Category: Q&A

Where we’re headed with Covid-19

Beth Daly, chief of New Hampshire’s Bureau of Infectious Disease Control and director of Public Health Preparedness at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, provided an overview of Covid-19 in New Hampshire, from when the pandemic first emerged to what we might see in the coming months. She also answered questions about the Covid-19 vaccine, a new strain of the virus, the flu and more.

Case trends

What did you observe about Covid cases during the summer?

We had very low case counts overall in the summer. … Many states experienced a second wave in cases in the middle of the summer, but we did not; ours remained low. That’s probably attributable to a number of different factors: we closed a number of different sectors in the spring, and by the end of June we were seeing as few as 14 or 15 cases per day. Then, we had a phased reopening and were able to reopen in a safe manner. I think implementing those measures helped to control the outbreak at that time and [prevent] a resurgence of cases over the summer. But, of course, heading into the fall, we did see a resurgence like many other states, and [cases] have now far exceeded what we even experienced in the spring.

What’s currently happening with Covid cases in New Hampshire?

On average, we’re seeing between 800 and 900 cases per day, which, of course, is very, very high, especially in comparison to what we had thought was our peak back last spring. … The increase started at the end of October and has increased on a daily basis all the way through until the middle of December, but over the last week the increase appears to be slowing down and possibly moving toward a plateau.

Were you expecting there to be an increase in cases during the holiday season?

We expected there to be some increase after the holidays because of people getting together, of course, but we can’t specifically attribute any amount of transmission to Thanksgiving, for example, since the rapid increase in cases started at the end of October. … We know through contact tracing that there was some transmission that occurred from Thanksgiving, but by and large, it’s been community transmission in workplaces and community settings. … The increase is probably more of a reflection of people being indoors [due to the weather] and coming into closer contact with each other inside, where there’s not as much ventilation as being outside.

What do you predict will happen with Covid in the early months of 2021?

We can’t make any predictions about what will or won’t happen with Covid-19 … but we’re hopeful that, with the vaccine, we’ll start to see some declines in cases. Ultimately, it’s going to take a large proportion of the population to get vaccinated in order to really keep Covid-19 at bay, but every little bit of immunity being acquired in our communities, either through vaccinations or through infection, does help us prevent future cases of Covid-19.

Covid and kids

What trends have you seen with Covid-19 cases in people under age 18?

We have seen a number [of cases among] children, and that number increased in the fall. However, we have not had a significant number of outbreaks or large clusters of outbreaks in school settings. We think the measures that schools put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 really helped to prevent transmission in a school setting. … We see more transmissions occurring outside of school, like from sports teams … sleepovers and birthday parties … and close contact with someone in their household who has Covid-19.

What protocols put in place by schools were the most effective for reducing transmission?

Their protocols and procedures varied widely, but a lot of schools set up staggered schedules for students so that they could reduce the total number of people in the school setting at one time. That was helpful for carrying out social distancing by making sure the desks were at least three feet apart or, ideally, six feet apart. … Many schools also implemented mask requirements for students and staff.

New Hampshire’s response

How prepared was New Hampshire to handle a pandemic when Covid first hit?

We had been preparing for a pandemic for two decades, since the 9/11 funding that came through that gave all states funding for public health and health care preparedness. From that, a lot of relationships were developed and a lot of plans were put in place that suited us very well in responding to the pandemic. We knew what needed to be done and had already worked toward having the capabilities that we knew would be needed.

What has New Hampshire done right in its response to the pandemic?

The partnerships that we had going into the pandemic that we then built stronger — our health care associations, medical associations and hospital associations, along with the Emergency Management Agency here at the state and their partners in the local municipalities — have been one of our greatest assets. They have been really critical in helping us make sure that, together, we are serving the needs of the frontline health care staff in all kinds of different facilities, and that the public is getting the testing and care they need. The flexibility that the governor has had in terms of declaring a state of emergency, bringing funds into the state and being able to execute contracts quickly has also been incredibly important and helpful.

Is there anything it should have done differently?

