Covid-19 update | As of June 14 | As of June 21 |
---|---|---|
Total cases statewide | 99,143 | 99,329 |
Total current infections statewide | 280 | 196 |
Total deaths statewide | 1,363 | 1,367 |
New cases | 202 (June 8 to June 14) | 186 (June 15 to June 21) |
Current infections: Hillsborough County | 80 | 55 |
Current infections: Merrimack County | 28 | 13 |
Current infections: Rockingham County | 26 | 32 |
Covid-19 news
Gov. Chris Sununu began the state’s Covid-19 briefing on June 17 by announcing it would be the final weekly scheduled press conference. Future briefings will be held on an “as-needed basis.”
Due to a continued downward trend in positive cases and deaths from Covid-19 in New Hampshire, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan announced during the press conference that the state will be updating its guidance for face mask use. “We are now recommending that asymptomatic persons, that’s people who do not have symptoms or are not showing symptoms of Covid-19, can choose to go without face masks in most indoor and outdoor locations, particularly lower-risk settings,” he said. Businesses and organizations can still require face masks for people to enter their facilities, and, under federal regulations, health care facilities still require them as well. “As the numbers continue to decrease, the goal is to be able to pull back on use of some of these mitigation measures, particularly over the summer, when use of some things like face masks may be more difficult,” Chan said.
Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, also announced that the state will no longer conduct contact tracing for Covid-19 exposures in community settings outside of people’s homes. “We will still continue to require quarantine for people who live in the same household as a person with Covid-19,” she said, “and we’re going to continue to respond to any suspected outbreaks.”
Plummeting unemployment
Last week the May 2021 jobs report was released by New Hampshire Employment Security, showing that the state’s unemployment rate has dropped below the pre-pandemic unemployment rate of 2.7 percent in March 2020 to 2.5 percent now. According to a press release, it is one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and one of the lowest in the history of the Granite State. As part of its effort to help rebound from the highest levels of unemployment during the height of the pandemic, New Hampshire Employment Security has already held 21 virtual job fairs that have connected 8,702 job-seekers with 862 employers. “Such low unemployment rates are no accident, but are the result of a continued effort to provide businesses with the flexibility needed to grow, while providing individuals with the incentives and resources needed to return to work,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement after the May report was released.
DMV update
Last week an update of a comprehensive review of the state Division of Motor Vehicles was released, showing some of the steps that the DMV has taken since the review was issued in 2019.
The review was ordered after the crash in Randolph that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club and the revelation that a backlog within the Massachusetts DMV system had led to a failure to suspend the license of the truck driver at fault, according to a press release. To ensure that New Hampshire would never be in a similar situation, the review provided short-term and long-term recommendations to improve its processes. One of the recommendations that was fulfilled earlier this month was implementing the State to State Verification Service, making New Hampshire the 34th state to use that service, which helps facilitate the exchange of convictions with other states, the release said. Other improvements include ensuring that processing times have remained current and without backlog; creating an Electronic Exchange of Records with Massachusetts, for notifications related to convictions and withdrawals; implementing the Commercial Driver Disqualification system, which allows the DMV to initiate immediate disqualification of commercial drivers and/or commercial motor carriers; online ticket payment and online not guilty pleas. According to the release, the DMV is also in the process of rolling out Online Motor Vehicle Record Requests and E-Crash and E-Ticketsystems to local police departments so that more of the tickets and accident reports received by the DMV will be electronic.
Help for students
Students whose learning was negatively impacted by the pandemic will find help in the YES! Program, according to the New Hampshire Department of Education. Last week the department announced that it will use $2 million of the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund from the CARES Act to support the program, which will provide direct relief to families in need in the form of scholarships. “Student academic performance data coming out of the pandemic will be different than normal,” Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut said in the release. “Some students thrived in pandemic learning, especially through strong home supports and the exercise of greater individual agency in their own education. Other students had difficulty accessing their education, often because of a lack of appropriate resources or an instructional model that was not conducive to their learning needs.” He said the YES! Program will engage students based on where they are and help them flourish without being stigmatized. There are three categories for scholarships, according to the release. In Category 1, eligible students are public school students who are at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level or with a disability. The scholarship amount is $1,000 and can be used for tutoring provided by department-certified educators or special education therapies and services provided by department-certified special education teachers or licensed therapists. In Category 2, eligible students are private/non-public school students (new or current) who are at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level or with a disability. The scholarship amount is $5,000 and can be used for tuition and fees at department-approved private schools. In Category 3, eligible students are private/non-public school students at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and they will receive $2,500 for tuition and fees at department-approved private schools.
The New Hampshire Telephone Museum in Warner will open its 2021 program series on Friday, June 25, with a virtual discussion that will explore whether privacy is dead. According to a press release, there will be online discussions each month, and the museum is also featuring a special exhibit on railroad communications. Visit NHTelephoneMuseum.org for details on virtual programming and in-person visits.
The Brentwood portion of Route 125 will be dedicated as the Officer Stephen Arkell Memorial Highway at a July 1 ceremony. According to a press release, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, Congressman Chris Pappas and Gov. Chris Sununu will be at the ceremony, which will be held at Swasey Central School at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. Arkell was shot and killed in 2014 after responding to a domestic dispute; he was a member of the Brentwood Police Department for 17 years, the release said.
Club Richelieu of Nashua will host a ceremony on Thursday, June 24, at 11 a.m. in Renaissance Park (Le Parc de la Renaissance Francaise) near the Nashua River on Water Street to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the statue that depicts a French-Canadian textile mill worker, and her son. According to club president Eric Drouart, the event will also highlight a new mural in the park with the portraits of eight Franco-American personalities, several of whom were active in fundraising for the statue.