Politics & Government

New Hampshire Seacoast Beaches To Open June 1 — With Restrictions

First case of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children; 2 long-term care outbreaks; masks for sale at liquor stores; criticism mounts.

Also, on June 1, small group classes and fitness activities including yoga, Zumba, and other workouts, will be allowed, with expanding cleaning and safety guidelines.
Also, on June 1, small group classes and fitness activities including yoga, Zumba, and other workouts, will be allowed, with expanding cleaning and safety guidelines. (Shutterstock)

CONCORD, NH — Beaches will be reopening in the state of New Hampshire by June 1 but there will a lot of restrictions — and no lounging around.

Gov. Chris Sununu made the announcement Friday along with several other recommendations on loosening the state's Stay-At-Home 2.0 order. Seacoast beaches will be open to walkers, runners, people playing sports, surfers, swimmers, and anyone wanting to "dip a toe in," the governor said, but they will not be open to lounging, picnicking, or docile recreating, according to the new guidelines. Also, Route 1A-Ocean Boulevard will be closed to traffic from June to Labor Day, creating a "giant sidewalk," allowing for businesses to expand open air seating and "a lot of opportunity for physical distancing, which is an important safety aspect (to reopening)," Sununu said.

"This is a great first step approach," he added, while calling Hampton Beach "a gem."

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Parking restrictions will also be implemented to limit the number of visitors to the beach.

Also, on June 1, small group classes and fitness activities including yoga, Zumba, and other workouts at gyms will be allowed with expanded cleaning and safety guidelines.

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sununu also announced the dropping of restrictions on some youth sports allowing for non-contact activities and youth practices, in small groups of less than 10, effective immediately. Yard sales, which tend to be lowkey and not attended by numerous people, will also be allowed to reopen immediately — with Sununu requesting hosts of yard sales ensure social distancing and good hygiene practices.

No More Free Masks For Businesses, Other Updates

In other updates, Sununu said more than 15,000 orders for masks have been sent out to businesses, free of charge. However, the state's online mask portal will close soon. Moving forward, businesses — or anyone — will be able to purchase masks, at cost, at all 80 New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlets around the state.

The $400 million Main Street Relief Fund, so far, has had "a great response" with more than 6,500 pre-grant application submitted online, Sununu said. One week is left to file the applications. From there, a formal grant process will be reviewed by the Department of Revenue Administration and then, the checks will go out, Sununu said.

Sununu also signed an executive order allowing for the state's safe boater education courses to be taken online beginning next week which will allow Granite Staters to rent boats this summer after taking the course.


Don't miss updates about coronavirus precautions and information in New Hampshire as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.


State's First MIS-C Case

Both Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state's epidemiologist, and Lori Shibinette, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, gave public health updates, with Chan announcing the state's first Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C.

The single case in the state is a person, under 20, who lives in Hillsborough County. MIS-C, Chan said, was a situation where children encounter "whole body inflammation," which often includes fever, skin rashes, gastrointestinal effects, and inflammation.

"It's not just a mild illness," he said.

The New Hampshire child was recovering in the hospital the last he heard, Chan said. It is possible that other child have or will develop the illness, he said, although it is a less common illness.

While health officials are still learning about the virus, including MIS-C, cases have a diagnoses of current or past COVID-19 infection, an epidemiological link, and clear exposure, from someone else in the community or their family, Chain said. He called it "a clinical syndrome that develops with infection," and the severity often is connected to how a person's body reacts to the coronavirus infection.

Chan said around 200 children in the state have been infected with COVID-19 but only 5 percent required hospitalization. In all the 200 cases, this is the first individual they have identified as having the multisystem syndrome.

Chan said officials were working with the CDC to investigate the case. A health alert was issued May 15 about MIS-C.

Chan also said the state had 81 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the count to 4,014, with 15 new hospitalizations, and five additional deaths. Four out of five of the deaths were residents of long-term care facilities. Shibinette said the announced deaths were from Crestwood Center in Milford, Greenbriar in Nashua, the Hillsborough County Nursing Home, and at Mountain Ridge in Franklin.

She also announced two new outbreaks in long-term care facilities: Bedford Nursing & Rehabilitation Center has 13 residents and four employees infected while Greystone Farm at Salem, an assisted living center, had five residents and four employees who were sick.

