Second Highest Day Of Positive COVID-19 Test Results In NH

CONCORD, NH — Three New Hampshire food establishments were fined by the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office while two other companies were given enforcement warnings for violating coronavirus emergency orders, the state announced Wednesday.

Checkmate Pizza of Concord, Simply Delicious Baking Co. in Bedford, and What A Bagel in Nashua were all fined for violating Gov. Chris Sununu's restaurant and food service safety guidance executive orders while Game Changer Sports Bar & Grill in Londonderry and the Common Man-The Barn on the Pemi in Ashland were given warning letters.

According to complaints filed by customers of Checkmate, employees in July and September were seen not wearing masks or face coverings inside the establishment and not adhering to social distancing compliance. One complainant "noticed an employee touch their face and then touch pizza," a report stated. On another date, Concord police visited the store on Washington Street and found the establishment in compliance. Checkmate's owner Brian Mikol was fined $500.

At Simply Delicious, a health inspector visited the facility in mid-July after receiving a complaint and found that employees were not wearing face coverings. The owner of the establishment, Alexa Firman, the state said, "directly refused (the inspector's) instruction to wear face coverings when directly serving customers." Police issued a written warning the next day but even after the warning, "you continued to refuse to wear a face covering while serving customers." In October, during another inspection, Simply Delicious was not in compliance, the state said, "jeopardizing the health and safety of both the public and your employees." It was also fined $500.

What A Bagel was also fined $500 after business owner Christopher Weier "directly and repeatedly" was told to comply with the coronavirus restaurant guidance after five violations of not wearing face coverings were found by the city of Nashua health department, police, and the attorney general's office.

Game Changer was not fined but the state found violations — including employees not wearing masks while serving customers as well as advertising a beer pong tournament which was in violation of the emergency order. The state later ordered Richard Carrier to cancel the tournie. The restaurant was allowed to continue cornhole competitions so long as customers were not drinking or eating and social distanced while playing but that did not occur, a report said.

An inspection of the Common Man was performed and found no issues but photos surfaced later of a wedding event that showed "a disturbing lack of caution" by guests, both indoors and outdoors, not wearing masks or social distancing. Since the event was more than 100 guests, masks were required but the photos proves the emergency order was not adhered to, the state said.

2 More Deaths In New Hampshire

Two more Granite Staters have died due to or from complications of COVID-19.

One, a man, from Belknap County, was 60 years of age or older while the other, a woman, lived in Merrimack County and was 60 years of age or older as well.

There have been 504 fatalities in the state, about 3 percent of all residents infected with the coronavirus.

447 More Cases In New Hampshire

The state announced its second highest one-day count of positive test results Wednesday: 447.

Of those cases, 45 were children and were evenly split between genders. They were discovered after more than 8,100 specimens were collected Tuesday. Another 831 tests are pending for a 2.4 percent positivity rate.

More than 15,700 residents have contracted the virus in New Hampshire while 11,478 have recovered from the sickness.

"Community-based transmission continues to occur in the state and has been identified in all counties," the state said. "Of those with complete risk information, most of the cases are either associated with an outbreak setting or have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis."

The State Joint Information Center said 117 of the new cases reside in Rockingham County while 53 live in Hillsborough County outside of Manchester and Nashua. Another 43 live in Nashua and 21 live in Merrimack County. The state is still trying to find out the residency of 46 of the cases.

Ninety-one people are hospitalized while 391,151 residents have been tested via polymerase chain reaction tests in the state and 32,709 antibody tests. Another 6,375 are under public health monitoring.

In New Hampshire, about 100 cases are connected to K-12 schools. Schools with new patients include the Barrington Middle School with its first case; Heritage Christian School in Rindge has its second case; Inter-Lakes High School in Meredith has its fifth case; Laconia Christian Academy has its first case; and St. Paul's School in Concord has its fourth case.

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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.

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