Category: News

Covid-19 update	As of November 22	As of November 30
Total cases statewide	17,598	20,994
Total current infections statewide	4,199	5,145
Total deaths statewide	512	526
New cases	2,569 (Nov. 17 to Nov. 22)	3,396 (Nov. 23 to Nov. 30)
Current infections: Hillsborough County	1,656	2,246
Current infections: Merrimack County	350	462
Current infections: Rockingham County	889	1,118

Covid-19 news

On Nov. 21, the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services issued a notice of potential community exposures connected to positive cases of Covid-19 at Grumpy’s Bar & Grill in Plaistow. According to the notice, the exposures likely occurred in the eatery’s bar and pool table areas on the evenings of Nov. 10 and Nov. 14. State health officials have identified three positive cases of the virus associated with Grumpy’s, and the state Attorney General’s Office is investigating multiple violations of food service guidelines.

New Hampshire surpassed 20,000 positive tests of Covid-19 over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, according to a Nov. 28 report from WMUR — these included a two-day total of 702 cases on Thanksgiving Day and the following day. WMUR also reported that state hospitalizations from the virus also reached a new high, of 160 as of Dec. 1.

Because people can begin experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 within two days of being exposed, state health officials say now is the time when you will see any direct links between the virus and Thanksgiving celebrations you had, according to WMUR’s Nov. 29 report. The incubation period of the virus can last anywhere from two to 14 days.

On Nov. 30, DHHS issued a notice of potential community exposures connected to positive virus cases at the Stumble Inn Bar & Grill in Londonderry, which occurred between Nov. 11 and Nov. 23. At least 11 positive cases have been reported so far at the Stumble Inn, which is currently closed, according to the notice.

New council

Last week, members of the newly established Council on Housing Stability were announced. According to a press release, the council is a “revamped effort of the State’s Interagency Council on Homelessness” and has been tasked with updating the state’s plan for addressing homelessness, including broader issues related to housing affordability and stability. The council is made up of dozens of members, including city mayors, representatives from several state departments, building and landlord association representatives, experts in the areas of homelessness and housing instability, and people who have experienced housing instability. The Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, and the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority will lead the council, according to the release. A preliminary plan is due from the council no later than Dec. 14; its first meeting is scheduled for Dec. 4.

NH-JAG awarded

New Hampshire Jobs for America’s Graduates has earned the national 5 of 5 Award, according to a press release. NH-JAG, which provides support for youth in the state who face significant academic, emotional and economic challenges, has met or exceeded JAG’s national standards. The program offers mentoring, employability skills instruction and leadership development activities and is available at eight New Hampshire high schools and one out-of-school health care training program. NH-JAG has served more than 300 students this year, and more than 19,000 students since its inception, according to the release. “In New Hampshire, JAG boasts an impressive 100 percent graduation rate and 76 percent full-time job placement rate, even amid a pandemic. We applaud the NH-JAG Specialists [teachers] for their hard work and unwavering support of their students, which helped NH-JAG achieve the 5 of 5 Award this year, despite the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19,” Ken Smith, president of JAG, said in the release. Smith presented the 5 of 5 Award to Gov. Chris Sununu during a virtual ceremony on Nov. 30.

Voluntary services

The New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families announced last week that it has partnered with two social service agencies to provide community-based voluntary services for at-risk children and families. The partnerships with Waypoint, based in Manchester, and the Family Resource Center, based in Gorham, will bridge the gap between initial contact with DCYF and community-based voluntary services. According to a press release, voluntary services provide tools to families that are struggling with health and safety concerns that do not currently meet a finding of abuse or neglect today but could meet that standard without intervention. “Voluntary services help strengthen and preserve families, keep children safe at home and foster environments in which they will thrive,” DCYF Director Joseph E. Ribsam said in the release.

The Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association has been named Nonprofit of the Year by the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, according to a press release. The award was presented virtually during the Chamber’s annual Pinnacle Awards last month.

