With the Twin States now reporting at least 21 cases of the new coronavirus, schools across New Hampshire and Vermont were told to close this week and plan to provide remote learning and other services to students into early April, if not longer.
Public schools across New Hampshire were ordered to shut down immediately and develop remote learning plans for students that can be implemented in one week and run through at least April 3.
“This is evolving,” Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said of the response to the growing COVID-19 outbreak during a news conference Sunday. “It’s an emergency, to be sure. … Together, we are going to get through this.”
Little more than two hours later, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott issued a similar order, calling for preK-12 schools throughout the state to close by Wednesday, and sooner if they can.
Scott’s directive will run until April 6, “but may very well be extended for a longer period,” according to a news release from his office. Scott called for local school districts to help with “three key components” to help the state as it deals with the outbreak.
That includes food and special needs services for children; working with the state to provide childcare options for healthcare workers and other essential workers; and a way to ensure education of students can continue even if the schools themselves remain shuttered.
In a Facebook Live talk on Friday, Dartmouth-Hitchcock President and CEO Joanne Conroy had warned that closing schools could have “unintended consequences,” such as unexpected childcare duties for providers who are also parents.
“If schools close, our health care workers might not be able to get work,” she said at the time.
Scott said no student would be required to attend school on Monday or Tuesday if their parents or guardians would rather keep them home, but that school personnel should report to work as scheduled to assist in the planning.
Dr. Mark Levine of the Vermont Department of Public Health said the decision was based on “the best scientific evidence available.”
“Closing schools at the end of the day Tuesday is another important step to help keep us ahead of the curve, in terms of preventing and reducing spread of COVID-19,” he said in the release.
And Scott said the closure plan, with a focus on services, was “essential” both to help Vermont combat the outbreak and help children and families.
“We must ensure children are safe, nourished, and still learning even as the traditional structure of school is disrupted. The work of educators will be essential in this effort,” he said in the release.
Sununu also offered support for affected families.
“We do not take today’s actions regarding schools lightly, and we know that parents and family members will need additional support,” Sununu said. “With that in mind, in the next 48 hours, I will be issuing directives which will ensure that parents needing to miss work to care for children at home will be able to access state unemployment benefits.”
Lebanon School Superintendent Joanne Roberts sent a note to parents about the announcement and told them staff will convene on Monday “to put in place remote instruction and support plans. We will also develop a schedule so that you have the ability to pick up items your child may have left at school.”
“We will continue to support our staff, students, and families in every way that we can,” Roberts added.
New Hampshire officials also recommended that child care centers remain open.
New Hampshire reported six new cases on Sunday, and the Vermont Department of Health said another three new COVID-19 cases have been reported, all involving non-residents who are in Vermont
That brings to 13 the number of cases in New Hampshire, and eight in Vermont, including four involving nonresidents.
The new Vermont cases are a man in his 70s from Berkshire County, Mass., who is being treated at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center; a man in his 50s from the Boston area who is “self-isolating” at his Windsor County home; and a woman in her 20s from Brooklyn, N.Y., who is “self-isolating at her family home in Chittenden County,” the Health Department said.
The agency also said the Vermont lab results are now considered confirmed, and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told states they no longer need to refer to positive results as “presumptive positive,” and to consider such results as confirmed.
The new cases in the Granite State included two women from Rockingham County who traveled to multiple countries in Europe on the same trip with an already identified COVID-19 case; two other Rockingham County women who recently traveled to different U.S. states experiencing community transmission; a man from Rockingham County who had traveled to several European countries; and a Nashua man who recently traveled to Central America, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
All patients were isolating themslves at home, and household contacts have also self-quarantined, according to state officials.
Dr. Benjamin Chan, the New Hampshire state epidemiologist, said the state has tested about 450 people, with close to 100 test results pending.
“We’ve certainly ramped up the number of tests we’re capable of doing,” Chan said.
Chan said the likelihood of community exposure has increased, so people should monitor themselves for symptoms.
Three previous cases have been identified in Grafton County, two of which involve Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center employees, and on Saturday Vermont officials said a Windsor County veteran in his 90s was hospitalized at the White River Junction VA Medical Center with the virus. Another identified case announced Saturday involves a New York man who was tested at Springfield (Vt.) Hospital.
Also on Sunday, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health said that it will be postponing some elective procedures across the Lebanon-based health system’s network, citing limited supplies and the expected surge of patients to come.
“Leadership made this decision earlier today, because we must strategically and effectively allocate our limited resources, including such items as surgical masks, gowns, gloves and hand sanitizer, and also prepare for staff support to care for the patients we anticipate in the days and weeks to come,” Conroy, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock CEO, said in an email to employees Sunday afternoon.
“While we are hopeful that we can replenish our supplies in the near-term, it is critical that we adjust around our current supplies, and have protocols in place for staff coverage.”
D-H also put in place over the weekend a new policy for people wishing to visit patients which involves screening at the entrances to facilities. D-H employees were told they will need to show their badges to enter a building, and may have to use a different entrance at some locations.
“Please understand that any inconvenience you experience is because we are trying to protect our patients and our staff and help to stop the spread of this virus,” Conroy wrote.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock separately also said it is “suspending all volunteer activities at our facilities effective immediately,” including at DHMC, the Jack Byrne Center, the Aging Resource Center, and Moms in Recovery.
The Price Chopper/Market 32 chain announced on Sunday that it will “temporarily adjust store hours” overnight in order to “facilitate the restocking of product and to perform additional preventative sanitation.”
Effective Sunday, all 24-hour Price Chopper, Market 32 and Market Bistro stores will close at 1 a.m. and reopen at 6 a.m.
“We recognize the importance of the role we play in providing vital goods and services to our communities and want to reassure our customers that the food supply is abundant and that our sanitation protocols meet the highest (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines,” Price Chopper spokeswoman Mona Golub said in a news release.
The release said the change in hours is temporary, but that “there is currently no timeline for when stores will resume normal hours.”