Gov. Chris Sununu is pictured at a COVID related news conference in Concord. (Photo by PAULA TRACY)

CONCORD – As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb along with the fast-spreading Delta variant, Gov. Chris Sununu is not changing his position on masks and his spokesman complained that the mask news out of Washington is confusing.

There were 101 new cases of COVID-19 cases and one death on Thursday, according to the state’s website. That’s an average of 73 cases a day over the past seven days, a 103 percent increase over the previous seven days.

The number of Delta variant cases is also going up and reached a total of 41 Thursday, up from 27 the day before.

“Governor Sununu does not support the reimplementation of COVID restrictions, including mask mandates,” said Ben Vihstadt, Sununu’s spokesman, in an email.

“Everyone in America agrees that the messaging out of Washington is extremely confusing and this latest announcement only reinforces that at this time, the best solution to getting out of this pandemic lies with the individual — not government,” Vihstadt said.

The number of fully vaccinated people who have gotten COVID-19 since Feb. 1 also increased to 617, up from 505 a week ago and the number of deaths held steady at 10 over the last week, according to DHHS.

Vihstadt said: “The vaccine is the single greatest tool individuals have to protect themselves and their family, and the governor continues to urge all who have questions to talk with their trusted health-care provider to help get as many Granite Staters vaccinated as possible.”

The Centers for Disease Control recommended Tuesday that everyone wear masks indoors in areas where there is high community transmission.

Fifty-seven percent of New Hampshire’s population has been fully vaccinated, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. The state ranks seventh behind the rest of New England and Maryland. Vermont has the highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated at 67 percent.

InDepthNH.org reporter Nancy West contributed to this report.

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