Residents of New Hampshire may now buy disposable surgical masks from the state’s stockpile, Gov. Chris Sununu announced Friday – as long as they go to a liquor store.
State officials started distributing the masks in its stockpile to 80 liquor stores across the state Saturday, Sununu said. Those stores, which are state-run, will charge for masks “at cost,” meaning at the same price they were bought for.
Previously, the surgical masks were only available to health care providers, front line workers and businesses that applied to the state as they re-opened. But the new system overrides that process and opens the masks to anyone who wants to buy them.
Businesses, meanwhile, will no longer receive the masks for free. Stores and restaurants must now buy the masks from liquor stores along with consumers, Sununu said.
The masks being offered are disposable surgical masks – not N95 masks that filter air particles. Epidemiologists rank them at the same level as cloth masks. They are recommended for use in public to stop saliva and other particles to spread to others, but they do not on their own prevent the mask-wearer from contracting COVID-19.
People are required to wear face coverings when entering any business under an ordinance passed in Nashua.
The Telegraph of Nashua reports the Board of Aldermen adopted the ordinance Thursday.
It applies to any business, including outdoor areas where business is conducted, work sites and government buildings. Face coverings also must be worn when picking up food for takeout, and in the common areas of residential or commercial buildings that contain more than two units.
Face coverings can be removed outdoors at a restaurant.
The ordinance does not apply to children younger than 10. Violators could be fined.
People were accidentally poisoning themselves at a higher rate than normal during the pandemic even before President Donald Trump’s comments about disinfectants combating COVID-19 on April 23 led to a spike in calls to poison centers.
The Northern New England Poison Center reported that accidental adult poisonings in New Hampshire increased 59 percent from March 16 to April 14. One of the main reasons is greater exposure to the cleaning products needed to increase health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic.
Inhaling their fumes for an extended period of time, ingesting them and, to a lesser degree, too much skin contact with cleaning products can all lead to accidental poisoning. Spraying food and food packaging with cleaning products, and then accidentally ingesting those products, also has been a contributing factor to the increase in poisonings.
The NNEPC recommends you take the following precautions when it comes to cleaners: read and follow the directions (it may include information on how long to leave it on a surface, if you need to ventilate the room while using, is it harmful to children or pets, etc.); do not mix cleaning products unless instructed to do so (mixing chemicals can be toxic – bleach and vinegar make chlorine gas, for example); keep potential poisons out of reach children, including hand sanitizers and cosmetics as well as cleaning products; put away items as soon as you are done using them; do not use disinfectant wipes designed for hard surfaces to clean your hands.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced 77 new positive test results for COVID-19 on Saturday after announcing 81 new cases in the state on Friday. There were also eleven new hospitalized cases identified for a total of 419, roughly 10% of the total cases in the state, which stood at 4,089 on Saturday. Of those 4,089 cases, 2,197 have recovered.
The DHHS announced four additional deaths related to COVID-19, bringing that total to 208. Three of the deceased were 60 years of age or older, but one, a man from Hillsborough County, was 60 or younger.
Church leaders in Vermont are taking steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as in-person services resume in the state.
Gov. Phil Scott announced Friday that services at houses of worship could resume starting this weekend but only at 25% capacity.
Pastor Glen Russell of Faith Baptist Church in Winooski told WCAX-TV that they have removed hymnals from pews and are putting lyrics to songs on a big screen.
“My main focus is to keep folks safe because I don’t want to have any of our church members be sick, so we’re going to screen folks at the door and ask some of those questions that we need to ask and do all of those things and do our part to be good citizens,” he said.
An iconic Connecticut pizza shop is the first business to get a permit from the state allowing it to add outdoor seating as part of a plan to aid businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Ned Lamont said the Connecticut Department of Transportation has approved a permit allowing Mystic Pizza to add tables in the front of the building near the doorways and on the sidewalk.
Under the state’s first phase of reopening, restaurants that were previously limited to take-out and delivery only were permitted to begin serving diners outdoors.
Lamont recently signed an executive order to help businesses that don’t have outdoor space available by creating a process that allows them to get permission to use sidewalks and other areas in the state’s right-of-way.
Mystic Pizza has become a tourist attraction in Connecticut since Julia Roberts starred in the movie about the lives of three waitresses working at the small-town pizza parlor.
Three Maine cities are getting federal cash to help public safety officials in the fight against the coronavirus.
Portland was awarded $219,535, Biddeford was awarded $96,714 and Auburn was awarded $38,979 by the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, officials said.
The grants are designed to help cover public safety costs in the pandemic for things like overtime, personal protective equipment and distributing resources to hard-hit areas, officials said. The money can also help correctional facilities with costs for sanitation, contagion prevention and other things, they said.
(Material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.)