NH Schools Receive More COVID-19 Guidance — And A Data Dashboard

CONCORD, NH — New Hampshire schools will be getting more COVID-19 guidance and tools from the state to coordinate potential infection clusters or outbreaks as well as a new data dashboard, 230,000 cloth coverings, and free food for students, too.

During a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Chris Sununu and state health officials unveiled a few school updates and announcements in an effort to keep children safe and fed during reopenings. One of the highlights of the press conference was a New Hampshire COVID-19 school data dashboard, the fifth tab on the state's second data dashboard, which will be a go-to point for information about incidents in K-12 public schools, nonpublic and charter schools, and colleges and universities. The governor commended the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services for getting the dashboard up and running "very quickly."

Another 230,000 cloth face coverings were also arriving soon from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and will be distributed to schools for students in need as well as teachers and administrators. Sununu said 100,000 masks were already distributed to schools by the New Hampshire National Guard.

In a statement sent during the press conference, Frank Edelblut, the commissioner for the New Hampshire Department of Education, said educational leaders had raised the issue of "securing adequate supplies of PPE" as "a top concern." The masks, he said, "will be targeted to students in need at schools providing in-person instruction" and would offer "important layers of protection that make it possible for our students to return to school safely, along with hygiene, social distancing, and other recommended practices."

The state also received a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowing all students in New Hampshire to receive free meals at no charge, for the time being. Sununu called the waiver "a great thing," it provided the state flexibility, and allowed students in need to be fed.

Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state's epidemiologist, said new guidance documents were being provided to schools to assist them during the coming weeks as to how and why to make decisions to move between learning models such as fully remote learning, hybrid, or completely in-school — based on the level of infection with the student or community populations. The data will track community transmission by city and town as well as county and then also have metrics to assess the impact of transmission. The numbers will be the same that health officials share, in many ways, during the press conferences and media alerts — including polymerase chain reaction test positivity rates, hospitalizations, and other factors in 14-day segments.

Chan said the state had the ability to monitor school absenteeism at school, too.

"This is a system that has been in place since around 2009," Chan said. "We will continue to monitor this throughout the school season and monitor that data, and give it back to school systems."

Another data and guidance level, too, will be based on staffing in schools, and rate their impact to safely conduct educational operations, he said. It goes beyond just the community; the ratings will be county-wide to guide actions at the local level — since so many communities and counties were connected by business, long-term care facilities, and other entities.

Chan said the plan may be adjusted and officials will work with schools to make sure guidance is workable — but it is not meant direct schools what to do. Those decisions will be made at the local level. But the guidance and data will be helpful to schools, Chan believed.

The governor also said he was also happy to hear that the Crotched Mountain School would be remaining open despite ongoing financial issues while tackling the new coronavirus outbreak.

Other Health Updates

Chan said New Hampshire's new coronavirus numbers continue to be low but globally, 25.5 million people have been infected with the virus and 6 million patients have been identified in the United States.

"New Hampshire numbers continue to do well," he said.

Another 23 cases were announced in the state Tuesday bringing the number to just under 7,300 accumulatively. One new person has been hospitalized, too, Chan said.

Lori Shibinette, the commissioner of the health department, said another outbreak was being reported at Mountain View Community Center, a nursing home in Ossipee, where one staffers and four residents have become infected. The state is still tracking outbreaks at Evergreen Place and Rockingham County House of Corrections, she said.

Questions And Answers

Chan was given an example of how the new school data dashboard would be used to assist schools in making decisions and asked to comment on it. He said the data would be based on a community framework and there had been "a lot of struggle" to come up with "big picture, long-term" strategies to make decisions. One scenario, he said, would be to act after more than 50 cases per 100,000 ranking had been reached at a county level. Officials will then eye the community transmission around the school and county to see if there might be a larger spread of the virus.

Right now, all counties in New Hampshire are in the minimal level of community transmission right now. If a school opened in remote learning and the spread of COVID-19 continued at low levels, schools could switch to hybrid. Or, reverse, too. Chan said it was hard to make examples of scenarios because it will be based on what happens inside schools and communities.

When asked about the 14-day period of metrics, Chan said officials knew there were "natural variations" of numbers and tracking required more than one or three days. Some measures will be 14-days because the state had such low numbers. Other metrics, like test positivity, uses seven-days.

Chan was asked about what would be done after a student tested positive. He said health officials will work with the schools, school nurses, and others, to contact trace student activities if students become infected. The lab or the college or school contacts the department. Contact tracing will then be done and all the people involved will be quarantined and testing will be requested, too.

Chan was asked about situations in other communities where teachers were refusing to go into buildings to teach including a teachers union making plans to sue in Andover, Massachusetts. He said some districts are delaying opening to prepare but the decisions will be made locally. Chan said the health and education departments have been having weekly calls, sometimes two per week, for the last month and a half to address questions and concerns.

Chan said health officials wanted to work collaboratively with districts to implement "layers of protection in the school operations."

Shibinette was asked about a possible cluster in Bedford and said the department was investigating an outbreak at a hockey camp in Nashua by ProAmbitions. She said a number of employees at camps were working in multiple states. There were eight players and four staffers who became infected.

The ProAmbitions outbreak was first reported on Patch.

Sununu was asked whether sports programs should be changed at schools based on camp infections. He said there were some cases this summer at camps and some were not adhering to the safety protocols. Officials discussed the situations with the orgs running the camps, Sununu said.

