NH Governor Calls For Volunteers To Help With Coronavirus

CONCORD, NH — Are you a medical services professional who is retired, like a nurse or doctor? How about a company that manufacturers products? Can you offer a few hours of time to a nonprofit in your community or directly help a neighbor? If you can, the state of New Hampshire is asking for your assistance.

Gov. Chris Sununu made a callout to Granite Staters Tuesday to offer support to others due to the new coronavirus which is putting a strain on public services — with more stress expected to come in the near future. The state's residents, he said, were no stranger to helping others and do so on a daily basis; he called New Hampshire "truly a state of community."

But now, officials were going to harness all of that activity in a few places in an effort to coordinate activity.

Three websites are being utilized to assist in the effort of gathering volunteers and putting them to work for others in the state.

The first is for health care professionals who might be retired and willing to help out by giving their time to offer medical assistance. Anyone who has medical services experience and can volunteer can visit and signup at the NHResponds.org website. A second site, VolunteerNH.org, is being used for nonprofits who need assistance as well as neighbors willing to help other neighbors. A third site, which is focused on businesses and manufacturing, is NHEconomy.com/ppehelp, which is focused on the creation of personal protection equipment and devices.

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The medical site was set up to manage "all kinds of disasters," said Lori Shibinette, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, and people involved have more than a decade of experience of action.

For regular volunteers and orgs in need of volunteers, Sununu said, residents could signup via the VolunteerNH website and offer their time.

Sununu said the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and United Way were also teaming up to raise money for organizations who needed assistance during the outbreak. All donations to the coronavirus effort will go directly to the organizations, he said.

More than 100 businesses in the state are also working and restructuring their companies to assist in creating personal protective equipment.

In the coming days, officials believe these three sectors may be necessary to activate and organize due to an expected growth of more positive COVID-19 cases — due to an increase in testing for the virus. Testing in New Hampshire will triple in the coming days, Sununu said, leading to more positives.

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What You Can Do To Stop The Spread

COVID-19, not unlike the flu and other respiratory illnesses, 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.

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