NH Coronavirus: 19 New Deaths — All In Long-Term Care Facilities

CONCORD, NH — State health officials are beginning to expand testing to all long-term care facilities in New Hampshire after the announcement Wednesday of another 19 new coronavirus deaths, all from nursing homes in the Granite State, due to the new coronavirus.

The new fatalities brought the count to 111 in New Hampshire. All but four of the deaths in the state have been people who were 60 or older, including two health care workers, and all had underlying health conditions or sicknesses. Only 24 of the fatalities in the state have no connection to a long-term care facility.

The increase in deaths of the elderly or infirmed has prompted state health officials to revamp its long-term care plan and, admittedly, surprised officials, who were expecting New Hampshire's infection rates to be more like other states — where over-capacity at hospitals and care sites made the pandemic hard to contain and control, according to Lori Shibinette, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

Officials, she said, were expecting a surge of community-based transmission cases but preventative measures taken by residents — such as staying at home, washing hands, and social distancing, appeared to keep that from surfacing. Shibinette said, however, as health officials watched COVID-19 hit New Hampshire, "it unfolded differently — we watched our community transmission and infection rates either level out or decline … what we didn't see was that (increase) in long-term care."

During the last few weeks, the health department ramped up testing inside facilities and have tested about 1,000 residents, "a great number," Shibinette said, as well as more than 5,000 long-term workers. In Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, 4,200 tests have been issued. In the state, tests have been held in 19 facilities leading to the discovery of 93 positive cases. Many of the facilities, Shibinette said, didn't incur outbreaks even though there have been asymptomatically positive residents and workers in the facilities.

Since the state received more testing supplies from the federal government Monday, long-term care facilities will be setup with more expansive testing capability.

"We took aggressive action early and now, we're taking further steps," Shibinette said.

Health officials will perform a "surveillance project" by randomly selecting 10 percent of facilities and requesting swabs from residents to understand if COVID-19 is coming into the facilities undetected.

Testing once is not enough — a person can come in contact with COVID-19 a day later, after being out in the community, Shibinette said. Officials, she added, have talked a lot about finding ways to stop the virus at the door. Right now, there is mobile testing. The goal in the next few weeks is to go statewide and offer testing to all care staff members every seven to 10 days.

"We want to stop it, at the door," she said. "Making sure the staff have regular testing is really, really important."

Expanded Testing For More NH Residents

Beginning Thursday, any resident in the state will also be able to set up an appointment to get tested, under specific conditions, via a new portal on the nh.gov homepage.

Gov. Chris Sununu said there would be a criteria for testing — people of any age, as example, will be asked to self-test to ensure they have a new coronavirus symptom like fever or shortness of breath. Anyone with major health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and other sicknesses, will also be able to make an appointment. The governor called the list of health conditions, "A whole plethora or options and symptoms they might have." All health care workers can also request a test and any resident who is 60 years or older, whether they have symptoms or not, can get one, too, he said. This was important, the governor added, because many residents 60 or older would be returning to work.

Sununu called the portal "an important tool as we move forward." The tests, he added, will be "much easier" due to being an interior nasal swab, which should make the process of gathering specimens smoother.

Five fixed locations — Claremont, Dover, Lancaster, Plymouth, Rochester, and Tamworth — will assist with the testing of health care workers, with members of the New Hampshire National Guard manning those testing teams along with 11 ConvenientMD facilities and other locations.

Sununu also said there were a lot of questions and concerns about child care in the state. He said $500,000 had been spent, so far, on emergency child care, with a number of slots open for facilities.

"(It's) important for citizens to know that the capacity will be there," he said, as the state begins to reopen, with strict guidelines which the reopen task force will also look at.

Sununu Says He Won't Play Politics At Health Updates

During the question and answer session, the governor refused to wade into partisan bickering over his handling of financial matters and the pandemic.

At one point, he was asked about a 4-1 vote of the Executive Council Wednesday to table a request to withdraw nearly $1 billion — including $450 million in CARES Act funds, due to lack of sufficient information. The motion was prompted by Andru Volinsky, an executive councilor from Concord and a gubernatorial challenger on the other side of the political aisle, who also said he was concerned that Frank Edelblut, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education, had personal control of $42 million in education funding tucked inside the $950 million.