I think overall New Hampshire has mounted a strong response to Covid-19. The thing that slowed down our capacity [to respond] was … testing. I think a lot of what has transpired with the pandemic reflects on the existing health care and public health infrastructure in our country. Having stable investments in public health laboratory testing, case investigation [and] contact tracing is important. A lot of these systems have been here for decades but were clearly not funded enough to support us during a pandemic. Now, we’ve ramped those systems up, but it took a while to do.

What are your top priorities right now?

Our focus and attention is on the vaccine right now, and on getting that out to people as quickly as possible. … We also stand ready to be able to open up alternative care sites and work with our health care partners to make sure that, if there is a resurgence that exceeds our health care system, people are able to access care. Hopefully, that won’t be needed, and we’ll keep our case counts where they’re at or, ideally, even lower.

Are we more prepared now, if another pandemic were to come along in the future?

We’re obviously in a much better place to respond to a future pandemic because we’ve done it now; we’ve figured things out, and we’ve learned from it, and we’ll be able to take our experience with us into the future.

The vaccine

What’s happening with the vaccine?

Right now, we’re getting a small amount of vaccines each week, and we’re rolling out Phase 1A, which includes health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff and first responders. There are about 100,000 to 110,000 people in that group. Assuming we get the vaccines as we’re expecting from the CDC, we should be able to have that group vaccinated by the middle to end of January. Then, in February, we would be able to move forward with the next phase, Phase 1B. We have not shared yet who is going to be included in that group, but we plan to share that information with the public in the next week or two.

When will it be available to the general public?

That depends on how large the Phase 1B group is. For example, if that group has 200,000 people and [New Hampshire continues] to get the same amount of vaccines each week, that could take us into February and March, and we’d be looking at opening up vaccines more broadly to the general public in April. … It also depends on just how much vaccine we’re going to get. We expect that we’re going to get more and more over time as more formulations become available, but there are still a lot of unknowns that make it difficult to predict the trajectory of when we’ll be done [vaccinating] the 1.3 million people in New Hampshire.

How is it being distributed?

There are two formulations available right now: Pfizer and Moderna. Both require two doses. For Pfizer, you would get the doses 21 days apart, and for Moderna, you would get them 28 days apart. … In order to vaccinate everyone, the plan is to leverage everyone who’s able to provide vaccines in our state in all of our different settings. That will include a combination of hospitals, health care providers, pharmacies and state-run sites that we’re opening up to assist with the vaccinations and make sure that we can reach everyone.

A new strain

There’s been talk of a new strain of the virus. What’s going on with that?

We’re following [updates] coming out of the United Kingdom, where they are investigating a potential new strain of the Covid-19 virus that is emerging there. This is something that can happen with viruses. The virus can recombine and have different proteins on the surface of the cell that cause it to behave differently. You can detect these changes through molecular testing of the viruses themselves. In this case, [the U.K. is] reporting that [the new strain] is more transmissible [but] does not appear to be more severe.

How concerned are you about the new strain?

It’s certainly something we’re keeping our eye on. We don’t know what will happen with that strain and if it will continue to circulate or not, so all we can do is monitor it. Fortunately, the same prevention measures for the [original] Covid-19 virus — social distancing and mask use — work for the other strain as well.

The flu

Has influenza been a problem this year?

We’ve seen very little flu activity in our state. In fact, we haven’t confirmed any influenza in our public health laboratory. We’ve heard that there have been some detections of it by rapid tests in the community … so it’s out there, but it could be out there in a very sporadic way. It’s certainly not widespread or being detected frequently right now in our population. … The flu and Covid-19 are transmitted in similar ways, so we think a lot of the measures that we’re taking to prevent Covid-19 spread — social distancing, washing hands, wearing masks — could also be helping to protect us from influenza and other respiratory illness and keep those cases down.

Is it still important to get a flu shot?

Absolutely. We typically recommend that everyone six months and older get the vaccine to protect themselves from influenza, which is also a serious respiratory virus that we don’t want people to get. We have people die from it every year in our state. We also don’t want people getting influenza and getting hospitalized, because that’s going to increase the pressures that are already put on our health care system due to Covid-19. Keeping people out of the emergency room and doctors’ offices and from being hospitalized will help our whole health care system be able to better respond to Covid-19.

