NH State Representative Steven Smith

Order 58

July is going to be a critical month. So far, the federal unemployment bonus will end, many supplemental payments will end, and we begin to turn back the orders. You should know about this one:

Order 58 terminates Order 3 which prohibited all providers of electric, gas, water, telephone, cable, VOiP, internet, and deliverable fuels service in the State of New Hampshire from disconnecting or discontinuing service for non-payment. This is effective July 15. If you are going to need help, please contact me to see if you are eligible for any of the new programs.

The State has instituted a number of programs designed to ease the economic challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including, but not limited to, (1) expanding unemployment benefits through Emergency Order #5, (2) establishing the COVID-19 Emergency Healthcare System Relief Fund though Emergency Order #9, (3) allowing municipalities to grant blanket abatement of interest for late property tax payments through Emergency Order #25, (4) establishing the COVID-19 Long-Term Care Stabilization Program through Emergency Order #31, ( 5) establishing the First Responder Stipend Program, and ( 6) establishing the Main Street Relief Program to provide $400 million in relief to New Hampshire small businesses; and the Governor has authorized $35 million from the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund to support individuals and families needing assistance to maintain their housing as a result of COVID-19, and this assistance includes funds to help pay utility bills.

Evictions

1. Emergency Orders 4 and 24 shall terminate on July 1, 2020.
2. For every eviction notice issued by the owner of restricted or non-restricted property that is based in whole or in part on nonpayment of rent that became due and payable between March 17, 2020 and the date of this Order, the minimum 7 day notice period required in RSA 540:3 is hereby extended to 30 days. Therefore, every such eviction notice shall provide that the tenant must vacate the premises no less than 30 days from the date of service of the eviction notice. For purposes of this Order, the terms “restricted property” and “non-restricted property” shall have the meanings assigned to those terms in RSA 540: 1-a. This Paragraph shall not apply to eviction notices issued before March 17, 2020.

Order Timeline and Detail

If you want to a timeline representation of the Orders, go to https://www.covidguidance.nh.gov/timeline

You can also read all the Orders and Exhibits at https://www.governor.nh.gov/news-and-media/emergency-orders-2020

If you want to find guidelines and rules, go to https://www.covidguidance.nh.gov/

Sununu spells out ‘devastating’ revenue losses due to COVID-19

Note from Steve – I have heard some hysteria about this. There are rumors about laying off dozens of school employees, cutting entire programs, etc. Before the virus, we had a pretty healthy surplus. We’ll work through it and it is never as bad as people imagine. Please, ask for facts and don’t float rumors. We are in this together and need to stay positive. https://www.unionleader.com/news/health/coronavirus/sununu-spells-out-devastating-revenue-losses-due-to-covid-19/article_1d19fdfc-a8af-5a95-a6b7-0fa66ae177a2.html

Sorry, not sorry

The pandemic is not over, but an awful lot of people think it is. While I am glad for the positive attitudes, we should not want to end up like Florida. I have seen people in the area going about their summers as though nothing had changed, a dozen cars (some from out of state) packed into driveways as people travel and gather. Traveling and gathering is how you spread a virus. Look at the map of cumulative cases and see how it is even spreading into the wilds of Coos County now. As tourists ignore warnings and travel from Connecticut to the White Mountains, it could escalate. Please, do what you can to minimize the spread so that we can minimize the regulations. ~ Steve

NH reports 82 new cases of COVID-19 over weekend, two deaths

https://www.unionleader.com/news/health/coronavirus/nh-reports-82-new-cases-of-covid-19-over-weekend-two-deaths/article_0e93cf66-a233-5586-88f7-b412b8604147.html

Lawmakers, Secretary of State seek to iron out COVID-19 absentee ballot process

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Lawmakers-Secretary-of-State-seek-to-iron-out-COVID-19-absentee-ballot-process-34885342

NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – June 28, 2020

On Sunday, June 28, 2020, DHHS announced 31 new positive test results for COVID-19. There have now been 5,747 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in New Hampshire. Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates. Of those with complete information, there are two individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults, with 61% being female and 39% being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (5), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (4), Carroll (1), Grafton (1), and Strafford (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (14) and Nashua (5).

Hospitalizations

Three new hospitalized cases were identified for a total of 565 (10%) of 5,747 cases.

Community Based Transmission

 Four of the new cases had no identified risk factors.

Deaths

No additional COVID-19 deaths reported by DHHS.

Cumulative Positive Tests by County

• Belknap 81
• Carroll 54
• Cheshire 67
• Coos 6
• Grafton 84
• Hillsborough – Other 1,112
• Hillsborough – Manchester 1525
• Hillsborough – Nashua 617
• Merrimack 407
• Rockingham 1470
• Strafford 291
• Sullivan 31
• County TBD 2

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report

(data updated June 28, 2020, 9:00 AM)

NH Persons with COVID-191 5,747

• Recovered 4,412 (77%)
• Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 367 (6%)
• Total Current COVID-19 Cases 968
• Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 565 (10%)
• Current Hospitalizations 37

Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories,

• Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) 117,330
• Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody
• Laboratory Tests 18,980
• Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL 31,854
• Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL 420
• Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 3,500

Number of Specimens Tested by Date of Report to NH DHHS

Information above, and archived daily updates are available here: https://www.nh.gov/covid19/news/updates.ht

Regional Information (total positive test results, deaths)

Look-back period is 1 week.

NH: 5,747 positive test results 367 deaths  (1 week ago: 5,544 positive test results 339 deaths) (+203/+28)

MA: 108,667  positive test results 8060 deaths (1 week ago: 107,061  positive test results 7857 deaths) (+1606/+203)

ME: 3,191 positive test results 104 deaths (1 week ago: 2,957 positive test results 102 deaths)

VT: 1,202 positive test results 56 deaths (1 week ago: 1,159 positive test results 56 deaths)

CT:  46,303  positive test results 4,316 deaths (1 week ago: 45,755  positive test results 4,260 deaths)

RI: 16,661 positive test results 927 deaths (1 week ago: 16,337 positive test results 894 deaths)

NY:  397,293 positive test results 31,137 deaths (1 week ago: 392,702 positive test results 30,884  deaths) (+4,591/+253)