 |
| Total current infections statewide | 395 | 326 |
| Total deaths statewide | 417 | 419 |
| New cases | 219 (July 28 to Aug. 3) | 180 (Aug. 4 to Aug. 10) |
| Current infections: Hillsborough County | 197 | 137 |
| Current infections: Merrimack County | 19 | 13 |
| Current infections: Rockingham County | 104 | 103 |
Covid-19 news
On Aug. 4, Gov. Chris Sununu issued Exhibit O to Emergency Order No. 29, which had been issued on April 9. Emergency Order No. 29 requires state agencies, boards and commissions to submit recommendations to Sununu if any regulatory deadlines should be adjusted in response to the state of emergency. Per Exhibit O, the deadline to complete two hours of continuing education for licensees as pump installers or well water contractors through the New Hampshire Water Well Board has been extended for one year, from June 30, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
On Aug. 5, Sununu issued a statement in response to reports that some states may be improperly taxing New Hampshire residents who are working remotely during the pandemic. “The New Hampshire Department of Justice will conduct a review of … each state’s Department of Revenue’s actions to determine whether any state is engaging in improper taxation of our citizens,” the statement reads. “We will take immediate steps to stop any attempts to impose income taxes on Granite Staters in a manner that violates the law or the New Hampshire or United States Constitution.”
Also on Aug. 5, Sununu announced the federal government’s approval of New Hampshire’s plan to reduce premium rates in the state’s individual health insurance market. The reinsurance program, according to a press release issued by the Governor’s Office, is estimated to reduce premiums in 2021 by approximately 16 percent over what they would have otherwise been. The individual market’s unsubsidized population is expected to grow by about 8 percent due to lower premium costs resulting from the stabilization of the market.
Also on Aug. 5, Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 62, an order protecting the pre-existing non-conforming use status for summer camps in the state that have been unable to operate, have had their seasons shortened or have had their capacities reduced this year as a result of the pandemic.
On Aug. 7, Sununu issued Executive Order 2020-16, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least Aug. 28. It’s the seventh extension he has issued since originally declaring a state of emergency on March 13.
Details of all of Sununu’s Emergency and Executive Orders can be found at governor.nh.gov.
Legislative action
Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed several more bills in the past week, according to press releases from his office. These include:
House Bill 687, also known as the “extreme risk protection” bill. While the New Hampshire Democratic Party said in a statement that the bill would “keep Granite Staters safe by keeping guns out of the hands of people in crisis when there is evidence they pose an extreme risk of harming themselves or others,” Sununu said in his veto statement that while mental health, including suicide prevention and awareness, continues to be one of the state’s top priorities, “the process laid out in House Bill 687 goes too far and would weaken the constitutional rights of law-abiding New Hampshire citizens.”
House Bill 1375, regarding claims for medical monitoring related to exposure to toxic materials. In his veto statement, Sununu said that while the bill was created with good intentions, “this legislation would subject businesses to increased liability by creating a pathway for almost anyone exposed to hazardous or toxic substances to prove a claim for medical monitoring damages, regardless of the level, risk or consequences of exposure.” He also said he is willing to work with proponents to explore a more tailored and responsible approach in the next legislative session.
House Bill 685, the Reproductive Health Parity Act. According to a press release from the New Hampshire Democratic Party, the bill “would have ensured Granite Staters access to a range of affordable reproductive health services, including abortion.” In his veto statement, Sununu called the legislation unnecessary and said it would threaten the state’s ability to get federal funding for health care programs.
House Bill 1494, which would have established benefits for public works employees who die on the job. In his veto statement, Sununu said that while he supports parts of the bill, there are parts that he is unable to support “because of negative policy and financial impacts on the state and municipalities.”
City school reopenings
With all of New Hampshire’s school districts creating their own plans for reopening, “back to school” is going to look different across the state. Some smaller districts are working toward full in-person reopenings or hybrid learning models, but all three of the state’s biggest cities have approved reopening plans that have most students learning remotely for the start of the 2020-21 school year.
