CONCORD – The state announced two more deaths due to COVID-19 Friday, a man and a woman who both lived in Hillsborough County and were over 60 years old.

“We offer our sympathies to the family and friends,” according to a news release from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The state doesn’t release additional information about COVID-19 patients even in death to protect their privacy.

On Friday, the state also announced 61 new positive test results for COVID-19, bringing the total to 540. The first case in Coos County was announced Friday as well.

Rockingham and Hillsborough counties continue to have the highest numbers. The state says 144 patients have recovered.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the new cases are 40 adult females and 21 adult males.

The new cases reside in Rockingham (20), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (12), Belknap (3), Merrimack (3), Carroll (1), Cheshire (1), Coos (1), and Strafford (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (11) and Nashua (8).

Seven of the new cases were hospitalized for their illness; thus far, 80 (15%) of the 540 positive cases have been hospitalized. Twenty-one of the new cases have no identified risk factors.

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HEALTH CARE RELIEF

The nonprofit trust that operates Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia and Franklin Regional Hospital is the first beneficiary of a new $50 million emergency fund for health care facilities. LRGHealth will get a $5.2 million, zero-interest loan that will help it limit the number of staff facing furloughs, Sununu said.

Those furloughed workers also could find temporary jobs through a new Department of Employment Security system to redeploy health care workers.

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SOME PIG

When the coronavirus outbreak hit, Sarah Lang wasn’t worried about feeding her family. She worried about their 550-pound pig, Wilbur.

The pig, named after the “Charlotte’s Web” character, was won by her daughter Grace at a fair. He had grown accustomed to daily scraps of pizza, French toast and pancakes from an elementary school in Bedford, where students threw their leftovers in a bucket with the pig’s face on it.

But with the school’s closing, Lang was forced to serve grain normally reserved for the family’s goats, and Wilbur wasn’t having it. So, Lang turned to Facebook for help, prompting residents in Bedford and several nearby communities to begin dropping off their leftovers this week in a bucket for Wilbur in front of the family’s 22-acre property.

“He loves it. He is back to his old happy-go-lucky self,” said Lang, who has offered to send people photos of Wilbur eating their leftovers. “You hear so many stories in the news about people hoarding stuff and not giving. This shows that people around here are giving and are willing to help people no matter how odd the request.”

A video of Wilbur eating the pizza donated by a local shop is featured on his Facebook page.

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GOOD TO GO

City employees in Rochester, New Hampshire, are getting lunch or dinner from a different restaurant each day in a “Good To Go” campaign to help support the businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The simple act of ordering a meal to go can make a huge difference to restaurant owners in the city while they are unable to have sit-in dining,” City Manager Blaine Cox said.

Participants in the campaign are encouraged to share photos tagged #GoodToGoRochesterNH.

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RHODE ISLAND

Three men are facing misdemeanor charges for driving to Rhode Island to play a round of golf in violation of a state order that requires out-of-state visitors to self-quarantine for 14 days during the coronavirus pandemic, police said.

The Massachusetts men parked at a McDonald’s restaurant in Richmond on Wednesday and loaded their gear into a car with Rhode Island plates, which drove them just down the street to Meadow Brook Golf Course, Richmond Chief Elwood Johnson said.

Golf courses in Rhode Island remain open, but only for residents.

McDonald’s employees tipped off police, who caught up with the men when they returned to their cars.

Gregory Corbett, 51, of Attleboro; Tyler Pietrzyk, 22, of Taunton; and Nye Cameron, 22, of Taunton, were charged with a petty misdemeanor, Johnson said.

“It’s not the most heinous offense, but the reality is that we’re living in a whole different world this month and it’s important we all follow the rules to keep one another safe,” Johnson said.

The men were summoned to court on May 14. If convicted, they face a fine up to $500 or up to 90 days in jail. Their cases were not included in online court records, and it was unclear if they had attorneys.

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3D PRINTED FACE SHIELDS

Students at West Warwick High School are using 3D printers they took home to make face shields for health care workers and first responders.

Teacher Michael Shunney told ABC6 News his students dropped off 30 face shields to Kent County Hospital this week. It’s a laborious process and takes six hours to print just four.

The hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Paari Gopalakrishnan, called the shields “pretty solid.” Head nurse Judy Thorpe said they are “more valuable than gold.”

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