Shibinette said there was some positive news with recoveries with "significant jumps," due to the high numbers in the daily counts during recent weeks becoming well again. The process of tracking recoveries, she said, was very manual, with health officials tracking them in waves.


Patch takes community journalism seriously and we want to be as much service to our readers as possible at this very uncertain time. If you are a public health worker, medical provider, elected official, patient, or other coronavirus expert — or you simply have a news tip you'd like to share — please fill out this form. We'll keep names and personal information private.


Questions And Answers

The governor was asked about future changes to the Stay-At-Home 2 order and he said changes would be coming to the lodging industry, restaurants, and other businesses. He said all the lodging would be lumped in together and he would not single out any subsector of the industry. Other states, he added, were looking to reopen lodging in late June. But it would be a slow process to reopen everything.

"We just don't know," he said. "But we're always looking at the data … and we still have a lot of issues in the state."

Sununu was asked about whether or not there had been any outbreaks in state liquor stores and whether or not any stores were closed and he said there was one infected employee and that store was closed and being cleaned.

The governor was asked about President Donald Trump's insistence that churches be allowed to reopen and Sununu said officials would be looking at the new guidance and deciding at that time. When asked whose decision it would be to open churches, his or the president's, and Sununu said it would be the governor's decision.

Chan was asked for specific information about the state's first MIS-C case and he would not say beyond under the age of 19 and in Hillsborough County, to protect the person's privacy.

Sununu was asked about the "Stay Local" signs on the highways and he said out-of-staters were welcome but they had to quarantine for two weeks. All the other states in the area have stay-at-home orders, too, and residents should do that, Sununu said.

People, Sununu said, were taking mask wearing responsibly when asked about a study concerning people wearing them indoors. He said, at a recent store visit, everyone was wearing the masks.

Another question was about death rates in other states being lowered because, while people had contracted COVID-19, they died due to other reasons. Were there any of those in the state? Chan said all of the deaths announced today had a death certificate directly or related to the coronavirus.

"We rely on the clinician's assessment," he said.

When asked about why lounging was not allowed at beaches, on a limited basis, via a reservation system, similar to campgrounds in the White Mountains, or by using the state's state park license plates, Sununu said, while those things had been suggested, "that's just not the path we're taking … that path can be fraught with problems." The governor said the reopening was being done to "take some initial, safe, first steps … we're taking a more conservative approach" than Massachusetts "by waiting another week (and) trying to get the model right." That may change, in the future, "but we're not there yet."

Criticism Flows …

Not unlike a wave crashing down on a sandcastle at the beach, criticism quickly flowed in to inboxes of media outlets from both of Sununu's Democrat opponents after the news conference.

State Sen. Dan Feltes, a Concord Democrat, said the decision to charge businesses for masks was a disincentive to them providing masks or cloth coverings to workers for free "and makes it less likely that workers will have access to the PPE they need." Feltes' Worker’s COVID-19 Bill of Rights proposal guarantees workers' access to personal protective equipment, he said. Feltes was also critical of the reopening of gyms.

"Let’s be clear: whether it is testing data or the crises at our nursing homes or reopening details, Governor Sununu needs to start telling it straight at his press conferences," Feltes said. "Like many, I firmly share the goal of reopening as soon as possible, but there is still significant community spread in New Hampshire, and opening gyms is a huge risk … Workers and customer protections need to come first, free access to PPE is essential and should be a fundamental right in this pandemic."

The announcement of an infected liquor store employee prompted Andru Volinsky, the Executive Councilor for District 2 and another Concord Democrat running for governor, to call keeping liquor stores open "a dangerous vector for the spread of the virus at the start of the pandemic." The announcement, he said, of a week-old positive test result for a Manchester liquor store employee "raises both the question of the overall safety of customers who visited the store and the question of why this information wasn't released a week ago — when customers should have received notice."

COVID-19, he said, underscores "the need for employees and customers alike to wear protective face coverings if they want to buy liquor in New Hampshire." Volinsky added, "The governor must now take the step that public health scientists tell us is appropriate; order the wearing of masks in public. I fear that the pandemic will only become worse without this reasonable step, especially as we prepare for out-of-state tourists to visit our state."

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.

ALSO READ:

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube channel.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here