"Right now, we're not looking at changing anything," Sununu said, "but we're keeping an eye on it."

Officials were asked about the difference between a cluster and an outbreak. Shibinette said the CDC definition of an "outbreak," traditionally, has been three or more cases, with widespread transmission; a cluster is one to three cases. In the case of the camps, many of the positive testing subjects were working in camps in different states so they were moving around. Some of the cases, she said, were actually in other states and not New Hampshire, so tracking had been complicated. Everyone, Shibinette said, had been identified but there might be transmission between household members or relatives in the future.

Sununu was asked about the President Donald Trump reelection rally in Londonderry and the lack of masks being worn. He said organizers required people to wear masks going in and handed out masks to attendees if they did not have them. There were announcements about it, too, both at the rally and while signing up to attend the event. But enforcement action, Sununu said, was under the authority of the attorney general's office.

When pressed about how he felt by people ignoring the order, Sununu said, "I feel the same way when I'm in the grocery store and I see people walking around the grocery store without a mask … not taking it seriously or whatever it might be. We've tried to remain a high level around this message, in terms of its importance. I don't want to single out one event that makes me feel better … I guess I get frustrated with all of it, a bit."

There is no direct evidence of outbreaks from Laconia Bike Week or the Trump rally, according to officials.

Sununu also commended his team for all the work they have been doing to try and keep New Hampshire's numbers low. This is not forever, he said, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and "I really believe that and all of us believe that, very strongly." Some sacrifices have to be made, he added, but we'll get there. The results are what really matter and New Hampshire's spread is very low when compared to Massachusetts, Sununu said.

"At the end of the day, it's all about our personal responsibility to ourselves," he said.

Sununu was asked about potential health department spending reductions and a consultant that was hired to analyze costs. Some departments were being asked to meet "certain metrics" based on lost tax revenue or lack of federal aid, he said. The outside group was nationally recognized and it did not hurt to have another set of eyes looking at the way the state performs its services, especially in the health department which is close to 40 percent of the state's budget, Sununu added.

"So, there's a lot there," Sununu said, "it isn't just about cutting costs; it's about finding efficiencies."

Chan was asked about meals being served in schools and cafeteria safety, especially with the inability of wearing a mask while eating. He said it was "hard to answer" questions on specific situations since each facility was different and so were the student populations. Guidance and recommendations, however, is to try and maintain a distance between 6 feet between students while they are eating. Some districts, he said, were not allowing eating in cafeterias and had barriers, too, attached to desks. They, Chan added, were working in keeping up "layers of protection" between the students.

The governor was asked about the percentage of state employees still working remotely and what departments were working remotely and when they would return to offices. Sununu said, at one point, it was more than half and up to 70 percent. But it is well under, right now, 50 percent, he said. During the past few weeks, a lot of workers have been returning to work, he said, but the exact number was unknown. Sununu said there were around 10,000 employees and many of them are already decentralized outside of Concord.

When asked about the general quality of life in the state and the long-term fallout from the pandemic, freedom of having a social life, entertainment, and other things, Sununu said, again, that he believed the pandemic would eventually end, probably at the end of the year. Events like theatre and other things, will look a little different, but will still be around, he said.

Sununu was asked about commuting the sentence of Michael Addison, the Manchester man convicted of killing Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs, that was mentioned during the Democrat's gubernatorial debate Monday and said he was "shocked" by the suggestion.

"Let me be very clear," Sununu said, "I will never support commuting the sentence of a convicted cop-killer like Michael Addison. I think it sends the absolute wrong message. It's the wrong approach and the wrong message. I'll never support it."

Shibinette was asked about students at Plymouth State University who tested positive for COVID-19, about 17, but were not listed on the data dashboard. She said some were from other states and only a handful were New Hampshire residents. All have been recovered as well, Shibinette added.

Sununu was asked about the $300 lost wages assistance program approved by executive order by Trump and how difficult it was getting enrolled in the program. There had been dozens and dozens of complaints about problems with questionnaires, rejection letters even though they received the benefits before, problems trying to get questions answered, rudeness by state employees, and other issues. He said he was aware of the issues and employment security was addressing the concerns of the unemployed. Sununu said it was a different process and was confusing but it was being streamlined. An outside vendor was also being brought in to educate, answer questions, and address concerns.

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Stop 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.
• When you can't practice 6 feet of social distancing, wear a face covering.
• Anyone who is told to self-quarantine and stay at home due to exposure to a person with confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 needs to stay home and not go out into public places.
• If you are 60 years or older or have chronic and underlying health conditions, you need to stay home and not go out.
• Avoid gatherings of 10 people or more.
• Employers should work from home as much as possible.
• There is increasing evidence that the virus can survive for hours or possibly days on surfaces. 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.
• Wear a face covering.
• 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.
• To access the state's COVID-19 data dashboard, click on this link here.
• To access the state's COVID-19 Interactive Map Dashboard, click on this link here.

ALSO READ:

• Concord City Council Approves Face Covering Ordinance: Update
• 22 More COVID-19 Cases Reported In New Hampshire: Update
• 35 More COVID-19 Infections In New Hampshire: 48 Hour Update
• NH Businesses: Join Patch's Local Business Information Center
• Another Elderly Woman Dies; 23 Others Infected: Data Update

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

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