Governor Approves Restaurant Customer Registry Suggestion To Track COVID-19

From InDepth NH:

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD, NH — The restaurant industry proposed a registry of customers be kept for 21 days to help in future contact tracing for COVID-19 if needed.

Starting Saturday, restaurants will ask patrons for contact information as the state continues to see an uptick in cases of COVID-19. A customer at a table will provide a name and phone number to help with contacting them if a case of the deadly virus is diagnosed among employees or patrons.

Gov. Chris Sununu said the idea came from the restaurant industry and he applauded their efforts to begin helping the state with data collection.

In the past week there have been a number of cases, both reported in the media and unreported, which have closed restaurants. The Governor’s Economic Reopening Task Force voted unanimously Thursday to support the measure, which now goes to the state Health and Human Services Department and then Gov. Chris Sununu.

Mike Somers of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, who proposed the measure, said the industry is “extremely concerned” with media reports about bar and indoor closures due to COVID-19. He questioned whether people brought the coronavirus into the facility rather than contracting it there.

Some cases are not being reported in the media and health officials say that is because they are either able to identify all impacted or have not yet done contract tracing.

There are four restaurants in Plymouth which are now closed, for example, but have not been named in press releases, yet those who have gone to the restaurants and find it closed are expressing concern for possible exposure and exposure to their personal contacts.

Somers asked Trish Tilley, deputy director of the Division of Public Health, how many clusters related to restaurants there are and she did not have an immediate answer. Such a registry would be helpful, Somers said, in preventing the entire restaurant to be shut down and might focus on an area and other people who were seated near the person with the virus.

Somers said the current approach to publicly announce and seek information from those who were at restaurants at specific times is like a “shotgun blast” in nature and not very searchable. Such a list will “help us drill down” on the time, contacts, and surroundings, Somers said.

Tilley said the list would be “incredibly helpful to our contact tracers” and help restaurants as well as look at their own staffing issues.

State Rep. Tim Lang, R-Northfield, said he thought the list could be helpful provided it is not used for any marketing or other issue than providing Health and Human Services a list.

D.J. Bettencourt, the governor’s policy director who will bring the vote to the governor, called it a “very fair proposal.” He said while New Hampshire prides itself in protecting privacy, this measure will help protect public health and businesses.

Bettencourt, who is also chairman of the task force, said other states have implemented similar measures.

Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist, said Thursday the restaurants and the state health officials have been working on the idea for a log of data on customers for several weeks and he said it would be an improvement to help deal with outbreaks.

“This is a welcome change,” he said.

It will eliminate the need for some press releases about restaurants because the state could not ensure that all who may have been exposed at a restaurant knew of their exposure.

Sununu said the state could still provide information to the public on outbreaks. Chan said each situation is different and sometimes it takes a bit of time to get the needed contact tracing information.

“So if there is a need for public notification we will do so,” he said.

He said he was pleased that the restaurants are taking a proactive step “so it is really a partnership. each situation will dictate a different response.” He added that the department is hearing more concerns to their hotlines “absolutely” related to possible exposure at restaurants.

Performing Arts

Currently, under existing COVID-19 guidance, performing arts venues cannot serve food.

But the task force approved recommendations to the governor to allow that to resume. Members said for some venues it is an important part of their business.

Daycare

In an effort to make the guidelines a bit clearer particularly around runny little noses, the task force approved recommendations to clarify several things.

The first would be about symptoms of COVID-19. The current guidance holds that kids with a runny nose have to go home. The revisions would allow the child to stay if it is the only COVID-19 symptom. The runny nose would have runny nose be paired up with other COVID-19 symptoms to preclude a child from coming.

A second provision would provide that a sibling need not have to stay home if they do not present the same symptoms as their sick sibling.The third would be a notice in the guidance related to face masks. It would read that they are not protective of those who are in close contact with someone with COVID-19.

Next Meeting

The task force will next meet on Nov. 12.

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.