The Manchester Board of School Committee voted during a five-hour meeting Monday night to reopen with fully remote learning for grades 2 through 12 for the first quarter of the school year, with students in pre-kindergarten through first grade attending school in person two days a week, according to a report from WMUR. “While a full in-person reopening may work for other communities, it was simply not feasible or responsible for our district to do so. In choosing to slowly bring students back in person — starting with specialized programming and our youngest students — I believe we are striking the right balance for our students, families and staff,” Superintendent Dr. John Goldhardt said in a statement. Mayor Joyce Craig said in a statement that throughout the first weeks of school, “the school administration, along with stakeholders, including the Manchester Health Department and the City Facilities Division will assess whether a blended model can be implemented by the end of November.”
On Aug. 5, the Nashua Board of Education approved a plan that will have students starting the year remotely on Sept. 8. The reopening plan, which is posted on the school district’s website, will start with full remote learning (Model III) until Oct. 5, when a rollout of a hybrid model (Model II) will begin. Based on Nashua’s numbers of Covid-19 cases, public health officials advised that the district eliminate Model I, a return to in-person teaching, from consideration. According to the plan, parents/guardians will be able to choose whether their children will participate in Model II when it is rolled out or stay in Model III. The plan also says that “Flexibility and the ability to pivot between models is key … as local epidemiology may possibly alter our schedules for teaching and learning at any time during the school year.”
On Aug. 6, the Concord School Board voted to “employ a fully remote learning model for students this fall,” according to a letter to students, families and staff posted on the district’s website, with the first day of remote learning starting Sept. 8. The letter said that pushing back the start date will allow staff to continue to train for best practices for remote learning. “We understand that all of the return to school models will present difficulties for some of our families, and we want to assure you that the Board took into account hundreds of concerns and questions which parents, staff and students have expressed,” Interim Superintendent Kathleen Murphy wrote in the letter.
Law enforcement
New Hampshire Police Standards and Training will undergo several changes, including the creation of guidelines regarding use of force as well as improvements to diversity training, after the initial recommendations from the New Hampshire Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency were endorsed by Gov. Chris Sununu last week, according to a press release. These recommendations include the creation of a Job Task Analysis for entry-level law enforcement officers and entry-level corrections officers, as well as a review of the present Academy curriculum; improving police academy training on diversity; amending administrative rules to mandate that background investigations vet police recruit candidates to see if they have ever “demonstrated outward bias of a protected group by way of past history, behavior, affiliation with a subversive group, social media posts and other objective sources to help determine the overall fitness for duty the candidate possesses and to consider those findings in the overall decision to hire the candidate”; and the creation of guidelines relative to: use of force, duty to intervene, code of conduct, duty to report misconduct, prohibition of chokeholds, procedures to guard against positional asphyxia.
Saint Anselm College in Manchester has started welcoming students back and is one of the first schools in the area to do so, according to a report from WMUR. Around 200 students are moving in each day over the course of 10 days, and classes are scheduled to start Aug. 19, which will allow for some classes and other activities to be held outdoors, according to the report.
Susan Downer of Souhegan High School in Amherst and Michelle Morton-Curit of Exeter High School have been named this year’s recipients of the Presidential Excellence Awards in Mathematics and Science Teaching, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Education. The award is given by the U.S. government to educators who excel in their roles as math and science teachers for grades K through 12.
The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire in Londonderry is hosting a volunteer open house on Monday, Aug. 17, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., according to a press release. Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas, including tour leaders, administrative work, historical archiving, education outreach, tech support and more. Find details at aviationmuseumofnh.org.
The American Cancer Society recently honored Tracy McGraw of Merrimack with the Sandra C. Labaree Volunteer Values Award for her support of the Society’s mission. McGraw is a two-time cancer survivor and has been a volunteer with the American Cancer Society for the last six years, according to a press release. She is currently the event chair for the Relay For Life of Nashua.