What now?

Is there anything else the New Hampshire public should know as we head into the new year?

Please, keep social distancing, wear masks, exercise good hygiene, stay home if you’re not feeling well and avoid travel. We know people are tired of it, but this is not the time to give up on those precautions. We want to stay strong as we roll out the vaccine. We can’t relax yet.

Featured photo: Beth Daly. Courtesy photo.

An update on homelessness in NH

The New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness released its annual State of Homelessness in New Hampshire report Dec. 17. It includes data generated between 2019 and early 2020, pre-pandemic, as well as a special report on The Intersection of Unsheltered Homelessness and Covid-19 in NH, based on semi-structured interviews with homelessness services across the state. Stephanie Allain Savard, LICSW, director of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness, discussed some of the key points in the report.

What immediate effects has the pandemic had on homelessness in New Hampshire?

The report showed that even pre-pandemic the homeless population had risen since last year. The pandemic layered on top of that has really exacerbated the issue. … Many people who were living in shelters decided to leave because they were concerned about social distancing and didn’t feel that it was safe to be in a congregate setting. Then, there are people who were couch-surfing, jumping from one place to the next at the graces of family and friends who were willing to let them stay with them temporarily; now, they have nowhere to go because people need to isolate.

What long-term effects might it have?

When the eviction moratorium is lifted and rental assistance is no longer granted, there is going to be a wave of mass evictions. We may be able to work around the evictions if we can come up with a solution to get rental assistance … for property owners and tenants so that they can get back on track, but there are so many other aspects of the pandemic that have impacted folks, too, especially those who were already living in poverty. Stress, mental health, physical health, [challenges with] students’ academic success — these are all ripple effects for families and individuals that are going to be lingering for a long time.

There has been a lot of concern about homeless camps, a.k.a. ‘tent cities,’ popping up in New Hampshire cities. What’s happening with those?

Because the pandemic limited [homeless people’s] options for affordable housing and shelters, it was a solution they came up with to keep themselves safe. … Many people in those camps experience mental health and substance use disorders which can affect their cognitive thinking and judgment. … It’s been a bit of a tug of war, because there’s pressure from the community on law enforcement to [eliminate] these camps, and [law enforcement] understands the community’s concerns, but they also understand the situation for those who are homeless. … They’re trying to figure out what should be enforced with a humanitarian understanding that we need to support [homeless people] where they are the best that we can.

Has anything good come out of the pandemic in regards to homelessness?

It’s been wonderful to see so many partnerships get stronger or new partnerships form. Suddenly, city welfare departments, substance abuse [services], homelessness services, community mental health organizations and fire departments were all collaborating to respond to the crisis in the best way possible.

What’s the report’s Call to Action?

We’re always looking at how we can increase the production of affordable housing, and one way to continue doing that is to maintain and increase investment in the New Hampshire Affordable Housing Fund. There’s the New Hampshire Governor’s Council on Housing Stability that was just established … as a short-term action plan, and we’re working to make sure that any policies, legislations and other recommendations that come out of that are supported. [And we’re advocating for] the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Housing Support’s request for an additional $9 million a year to support emergency shelters across the state.

What can people who have stable housing do to help those who don’t?

You can volunteer. There are plenty of homeless services that could use the hands-on support, or you can find out what items they need donated, like hats and mittens and food, or make a monetary donation. … You can advocate for your legislators to address homelessness. … Also, just talking about it is really important. The more we talk about homelessness and educate ourselves about what’s happening with the homeless population, the more we can break the stigma and the cycle that we’re currently in.

State of Homelessness in New Hampshire
The state’s most recent stats, pre-pandemic. To read the full report, visit nhceh.org.
• The number of people experiencing homelessness increased 21 percent.
• The number of chronically homeless people (who have been homeless for a significant length of time) increased by 112 percent.
• Homelessness among students decreased by 19 percent.
• Sixty percent of the state’s homeless population resides outside of Manchester, and 43.5 percent resides in rural communities.
• Black/African-American and multi-racial people make up only 2.7 percent of the state’s general population but 10.2 percent of the homeless population. Hispanic/Latinx people make up 2.8 percent of the general population, 10.6 percent of the homeless population.

