Governor: State, Law Enforcement Working To Prevent Rioting In NH

CONCORD, NH — Gov. Chris Sununu took cautious and measured tones during Monday's new coronavirus news conference while addressing the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the hands of Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, and the peaceful protests and riotous siege occupying American cities in recent days.

Sununu congratulated the organizers of Saturday's Black Lives Matter march in Manchester for their messaging and positive behavior, as well as Queen City police who did "a phenomenal job in engaging and being proactive prior to the event," and even participating in the march, especially in light of what was happening around the country. The governor called on Granite Staters to continue having conversations about race relations while offering "real action items" and making sure everyone learning from all that has happened.

The governor was on a call Sunday with other governors around the country about messaging, preparedness, and what they were seeing, "just to make sure we are prepared, regardless of what we may think is coming." For the most part, he added, there were a lot of peaceful protesting in those communities but often, outside agitators caused a lot of the chaos — incidents that were overshadowed by the importance of the message of social injustice in the wake of Floyd's killing.

"We don't want that important message to be overshadowed that way," he said.

Sununu said there were future vigils and marches planned and state officials would be "watching them" especially considering the uptick in online traffic and comments by some encouraging future looting and violence. He said it was his job, as well as state officials, to be prepared for anything.

"There's no community that can potentially be immune from the potential of the violence and the rioting that we have seen, unfortunately, play out in other parts of the country," he said.

Sununu added that racism had "no home here" and "will not be tolerated anywhere in New Hampshire — and neither does violence, looting, or rioting, by any stretch of the imagination." He called on everyone to stay positive while hoping for the best, especially in a time of high anxiety, with both the situation nationally and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Later this week, Sununu said, there would be more reopening announcements.

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Health Officials Offer Updates

While the governor was somber in his words considering the national crisis facing other governors, health officials delivered some positive news concerning the state of the new coronavirus in New Hampshire.

"There are certainly trying times," Dr. Benjamin Chan said after the governor spoke.

Chan said there were 6.2 million cases of COVID-19 globally, 1.8 million in the United States, and 4,685 accumulative cases in New Hampshire after the announcement of 39 more positive patients in the state. Five more people required hospitalization while 456, or less than 10 percent, had required expanded care.

"Thankfully, we have zero new deaths to report today," Chan said. "However, we still have a total of 245 people who have died from COVID-19 and there are additional individuals under investigation for possible passing away from COVID-19."

The state has tested 74,000 people with polymerase chain reaction tests and was averaging around 1,800 tests per day. About 2,100 people are being tested in the public health laboratories, he said. The state has additional supplies and is working with health care providers to make sure anyone who wants a test can get one, Chan said. With both polymerase chain reaction and antibody tests, about 4 to 5 percent are returning positive, he said.

Testing, Chan added, was only "one tool we have to control the COVID-19 pandemic," while stressing social distancing precautions of at least 6 feet and wearing a cloth face covering to prevent the spread of the virus. The state, he said, was using data primarily to track infections and would follow it "very closely" to ensure the state remained safe from the virus. The state's new data dashboard would also be updated in the coming weeks to include more detailed testing and hospitalization data, something that was "important" to tracking the pandemic in New Hampshire.

Lori Shibinette, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Public Health, said there were no new outbreaks at long-term care facilities in the state. She also said when compared to other states in the Northeast, New Hampshire had encouraging information: Only 1.5 percent of long-term residents in the state have died due to COVID-19 or complications of the virus while other states in New England and New York were reporting anywhere from 3.5 to 8.2 percent. Maine, however, was less, at 0.4 percent. Infection rates in New Hampshire were also substantially lower than Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island, Shibinette said.

"As I said previously," Shibinette said, "whether we are the best or the worst, every death or negative outcome to COVID-19 in our long-term care population is devastating for both the residents that live there, their families, and the staff that care for those residents."

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Questions And Answers

Sununu was asked about President Donald Trump's recent tweets suggesting protesters who stand in front of police cars should be run over and dominated, and wondered if he had any comment. He said he did not look to Washington, D.C. for rhetorical advice or commentary and was only listening the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for guidance right now.

He added, "I try to stay very positive, frankly, when we talk about these things." Sununu said cities across the country were going through some "pretty tough situations" and he was working on the frontlines to ensure the violence did not come to New Hampshire.

"The president's rhetoric is the president's rhetoric," he said.