The New Hampshire Food Bank will bring its drive-through mobile food pantry to Manchester on three Fridays in December: Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18. According to a press release, truckloads of food will be distributed to people in their vehicles in the Comcast parking lot at 676 Island Pond Road, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on those days.

Merrimack County Savings Bank is now holding its annual Mitten Tree drive at its locations in Bow, Concord, Contoocook, Hooksett and Nashua. Each branch will have a decorated box where community members can drop new handmade or store-bought mittens, hats, gloves and scarves; the bank will also contribute $2 to local food banks for every donated item, according to a press release.

The Upper Room, a family resource center based in Derry, is offering a series of free parenting and stress management workshops, according to a press release. The pre-recorded videos are available for viewing at URteachers.org.

Covid-19 update	As of November 16	As of November 22
Total cases statewide	15,029	17,598
Total current infections statewide	3,344	4,199
Total deaths statewide	500	512
New cases	2,330 (Nov. 10 to Nov. 16)	2,569 (Nov. 17 to Nov. 22)
Current infections: Hillsborough County	1,168	1,656
Current infections: Merrimack County	320	350
Current infections: Rockingham County	690	889

Covid-19 news

On Nov. 19, Gov. Chris Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 74, a statewide mask mandate effective Nov. 20 for everyone over the age of 5 in both indoor and outdoor public spaces where social distancing is not possible. The order came on the same day that 529 people in New Hampshire tested positive for Covid-19, the highest single-day total to date. “[This was] obviously a decision that did not come lightly,” Sununu said in a press conference announcing the order. “Many factors were clearly taken into consideration with regards to the data and the impact, and the effect on our citizens and businesses.” The mandate, which will remain in effect through Jan. 15, has a few exceptions, including anyone with a medical condition or disability preventing them from wearing a mask, anyone engaged in strenuous physical activity, or anyone asked to remove a mask or face-covering to verify his or her identity for lawful purposes. Public spaces where masks are required, as recognized by the mandate, include lobbies, waiting areas, outside plazas or patios, restaurants, retail stores, streets, sidewalks, parks, beaches, elevators, restrooms, stairways and parking garages. According to the Associated Press, at least 100 people protested the mask mandate outside Sununu’s home in Newfields on Nov. 23.

On Nov. 20, Sununu issued Executive Order 2020-23, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least Dec. 11. It’s the 12th extension he has issued since originally declaring a state of emergency on March 13.

Details of all of Sununu’s Executive Orders, Emergency Orders and other announcements can be found at governor.nh.gov.

The New Hampshire Hospital Association, the New Hampshire Medical Society and the New Hampshire Nurses Association issued a joint statement Nov. 23 in anticipation of the holiday season, asking residents to continue following the public health guidance. “The Governor’s most recent Executive Order requiring Granite State residents to wear a mask when they are unable to maintain social distance is very important and a signal of just how serious this situation is as we seek to slow the spread of Covid-19 and prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed,” the statement read.

Many hospitals have also tightened up their visitor restrictions as case numbers have increased. Catholic Medical Center, for example, announced that as of last week no visitors will be allowed, with the exception of some caregivers in certain circumstances, and it has also put stronger mask requirements in place.

Homeless encampment

On Nov. 20, the state Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice and Safety issued a joint statement regarding the homeless encampment located on state property at the Hillsborough County North Courthouse in Manchester. Signs were posted at the encampment earlier this month ordering everyone to leave by Nov. 16, or they would face penalties. According to the statement, the state had received multiple requests in the past few months from the City, the court system, businesses, legislators and the County Attorney’s Office to remove the encampment. Since then, the statement said, the state has “repeatedly” offered alternative housing and other supportive services to each person living there, including for several days beyond the Nov. 16 deadline. “On Nov. 19, officials from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and local providers approached each one of individuals in the encampment and [offered] housing with accompanying transportation offered by several providers across the state, transportation to stay with family or friends, or relocation to another encampment [as well as] mental health and substance use disorder services,” the statement said. On that day, 27 individuals accepted services and left the encampment; on Nov. 20, individuals were again offered services and were told that if they did not accept, they could either leave the property or would be removed, according to the statement. Six more people accepted services, while three people who chose not to leave were issued summonses for illegal camping. One then left the property while the other two were arrested and charged with criminal trespass, according to the statement. The property has since been cleared and a fence will be put up.