Featured photo: Stephanie Allain Savard, LICSW

Hillsboro man helping kids learn money management

Dan Hebert of Hillsboro has been named a winner of the 2020 Myra Kraft Community MVP Award, presented each year by the New England Patriots Foundation and Kraft Family to recognize exemplary community volunteers throughout New England. Hebert is the founder and president of NH Jump$tart, a state chapter of the national nonprofit organization Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, where he has volunteered for the last 20 years. NH Jump$tart was one of 25 organizations to receive a $10,000 donation in honor of its MVP volunteer.

What is Jump$tart all about?

We have one singular mission, and that is to teach kids how to manage their money. … We all need to be financially capable, right? Consumer behavior and financial capability is key to your success; it’s key to my success; it’s just what we have to do. We’re in a country of free will where we can make our own choices about money, so my hope is that we give kids the tools and the knowledge to help them make those choices in an informed way.

In the big picture, why is increasing financial literacy important?

The conversation across the country now is all about the different levels of inequality. Financial education provides knowledge — knowing what’s available, and knowing how to use it in a proper way — and that knowledge can definitely help bridge that gap between different wealth inequalities and different communities.

What kinds of programs and activities does NH Jump$tart run?

We have a second-grade program called “I Can Save” where our volunteers go into the classroom and do a short presentation with the kids. At that age, we’re really focusing on needs versus wants. We leave them with what we call “Centsables” money boxes, which are essentially piggy banks separated by three sections: one for saving, one for spending and one for sharing. We also do a high school student tournament in April where all the topics are based on the national Jump$tart standards for personal finance. The kids compete online for a period of time, and then we invite the six highest-scoring teams to come perform in a face-to-face competition for the state championship. It’s pretty much like Jeopardy! — lights and buzzers and that sort of thing. Finally, we hold an annual teacher conference or workshop where we introduce teachers who teach personal finance to different resources, and I bring them speakers. It gives them a chance to network and to have opportunities for professional development.

How did you get involved?

I founded New Hampshire Jump$tart when I was still in banking. My banking background is in consumer lending and collections, so, particularly in collections, I saw all the consequences of poor credit and all the opportunities of good credit. Back then, New Hampshire was leading the country for the highest percentage increase in bankruptcy filing … and the financial landscape had become very complex. I got my heartstrings wrapped around this [issue] when I was asked to speak at a teacher conference about credit cards. … It surprised me how little the teachers themselves knew about how credit cards work. More importantly, it wasn’t being taught in the schools. … I discovered this national nonprofit called Jump$tart and saw that they operate independent state coalitions, and we didn’t have one here in New Hampshire. … I said, “When my banking career comes to an end, this is what I’m going to do for my next chapter.”

What has been the most fulfilling thing about this work for you?

Lately, it’s been working with the teachers. In order for them to help the kids, we have to help them improve their own knowledge and their own confidence in personal finance, and doing that just gives me a really good feeling.

How will Jump$tart use the donation money?

We’re planning on putting the funds away in an investment account. We’re not even going to touch it; we’re just going to let it grow. I guess you could say we’re letting our actions match our words [about money management].

With NH Jump$tart school programs on pause right now, how can parents help their kids be financially literate?

I would encourage parents to go on our website and the national organization’s clearinghouse [jumpstartclearinghouse.org], which has teaching resources for all different levels, languages and concepts, and most of them can be downloaded for free. There are coloring books and reading books for younger kids and games and simulations for teenagers. … The national organization also has an initiative called Check Your School; we know the power rests with the parents and that superintendents and school boards listen to parents, so we need parents to contact their local school leadership and ask them to teach personal finance and money management concepts.

What’s next for you, personally?

I’m at the retirement point, but I have no desire to take that hook. I just want to keep going. It’s great to get up in the morning and come up with new ideas and new approaches [for Jump$tart]. I’m sticking to it.

Featured photo: Dan Hebert