"The council and the public deserve far better explanations than the unprepared governor and department heads were able to provide today," Volinsky said in a press statement emailed out by his campaign during the press conference. "Twenty percent of the $950 million warrant article are completely undefined contingency funds. More than ever, in this pandemic, working people should be able to expect a forthcoming explanation from their governor about where their taxpayer dollars are put to use. We're all facing uncertainty together, and the best remedy for uncertainty is sharing more information, not less."

Sununu said he wasn't concerned about the motion which was a warrant for June because it will be discussed again in a couple of weeks.

"It's basically a mechanism by which, if you weren't going to support the warrant article, effectively, you shut down all of government," he said. "It simply allows the Department of Administrative Services and the treasury to keep the cash moving … (the executive council) wants to look at it for another couple of weeks, which is fine, it won't go into effect until June 1st."

The governor also said there was an abundance of transparency and oversight of where and how both state and federal monies were being spent during the crisis.

"They weren't very specific on what they were looking for but we'll provide any additional, specifics we have," he said. "We're always happy to provide. We've been very transparent through the whole process. It's all out there on the GOFERR website. Traditionally, those warrant articles are one or two sentences."

Another questioner also waded into the political by asking the governor why he hadn't listened to another gubernatorial challenger, state Sen. Dan Feltes, a Democrat from Concord, who had been suggesting expanded testing in nursing homes for weeks as well as the cancellation of the ConvenientMD contract — due to the co-founder of the company being a political supporter of Sununu's.

Sununu countered, "I'm not going to respond to any of that political nonsense. Those questions are politically-driven and nothing we've done has been politically-driven. Convenient MD has been a terrific partner that was setup by the Department of Health and Human Services and they've tested literally thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people in the state. They've done a terrific job."

After the press conference, Feltes' campaign issued a statement via email saying, "Last week, I renewed the call for routine testing of all residents and all staff. Today’s announcement is a good step, though unfortunate Gov. Sununu didn’t adopt this weeks ago, because families may not have lost loved ones and we might not be in as dire of a situation as we now face."

Learn More About The Spread Of COVID-19

The COVID-19 virus is spread through respiratory droplets, usually through coughing and sneezing, and exposure to others who are sick or might be showing symptoms.

Health officials emphasize residents should follow these recommendations:

• Avoid any domestic and international travel, especially on public transportation such as buses, trains, and airplanes.
• Practice social distancing. Stay at least 6 feet from other people, including distancing while in waiting areas or lines.
• Anybody who is told to self-quarantine and stay at home due to exposure to a person with confirmed or suspect COVID-19 needs to stay home and not go out into public places.
• If you are 60 years or older or have chronic medical conditions, you need to stay home and not go out.
• Avoid gatherings of 10 people or more.
• Employers need to move to telework as much as possible.
• There is increasing evidence that this virus can survive for hours or possibly even a few days on surfaces, so people should clean frequently touched surfaces, including door handles, grocery carts and grocery basket handles, etc.

Take the same precautions as you would if you were sick:

• Stay home and avoid public places when sick (i.e., social distancing).
• Cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
• Wash hands frequently.
• Disinfect frequently touched surfaces.

More information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services about coronavirus can be found here on the department's website.

• Guidance to schools can be found can be found here.
• Instructions for returning travelers to self-observe for symptoms of COVID-19 are available are available here.
• For more information on COVID-19 in NH, visit its site here.
• For the latest information from the CDC, visit its site here.

ALSO READ:

• New Coronavirus Takes Big Bite Out Of State Revenues
• Most Coronavirus Deaths In NH Occurred In Nursing Homes: Data
• NH Coronavirus Update: 6 More Deaths; 50 More Infections
• Concord Coronavirus: Nazzy Hosts Virtual Prom For High Schoolers
• Nashua Coronavirus: City Taking Impact Fund Program Applications

Editor's note: I was director of communications for the New Hampshire Department of Education between April 13, 2018, and April 16, 2019.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube channel.