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Gov. Sununu orders hotels suspend nonessential stays

By ADAM URQUHART - Staff Writer | Apr 7, 2020

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, tours a makeshift medical facility on a basketball court in a gymnasium at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, March 24, 2020. The facility, and others across the state, will open when there is demand for patients impacted with COVID-19. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

CONCORD – Gov. Chris Sununu on Monday ordered all hotels and short-term rentals to suspend lodging for nonessential reasons, such as vacations or other leisurely purposes.

The governor unveiled Emergency Order No. 27 at a press conference in Concord. He cited, as an example, Airbnb, which is an online marketplace connecting people looking to rent out their homes. The order does not include campgrounds.

“I can tell you four or five days ago I didn’t think that we would be in a position where we’re asking hotels and Aibnbs to close down,” Sununu said, citing the number of folks from out of state that are coming in, and concerns heard from some smaller towns in the North Country and folks owning hotels.

During this time, hotels and other lodging establishments can provide accommodations for essential health care workers, first responders, state approved quarantining accommodations and for victims of domestic and sexual violence.

Sununu said that guests currently staying in hotels or Airbnbs may stay through the end date of the reservation before returning home, emphasizing that people are healthier in their own home and in their home state.

“We look forward to welcoming you back into New Hampshire when this public crisis is abated,” Sununu said.

Securing personal protective equipment (PPE) remains a top priority for health care facilities and the state. To date, the state has acquired more than 300,000 individual pieces of PPE, ranging from N95 masks to gowns. However, health care workers on the frontlines now account for roughly a quarter of the state’s diagnosed cases of COVID-19.

The state’s Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette said approximately 192, or 26 percent, of the positive cases confirmed in the state are health care workers, including physicians to environmental service workers. Shibinette also said that officials were notified that New Hampshire will be allocated 15 new machines that will allow for results of COVID-19 testing in about five minutes.

“That testing device is going to change how we respond to this virus in our state,” Shibinette said. “It’s going to help us keep our citizens safe, it’s going to help us keep our health care workforce safe.”

Those 192 health care workers are part of the 715 confirmed COVID-19 cases announced in the state Monday. State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said there are now about 1.3 million cases worldwide, including close to 350,000 in the United States. Officials are continuing to see increasing numbers globally, and in the United States on a daily basis, and New Hampshire is no exception with an increase from 46 cases from Sunday.

“Over the last week or so we’ve seen, on average, about 50 individuals per day confirmed with COVID-19,” Chan said. “Out of the 715 individuals with diagnosed COVID-19, 103 people, or about 14 percent, have required hospitalization from their illness, and there are nine individuals, or approximately one percent, who have died as a result of COVID-19.”

All of the deaths in New Hampshire have been among older individuals or have chronic medical conditions. Chan also said the 715 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 are only a smaller percentage of the overall burden of infection in New Hampshire.

“Not everybody with symptoms of COVID-19 currently is being tested,” Chan said. “We are working to certainly increase testing capacity, but health care providers may appropriately recommend that people with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 who are not otherwise in need of emergent medical attention can and should oftentimes be managed at home and isolated at home so that they are not exposing other people in their community.”

Chan emphasized the importance for everyone to continue to take social distancing measures to prevent its spread in communities, and protect those who are most vulnerable – individuals aged 60 and older, and those with chronic medical conditions or those with immune systems that may not work properly.

Chan highlighted a new Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voluntary recommendation that people voluntarily use a cloth mask when out in public, whether that be shopping at their local grocery store or visiting a doctor’s office. The cloth masks are intended to protect others from the one wearing the mask, with Chan explaining how there is limited evidence that cloth masks protect the person wearing it. Chan said the primary way to protect oneself is still by practicing social distancing. Despite this CDC recommendation, Chan said it is important everyone stays home as much as possible.

“We want to give a cautionary word that if people are wearing cloth masks when they’re out in public, they need to continue to pay close attention to good hand hygiene and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth to not only protect themselves from infection but also to prevent then spreading potential infection to other people in the community,” Chan said.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This content is being provided for free as a public service to our community during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Telegraph at https://home.nashuatelegraph.com/clickshare/checkDelivery.do;jsessionid=40C089D96583CD7318C1C1D9317B6162.

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