Coronavirus Concerns In New Hampshire Lead To Closed Schools

CONCORD, NH — Gov. Chris Sununu and state officials announced Sunday more steps the state of New Hampshire would be taking to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, including the closure of all schools in the state through April, after the announcement of the doubling of positive COVID-19 cases. Officials made the announcement at the state's Emergency Operations Center, which was activated, on a partial basis, Friday. Sununu called for calmness and for people of the Granite State to do what they always do — remain community-focused, resilient, and proactive by limiting community transmission of the coronavirus.

"For many people, especially our kids, this can be a scary time," Sununu said. "There's a lot of uncertainty with what's going on. Our job is to ensure that the people of New Hampshire are safe, they're comfortable, and they're informed."

In the state, 13 are now positive with COVID-19, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan. They are all quarantined and also exhibiting "mild" illness severity, he said. Officials believe all of the patients contracted the virus based on international or domestic travel and/or contact with someone who is in a high risk group or traveled, Chan said. The seventh individual in the state to contract the virus, who spend a number of days at the Division of Motor Vehicle branch in Manchester, is believed to likely be a travel-related contraction, he said.

Nine of the positives live in Rockingham County, Chan said. Grafton County has three. One is located in Hillsborough County, specifically, Nashua, he said.

The six new cases include two women from Rockingham County who traveled to multiple countries in Europe on the same trip with an earlier COVID-19 case; two women from Rockingham County who traveled to different states experiencing community transmission; a fifth person, whose gender was not released, who lives in Rockingham County and traveled to multiple European countries; and a man from Nashua who recently returned from Central America.

According to Chan, 379 patients have been tested and 95 tests are pending, meaning 284 people have tested negative. About 450 people are undergoing public health monitoring by officials, Chan said.

Currently, Chan said, more than 150,000 people are infected with the coronavirus around the world including about 3,000 in the United States. As the spread increases, he said, "we can expect more diagnoses of COVID-19 in New Hampshire in the coming days and weeks." When that occurs, it will become increasingly difficult to determine specific risk factors — meaning there could be evidence of community transmission in the future, Chan said.

"That's expected, considering the global outbreak," Chan said, "and the (infection rate in) states around New Hampshire."

Chan called it "a collective responsibility" to help slow the spread of the virus and take the necessary steps to protect others — including family members, communities, and the state.

Experts have been discussing specifics about how coronavirus spreads and are especially concerned about asymptomatic spread of the virus. The spread is "likely possible" even if a person exhibits no symptoms, he said. But exposure is "more likely" when people have symptoms, even mild ones, and are around others. Chan said fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, were the most common signs of infection "but they may not be the first signs or first symptoms." Fever may not develop for days, he said.

The earliest signs can be vague or general, and flu-like, like headaches, being tired, rundown, and chills without a fever, and people can transmit the virus while showing the early symptoms, Chan said.

"We need to change our social expectations and make it OK for people to stay home, when they are sick, or symptomatic, even only with mild symptoms," Chan said.

Remote Learning Plan

The New Hampshire Department of Education is issuing new remote learning plans to school districts after announcing a three-week closure of all schools. All schools in the state will be closed through April 3. Sununu said every school in the state would be cleaned, too. Officials will reexamine the closure early next month.

The department, according to Commissioner Frank Edelblut, will be working with districts to ensure teachers and parents have the materials they need to be able to educate children and not let them fall behind during the closure. He commended districts, administrators, and teachers for "working tirelessly," and being creative and innovative, while working toward solutions for students and families.

"It's an evolving circumstance on the ground," he said.

The plan for districts is to implement remote instruction with remote support which will lead to remote learning for students. Students, Edelblut said, "are always learning ... and our goal is to help them learn the knowledge and skills that will bring them all to bright futures."

Before taking the closure action, he said, the department "assessed the capacity" of districts to be able to teach remotely. Only 6 percent of the school districts were completely unprepared to teach remotely, he said. Most, Edelblut added, "are fully digitized" and were prepared or would be prepared to perform the transition. Some will be using "a hybrid model" of computers and analog materials.

Educators, Edelblut said, will more than likely teach from classrooms so they have access to the tools they need to teach in support of schools. School districts are going to be given the next few days to prepare to implement the remote learning program, he said. The department is also working to bridge the digital divide to make sure that some students who don't have computers or access to the Internet at home are not left behind.

Districts are coordinating food delivery initiatives, too, in order to get meals to children, including as many as 27 percent of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch in New Hampshire, Edelblut said. Rockingham County sheriffs and bus drivers in Manchester, as examples, have been suggesting they could be deployed to deliver foods to children in need. Edelblut said the department would be doing everything they could do to support at-risk children in the state.

Some services, including students with individualized education plans, will be instructed remotely or students will be brought to school in small groups or as individuals to receive instruction, on a case-by-case basis, Edelblut said, to provide those services. Some services will not be provided to students, he said.

During the next week, schools are directed to prepare the remote classes and support. After that first week through April 3, classes will be delivered remotely. The first week of April, school officials and the department will analyze the disruptive model to see how it worked.

The closure order does not apply to nonpublic schools which are not regulated by the state. Edelblut, however, said he had been in touch with those schools about the situation and many are undertaking their own efforts to initiate remotely learning.

"I think it is vital that we continue to work, within our communities, and support one another, through this public health emergency," Edelblut said. "We all have a role to play and I am proud of how the education system has responded to these circumstances."

During the next 48 hours, Sununu said, directives will be made for access to unemployment benefits for parents who need to stay home to take care of children who are not in schools.

Supply Chains, Other Issues

A number of grocery stores, pharmacies, and chain stores have had a run on certain items including paper products, milk, bread, non-perishables, meat and poultry, soap products, sanitizers, and other items. In Concord, according to pictures and reports from readers and first-hand perspective, there are many empty shelves at Aldi, Market Basket, Shaw's, and Walmart. What everyone does not know is whether or not this is a supply problem or a stocking employment problem, due to the activity by shoppers. A number of employees at stores have stated that they can't keep up with the demand.

When asked about whether or not the state should activate some system by which store shelves could be restocked for customers in need of essentials, Sununu said he wasn't concerned.

"I've talked to both the folks in the supply chain — many of the folks in the grocery stores themselves ... there is food on the shelf, let's be very clear," Sununu said. "There's plenty of eggs, and bacon, and milk, and things of that nature. There is clearly a run on things like paper products, flour, bread … but those products are being manufactured and they are coming in. They are being bought at a higher rate now. But they are also coming in. The supply chain is there. We are nowhere near a level of panic or anything like that."

When asked about whether or not there were emergency funds available for school districts, like Nashua, that have a huge digital divide and need resources for computers, Internet access at home, and other issues, Edelblut said, the department was working with districts to access federal funding to support them with more resources.

"It's really beyond technology because, truthfully, you can implement an analog lesson plan … that can work … particularly in a high-density area like (Nashua) to help the educators figure out how they can educate like that and conduct instruction like that."

Edelblut, who home-schooled his own kids for many years before becoming education commissioner, was asked what advice he would give parents who now have to juggle education plans, remote learning, and their own jobs, in uncertainty times. He said the department's remote instruction plan focused on curriculum with districts to make the process as easy as possible. Part of those plans, he said, were guidance from the districts to give to parents to help them with the new role of being "supervised learner" — to ensure they could be successful in the role and make sure their children don’t fall behind with classes during the public health emergency.

What You Can Do

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. 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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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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