WEST LEBANON — New Hampshire and Vermont on Monday both banned gatherings of more than 50 people in order to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 and also told restaurants and bars to stop serving sit-down meals to customers.
Gov. Chris Sununu moved to require restaurants and bars in the Granite State to move to takeout, delivery or drive-through by the close of business Monday. The order will be in effect through April 7.
“We do not take this decision lightly,” Sununu said in a Monday news release. “This will be hard, but we are all in this together.”
Service industry employees affected by the change will be able to qualify for unemployment benefits beginning Tuesday, when the state will announce steps and set up a hotline and website for workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the respiratory disease first identified late last year in Wuhan, China.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, in an executive order, restricted gathering sizes to fewer than 50 or 50% of the occupancy of a facility, such as an auditorium, stadium, arena, large conference room, meeting hall, cafeteria, theater, bar, restaurant, gym or any other confined indoor or confined outdoor space. He had previously restricted the gathering size to 250.
Later in the day, Scott also said that restaurants and bars have to stop serving food or drink for “on-premises consumption” by 2 p.m. Tuesday but that they can continue to “offer food for take-out and by delivery.”
The new orders came a day after both governors moved to close pre-K through 12 grade for at least three weeks, moving them to remote instruction.
The Norwich-based Willing Hands nonprofit said late Monday it would be happy to take extra food donations from restaurants and deliver it to about 50 food shelves and senior centers around the Upper Valley. Restaurants with food to dispose of can call 802-698-0265.
The Twin States each announced four new positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday. In the Upper Valley, these include one new case in Orange County in Vermont and two new cases in Grafton County in New Hampshire.
The Orange County man is in his 50s and is self-isolating at home, according to a Vermont Health Department news release.
The new Vermont cases bring the total in the state to 12, in Bennington, Washington, Chittenden, Orange and Windsor counties. The other new cases include a Bennington County woman in her 60s who is hospitalized at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center; and a man and a woman, both in their 30s and from Chittenden County, who also are self-isolating in their homes.
The new New Hampshire cases bring the total in the Granite State to 17 cases. The other new cases are in Rockingham and Carroll counties. Though 16 of the New Hampshire cases have either been travel-related or people who had close contact with a person with COVID-19, one person’s risk factors still are under investigation, according to a Monday news release. All patients are isolating at home and household contacts have self-quarantined.
Testing is ramping up, and New Hampshire officials said they had 195 tests pending results on Monday. Tests in the state’s public health laboratory take up to two days, while tests sent to commercial vendors can take three to five days, according to the Department of Health and Human Services release. State health officials are monitoring 525 people for symptoms.
Vermont also has now seen instances of person-to-person spread, rather than just cases of people coming to Vermont from outside the state, health officials said.
“We believe we are in the early phases of community transmission,” Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine said during a news conference Monday morning in Montpelier.
Four of the 12 positive test results at the Vermont public health laboratory have involved people who reside in other states.
“Obviously, we as a nation are in this together, and we’re going to get through this together,” Scott said at the news conference. “We’re not going to turn people away just because they’re from another state.”
But Scott said he would encourage people considering fleeing to a second home in Vermont to “rethink their strategy.”
As of Monday afternoon, 421 people have tested negative for COVID-19 in Vermont. State health officials are monitoring 274 people.
A graduate student at Dartmouth College tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and two others were being tested, according community-wide emails from the leaders of the Dartmouth COVID-19 Task Force, Dr. Lisa Adams and Joshua Keniston and Provost Joseph Helble.
The three students live off-campus, the emails said.
“These students are comfortable, in touch with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, receiving care and self-isolating, while their close contacts have been notified and are self-quarantining,” one email said.
The task force encourages anyone experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19, such as fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, to seek medical care. Because symptoms may be mild in young, healthy adults, the email said that students who have any respiratory symptoms, especially those who have traveled internationally in the last two weeks, should call their health care providers.