When asked again about it, Sununu said he did not think anyone needed to be dominated and people in New Hampshire were working together. It was clearly "a pathway to success," he said.

Sununu was asked whether or not calling up the National Guard to deal with rioters and looters would take away from their COVID-19 efforts. He said the guard members were "very flexible" and could be moved around, if needed, and will be prepared, if called upon.

When asked about potential violence at a Manchester rally scheduled for Tuesday, Sununu said his office and law enforcement in the state were taking the potential threats seriously and not just focusing on events in Manchester and Nashua but anywhere.

"Every community," he said, "220 cities and towns in the state ... we're making sure we're going to be prepared whatever something might break out."

Sununu said some of the more suburban areas of the other states around the country and getting hit by the riots now — since there is a perception that those areas can be overrun a little easier.

"We're a very smaller state that can really mobilize at a very grassroot level," Sununu added.

There are other events around the state, he said, including a march in Hampton and a vigil in Dover. Sununu said he expected more, too. But it was the "other element … often from out of state" who potentially could be causing problems.

When the governor was asked about the new flex open strategies, he said comments were "fairly positive, so far," although not everyone was reopening. He said several salons did not look positively at the recommendations. Sununu commended health officials for working through the data to watch for future issues.

"Data trumps models and that's one of our biggest assets," Sununu said.

Chan was asked about any new surges in positive tests due to reopenings and he said health officials "were watching it very closely" and not the modeling, which he called "not very accurate." Any change in the numbers, via two to three week intervals, is what health officials were watching and they have not seen any substantial changes in percentages positive or other data, he said, with slow trends showing reductions and improvements and no upticks in numbers that would raise concerns.

When asked about antibody testing from people with symptoms months ago or those who were asymptomatic, Chan said the department did not have details down to that level yet.

Shibinette was asked about the status of long-term care facility testing. She said all specimens had been collected and now, the health department would implement a secondary program of regular testing at the facilities.

When asked about how many people were working on contact tracing and whether the state was behind, Shibinette said it was between 100 and 150, as well as health care partners, too, and the state was not behind at all.

"We are definitely on time," she said, while adding that some cases do fall through the cracks.

Sununu was also asked about whether the groups holding rallies and protests were something to be praised due to the violation of the ongoing stay-at-home order especially considering that the pandemic was still active. The governor said the question missed the point of the importance of the rallies and called them completely different issues. He said protesters did "a terrific job" of wearing masks and it was important not to conflate the protests with the pandemic.

When asked about a national story showing how badly minority owned businesses and workers were hit by the shutdowns, Sununu said he had not seen the story and did not know if there was New Hampshire data. He said there was a task force looking at the issue in the state, too.

"It's something we can definitely look into," he added.

Sununu was also asked about the juxtaposition between New Hampshire being a stand your ground, open carry, and non-permitted conceal carry state whereas many of the communities around the country that were on fire were places with strict gun control laws, and whether or not that or 2nd Amendment or personal protection rights were discussed in any way on the call with governors. He was also asked if he was worried about potential face-offs between rioters and business owners protecting themselves and their property in our state. The governor said it had not been and the discussions were mostly strategic and constructive. Any stand-offs though do concern him.

"Look," he said, "if God forbid that we should be in a situation of rioting and violence, my job is to make sure law enforcement is there, working seamlessly, from the state level, the local level, National Guard … whatever it takes, so that we are on the frontlines protecting those individuals and those businesses (and) that property and it doesn't come to situation where individuals are put in a situation where they have to defend themselves with their firearms."

Shibinette was asked about long-term care and how they were combating all the cases. She said facilities were testing people and watching for people with symptoms and thought they were prepared but there were so many asymptomatic employees with the virus that they overwhelmed nursing homes. Shibinette said the virus is still "an invisible enemy" that was coming in the building even though workers were tested negative five to seven days before becoming positive.

When asked about why restaurants weren't reopening for indoor seating but churches were allowed to reopen at 40 percent capacity, Sununu said there would be more information in the future.

"You have to be careful not to assume one directly pertains to the other," he said.

Chan was asked, if he were asked about whether it was safe to attend a protest or not, what would he tell someone. He shifted the question slightly and removed the protest angle. Chan said anyone going out is in danger if they have health problems, other infections, or immune deficiencies.

"It's still important to stay at home as much as possible," he said.

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.
• To access the state's COVID-19 data dashboard, click on this link here.

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