CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New Hampshire has set up 14 “flex facilities” to handle hospital overflow if the state sees a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The facilities include 1,600 beds, bringing the state’s total bed capacity to more than 5,000. They will not be used unless absolutely necessary, Gov. Chris Sununu said, and the communities hosting them will not face any costs.
“While we hope the day never comes, we do have to be prepared,” he said. “We will be ready.”
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HEALTH CARE RELIEF:
The nonprofit trust that operates Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia and Franklin Regional Hospital is the first beneficiary of a new $50 million emergency fund for health care facilities. LRGHealth will get a $5.2 million, zero-interest loan that will help it limit the number of staff facing furloughs, Sununu said.
Those furloughed workers also could find temporary jobs through a new Department of Employment Security system to redeploy health care workers.
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MONEY MATTERS:
Sununu issued an executive order allowing towns and cities to eliminate the interest and penalties associated with late property taxes. He also said the state is shifting some of its cash reserves to smaller, local banks to provide them with greater liquidity so they can make loans to small businesses.
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SOME PIG:
When the coronavirus outbreak hit, Sarah Lang wasn’t worried about feeding her family. She worried about their 550-pound pig, Wilbur.
The pig, named after the “Charlotte’s Web” character, was won by her daughter Grace at a fair. He had grown accustomed to daily scraps of pizza, French toast and pancakes from an elementary school in Bedford, where students threw their leftovers in a bucket with the pig’s face on it.
But with the school’s closing, Lang was forced to serve grain normally reserved for the family’s goats, and Wilbur wasn’t having it. So, Lang turned to Facebook for help, prompting residents in Bedford and several nearby communities to begin dropping off their leftovers this week in a bucket for Wilbur in front of the family’s 22-acre property.
“He loves it. He is back to his old happy-go-lucky self,” said Lang, who has offered to send people photos of Wilbur eating their leftovers. “You hear so many stories in the news about people hoarding stuff and not giving. This shows that people around here are giving and are willing to help people no matter how odd the request.”
A video of Wilbur eating the pizza donated by a local shop is featured on his Facebook page.
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GROCERY GUIDANCE:
An association representing grocery stores is opening an emergency operations center and will be issuing guidance to stores about keeping shoppers and workers safe.
Stores will be encouraged to limit traffic to 50% of their building’s capacity, mark floors to keep people a part from each other at checkout lines, create one-way aisles to allow for greater distance between shoppers and install plexi-glass barriers in front of checkout workers.
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HIKING NEAR HOME
State parks will remain open, but Sununu issued a challenge to residents to get their fresh air close to home. He urged residents to explore their hometowns and share photos on social media tagged #homehikechallenge.
Crowds of people, including many from out of state, at popular hiking trails raised concerns about spreading the virus.
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THE NUMBERS
Nearly 550 people in New Hampshire have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Seven people have died, and more than 80 have been hospitalized. The two latest deaths, which was reported Friday, were one male and one female who were over 60 years old.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
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GOOD TO GO
City employees in Rochester, New Hampshire, are getting lunch or dinner from a different restaurant each day in a “Good To Go” campaign to help support the businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The simple act of ordering a meal to go can make a huge difference to restaurant owners in the city while they are unable to have sit-in dining,” City Manager Blaine Cox said.
Participants in the campaign are encouraged to share photos tagged #GoodToGoRochesterNH.
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Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack and Michael Casey contrivuted to this report.
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