Member Of New Hampshire Governor's Staff Contracts Coronavirus

CONCORD, NH — A member of the governor's staff has tested positive for coronavirus.

The staffer, who worked with Gov. Chris Sununu inside of the Statehouse, had not been in the office since Wednesday.

The staffer woke up on Thursday with a fever and immediate self-quarantined. The employee, Sununu's press office said, was "feeling fine."

Contact tracing was conducted to determine close contacts within the 48 hour before symptom contagious period and found only one close contact within the governor's office. That staffer was also quarantined.

Sununu, however, was not in close contact with the employee and while guidance does not require the governor to quarantine, "he will continue to monitor for any symptoms" along with other staffers.

"Transparency is paramount in public health crises and this instance is no exception," Sununu said. "Like many workplaces across the state and country, the Statehouse is not immune. I would like to thank the member of my team for immediately quarantining and following all public health guidance, and wish them good health as they recover from COVID-19."

The governor's office reported the incident to the Department of Administrative Services to ensure all the "commonly touched surfaces" within the Statehouse were sanitized. Staffers follow all public health guidelines including wearing masks when socially distancing is not possible, the press office noted.

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