NH Governor: 'Data Trumps Models'; Hospitals Get Remdesivir

CONCORD, NH — After nearly 72 hours of flex reopening in the state of New Hampshire, businesses are in the process of receiving millions of masks, according to Gov. Chris Sununu.

During a news conference Wednesday, the governor said "thousands of orders" were being sent out to businesses that have decided to voluntarily open. After receiving 7 million masks last week, another 10 million were scheduled to arrive this week.

Sununu thanked the Body Armor outlet in Salem for assisting in helping procure the masks. He called the public-private partnerships the state had organized, which have spent around $25 million, as a "true team effort."

Two other companies — Circular Blu in Bradford and Cole-TAC LLC in Newport — acquired 50,000 gowns for the state by retooling or repurposing their manufacturing with "many, many more to come, in the coming months," Sununu said.

"Securing gowns continues to be, not just for New Hampshire, but for governors all across the country," the governor said, "one of the toughest things to secure in terms of PPE; it's more complex than a mask … and we can't thank them enough. It's a very high need item for us."

The governor also announced that hundreds of applications by nursing homes and long-term care facilities has led to 22,000 workers in New Hampshire receiving $300 stipends during the coronavirus pandemic. About $6 million had been paid out to employees since the program began with another $5 million expected to be paid out each week — with the state receiving more applications for the stipends daily.

The state Monday also created a new online training program so that workers can be licensed and fill temporary positions available at the long-term care facilities.

New Hampshire also received a $575,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant for police departments to cover overtime costs and buy PPE, Sununu said, adding, "things they really, truly need."

More Deaths, More Data

Eight new deaths, including seven who lived at long-term care facilities, were announced by the state.

New data, including an updated, corrected list of deaths and infections at nursing homes and other facilities will be released Wednesday, according to Lori Shibinette, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. She said some of the previous data reported from Derry needed to be corrected.

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The state reported 63 new cases of COVID-19 bringing the total accumulated cases to 3,299 in New Hampshire. Testing is now averaging close to 1,500 per day with close to 40 percent of all residents and employees at long-term care facilities being tested, she said. All nursing home testing will be completed in two weeks. About 700 residents and employees of the Hillsborough County Nursing Home, which recently reported an outbreak, have been tested, too.

Shibinette said the new Concord testing facility on Stickney Avenue opened Wednesday and collected about 1,000 specimens. She said there was some discussion about why testing facilities were set up in Manchester and Nashua. Currently, those cities have tests performed by mobile labs. But also, both the Manchester and Nashua public health divisions are running clinics themselves. Residents meeting the criteria — high risk groups, health care workers, or anyone 60 or older — can call 603-668-1547 to reach the Manchester division and 603-589-3456 to reach the Nashua to schedule tests. Both divisions are also testing residents in the cities' elderly housing complexes, too, she said.

"Both of them have done a great job," Shibinette said.

New Hampshire also now has 400 vials of remdesivir which have been sent to 13 hospitals in the state along with emergency use authorizations, Shibinette said.

"Typically," she said, "it has a lot more guidelines and paperwork to use it."

Testing Capacity And Other Questions

During question and answers, the governor was asked why it was so hard for the state to get to the goal of 1,500 tests per day and to sustain that rate. Sununu said, at first, the state was performing 100 to 200 tests per day due to having limited kits, materials, and staffing. There are also three different testing processes but as production has ramped up across the country, the state has been able to get more kits, supplies, and has expanded testing. As patients go in and out of hospitals for other reasons, he said, testing will expand, too.

Shibinette said the daily rate is going to vary due to lower rates of specimen collection during the weekend. Those collections were processed on Tuesday and Wednesday. But, Shibinette expected tests to be as high as 2,000 per day soon.

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Sununu was asked whether new models by the University of Washington showing New Hampshire having as many as 900 deaths by August made him anxious about reopening the state.

"Of course, it does," he said, "absolutely. That's a very dire number but it could happen which is why we have to be extremely careful … models are fine; but data trumps models. And that's why Dr. Chan and his team have done a very good job of looking at where we are today using what we know (and) the trends that we've already seen."

Sununu said he appreciated some people who want the state completely reopened as well as those who say why not just close the state to people over 60. But those decisions have risks, too, including younger people becoming transmitters due to asymptomatic infection which puts others, like grandparents, at risk. Looking at the "super-outbreaks," Sununu said, will be a key aspect of how the state focuses on reopening businesses, beaches, and other sectors.

"We know we are going to have more fatalities here, unfortunately," Sununu said. "And, potentially a lot more COVID, in the state. It's really how do we manage it. How do we flatten that curve (and) it's all about our health care system being able to manage any potential surge."

Sununu was asked about religious leaders gathering at the Statehouse Saturday for a rally about religious freedom and he said the constitutionality of meeting during a public health emergency were being challenged across the country but recommendations and guidelines were not permanent laws that were being put in place; they were temporary. Churches and other organizations are worshiping in smaller settings of less than 10 and holding more of them, he said.

When asked about the state and communities hiring lifeguards for beaches, lakes, and ponds this summer, Sununu said the state was allowing communities to go through the process of preparing lifeguards but not allowing them to be hired full-time yet until testing needs and other issues were solved.

"That's a job that we aren’t making any commitment to open," Sununu said. "We hope we get there."

When asked about whether investigations into fatalities had been completed that would show how many of the 150 people who have died in New Hampshire had underlying or chronic health conditions, Shibinette said, "We don't have it." Sununu said it was safe to say "a majority" of the cases had health conditions.

Previously during other press conferences, health officials have stated that nearly all the fatalities had health conditions — but that was when there were fewer deaths in the state, too.

After a question about people without symptoms not being able to get tests in New Hampshire even though President Donald Trump was saying anyone who wants a test can get a test, it was pointed out that Rite Aid began offering tests Monday to anyone at their drive-thru locations in Manchester and Portsmouth. In other words, anyone can get a test in New Hampshire if they want one even though the state is limiting its testing to high risk groups, health care workers, and the elderly.

Sununu hoped Rite Aid would open a third location and called them "another great private partner." He added that all the results from the Rite Aid tests would be rolled into the state data.

Sununu was also asked about why nurses in county correctional facilities were not receiving the frontline worker stipends like their fellow co-workers who were correctional officers, police, firefighters, and others.

"Yes, absolutely," Sununu said. "We want to make sure those workers can receive some type of stipend and it's something that we are looking at right now. That's absolutely on the table."

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.

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• Golfers Out In Force After State Allows Reopening

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