Dartmouth also said it is canceling or postponing all in-person events involving 50 people or more through May 9, in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The college has moved to online instruction at least for the first half of spring term, and it has encouraged employees who can work from home to do so.
Among those now working from home are a Norwich couple, Assistant Professor of History Julia Rabig and Associate Professor of English Jeffrey Sharlet, who were tested for COVID-19 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on Saturday afternoon.
Rabig said they called DHMC’s hotline and went through screening questions ahead of time. Once on-site at DHMC, they didn’t get out of their car. They drove up to an ambulance bay near the emergency department and a health care worker dressed in a protective gown, gloves, visor, mask and hairnet took their nasal swabs. The family is now awaiting the results of the test, which they were told could take two to four days.
The family had done some domestic traveling and Rabig had some symptoms, including fever, cough, congestion, dizziness, muscle aches, fatigue and shortness of breath, she said.
While they wait for the results, the family is self-isolating at home. Sharlet, who does not have symptoms, has some underlying medical conditions and has been self-quarantining in a separate part of the house.
Officials in Lebanon are closing City Hall offices to the public, effective Tuesday. Staff will still be working, but in-person transactions will be limited to those of a critical nature and must be by appointment, the city said Monday in a news release.
Most transactions — such as water, sewer and tax payments; dog licensing and motor vehicle registration renewals — can be done by web, and the city plans to address the processing of new motor vehicle registrations in the coming days. For more information go to www.LebanonNH.gov/CityServices.
Lebanon Police Chief Richard Mello on Monday also said his department is “modifying operations” as a precautionary measure “to ensure we are taking all reasonable steps to reduce potential exposure to COVID-19 for members of the Lebanon Police Department.”
Police are suspending some “low-priority services” including employment-related fingerprinting, station tours, ride-alongs, VIN verifications and Coffee With a Cop events, Mello said in an emailed announcement.
Members of the public also were being asked to contact police by phone, rather than coming by the police station.
Lebanon police officers also plan to practice social distancing and use personal protective equipment as necessary.
The department remains “fully operational” and police will continue to respond to all emergencies, in-progress calls and other priority events, Mello said.
The Vermont Supreme Court declared a judicial emergency through April 15 and said all nonemergency Superior Court hearings will be postponed, with limited exceptions for “high-priority cases that must be heard.” All Judicial Bureau hearings are also postponed, and access to courthouses will be restricted.
New Hampshire Circuit, Superior and Supreme Courts are remaining open on a restricted basis with most in-person proceedings suspended through April 6.
Exceptions will be made for bail matters and plea agreements; orders of protection from domestic violence; and requests for child-related emergency orders in divorce cases.
Thetford suspended nonessential functions in a precautionary effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 beginning Sunday evening, according to Selectboard Chairman Nick Clark. As a result, all town facilities are closed to the public, except by appointment; non-essential municipal board and committee meetings are postponed; limitations on the use of sick time by town employees are lifted; and late fees on animal licenses are waived.
“These actions are in effect until further notice; however, the Selectboard will reevaluate these actions no later than Monday, March 30th,” Clark said in an email Monday.
Similarly, Newbury, Vt., also closed its town offices to the public on Monday. Municipal information can be accessed by contacting the Town Office at 802-866-5521, clerk@newburyvt.org or treasurer@newburyvt.org.
The Enfield Emergency Operations Center opened at noon Monday, according to an email from Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth. The center, which is located in the police station at 19 Main St., is aimed at supporting the town’s response to COVID-19. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, with additional hours as needed and can be reached at 603-632-7501.
On Monday, New Hampshire officials offered guidance to city and town officials trying to figure out how to continue their work while minimizing the spread of the new coronavirus.
Attorney General Gordon MacDonald issued a memo about the state law requiring such groups to hold their meetings in public. It said in the event of an emergency, a board may meet electronically, but it must still give the public 24 hours notice. Such meetings also must provide public access, which could include providing a call-in number for meetings conducted by phone.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213. Valley News Staff Writer Alex Hanson contributed to this report. Information from the AP was used in this report.