Following these actions, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig issued a statement saying that she had contacted local services, including the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, Families in Transition – New Horizons and the City Welfare Department. “As a result, Families in Transition – New Horizons already filled all of their available beds with people being forcibly removed from the courthouse lawn, and we’re working to find any other options available,” she said in her statement. She said the eviction will disconnect individuals from the services they’ve been receiving for months and noted that “this action from the State is inhumane, causing trauma to individuals with nowhere else to go.”

According to the statement from the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice and Safety, the services offered to people at the encampment on Nov. 19 “were provided by the State of New Hampshire and not the City of Manchester, despite it being the City’s legal obligation under RSA chapter 165 to provide welfare services for those within the City.”

Previously, on Nov. 18, Gov. Chris Sununu sent a letter to New Hampshire’s mayors detailing steps the State has taken to combat homelessness; he also signed an Executive Order to expand the scope and membership of the State’s Interagency Council on Homelessness and renamed it to the Council on Housing Stability, which will update the state’s homelessness plan, with a preliminary report that includes legislative recommendations for the 2021 legislative session due by Dec. 14. “Our focus on homelessness is not new and our philosophy is consistent: housing is not an optional lifestyle commodity, but rather, is an irreplaceable requirement for any form of humane human condition,” Sununu wrote in the letter.

Benefits paybacks

Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes (D-Concord) issued a statement last week after a Union Leader article reported that the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security is seeking to reclaim nearly $25 million from 10,773 people who received unemployment benefits during the pandemic because it says they were overpaid by the state. Feltes said in his statement that the Senate had tried back in March to create legislation to “prevent the clawing back of benefits paid under the emergency orders,” but that legislation was vetoed. “If they are not at fault in causing the overpayment, then they will not be required to repay the benefits,” Rich Lavers, deputy commissioner at Employment Security, told the Union Leader. “However, if they misstated the circumstances of their separation to make themselves eligible or overstated their earnings from self-employment and were paid at a higher benefit amount than is supported by the information in their federal tax return, then they will and should be expected to repay those benefits.”

Mobile classroom

As part of its campaign to promote career and technical education, the New Hampshire Department of Education will be bringing its 35-foot RV, named MAPs (Mobile Access to Possibilities), to the Tanger Outlet in Tilton on Saturday, Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. According to a press release, the mobile classroom will be making stops at shopping areas around the state during the holiday season, offering information about CTE offerings at local high schools and community colleges.

More than a dozen nonprofit organizations in Concord and its surrounding communities received more than 3.5 tons of nonperishable food items from the Capital Region Food Program. According to a press release, the distribution last week included the traditional Year Round Distribution Project foods, plus chickens and turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Manchester’s overnight winter parking ban will go into effect Dec. 1 at 1 a.m., according to a press release. Between 1 and 6 a.m., parking will be allowed only on the odd-numbered side of a street on odd-numbered calendar months and only on the even-numbered side of a street on even-numbered calendar months. There is no on-street parking during snow emergencies; you can be notified of snow emergencies by signing up at manchesternh.gov/snow for automatic email or text.

To kick off the bell-ringing season, a $20,000 donation was made on Nov. 19 to the Salvation Army Holiday Kettle outside the New Hampshire State Liquor & Wine Outlet in Bedford. According to a press release, the check was presented by the Great NH Restaurants charitable trust FEEDNH.org, in partnership with Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Greater Nashua Mental Health is now home to the Nashua area Mobile Crisis Response Team, according to a press release. The MCRT will provide 24/7 emergency services, including going directly to people in need.