A Black Lives Matter protest more accessible to those in the disabled community is being organized for next Friday in Portsmouth.
Due to the COVID-19 shutdown, some residents in New Hampshire have spent life at home since March learning new skills, exploring newfound passions and accomplishing once-daunting tasks with hard work and perseverance.
Now, as the timeline of coronavirus’ landing on American shores nears the six-month mark, such individual passions, once viewed as an outlet to pass the time, have become instrumental to the “Safer at Home” everyday lifestyle for some Granite Staters.
For the past six months, restaurants have had to adapt, improve and overcome in order to stay in business during the pandemic. As colder weather started, Mike Somers, CEO of the New Hampshire Restaurant and Lodging Association, was concerned that the end to outdoor dining, which he called a “saving grace,” could spell disaster.
In February, Rachel Cohen never would have guessed that by August she would have left her hometown with her partner for a new life and a new job.
She was a single mom, living in Peterborough, New Hampshire, working at a nonprofit and struggling to make ends meet. She had been dating Maine farmer Matthew Scala long-distance for about a year and had recently successfully convinced him to move closer to her. She had no intention of moving away from Peterborough until after her daughter had finished high school.
With schedules and routines changing, much less socialization, and kids and parents first learning and working remotely and then heading back to school and work, homes are in a constant state of flux.
That might sound like issues humans have had to deal with for more than half of a year, but the dogs in the house are also feeling the effects of the new normal, trainers say. And just like humans, man’s best friend is having a difficult time adjusting.
New Hampshire officials plan to give nursing home owners and operators more control of a program that searches for signs of COVID-19 among 10,000 employees in the state’s high-level care facilities.
But some of the people running the 75 nursing homes in the state are worried about uncertain test costs and the threat of large deficits.
Health care officials in New Hampshire are expecting a resurgence of Covid-19 moving into flu season.
In response, some hospitals will be testing for a range of respiratory viruses in patients who are presenting symptoms, meaning an individual could be tested for influenza, Covid-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory viruses simultaneously. As it is, the flu and Covid-19 share very similar symptoms.
Pumpkin carving, jack-o-lantern towers, hayrides and costume parades -- fall foliage or pumpkin festivals are a staple of autumn in New Hampshire allowing communities the opportunity to gather, celebrate the season and bolster their local economies.
That was of course until 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has many festival organizers hesitant to hold events that would attract large crowds, from locals to out-of-state leaf peepers, as they have always in the past.
“Even though FEMA has decided not to step up and provide some of that support on the school level there is still a lot of financial opportunity there and as we’ve always said, we’re going to be there for these kids, we’re going to be there for the cities and towns for these Covid-related expenses,” Sununu said.
(Colleen Ortakales stands at the front of her classroom instructing her second grade students at Riddle Brook Elementary School in Bedford.)
Each week, Sandi Elliot needs to take time off work to take her 14-year-old son to a therapy appointment. It takes Elliot about half an hour to drive from her home in Wilmot to the appointment in Franklin. When the pandemic hit and the appointment changed to telehealth, it was much easier for Elliot to get her son to therapy.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced schools into remote learning back in March, and now at the beginning of another school year, some districts have had to make the decision to return to the classroom for the first time in five or so months, continue with remote learning or implement a hybrid model.
(Colleen Ortakales stands at the front of her classroom instructing her second grade students at Riddle Brook Elementary School in Bedford.)
While homelessness can affect anyone, families with children are typically better protected than single individuals, said Karen Zook, director of UV Gear (formerly Silent Warriors), a Lebanon-based organization that provides resources and stop-gap services, like tents, to people who are unhoused.
“Under more normal circumstances, there are pretty good safeguards in place for families experiencing homelessness,” she said. “That population is well-served.”
Lebanon officials were considering cutting down the city’s three polling locations to one for the Tuesday, Sept. 8 primary vote as longtime poll workers were dropping out. City Clerk Kristen Kenniston said many of the regular Election Day workers were letting her know they couldn’t help this year, out of fear of the novel coronavirus.
Since the pandemic hit, visits from family members and volunteers in nursing homes in New Hampshire have been severely curtailed. That’s to protect vulnerable residents — about 80% of COVID-related deaths in the state have occurred in long-term care facilities. Still, workers in nursing homes and family members say that residents are suffering mentally and emotionally from missing out on visits with their loved ones and social opportunities within the nursing home.
When Birch Hill owner Mary Anne Baron was losing practically all of her summer reservations and her fall dates were seeing fewer guests due to restrictions and attendees’ concerns with larger gatherings, she knew she had to think of something to recoup lost money. With all the venue’s events on her property either outside or in a barn with no heat, her season is limited.
(Chairs were spaced out for Bryan and Irma Keeler’s wedding at Birch Hill Farm in Gilford. [Courtesy/Irma Keeler])
