All hands on deck: 11 million pairs of gloves on way to veterans hospitals

An additional 11 million pairs of gloves will be heading to veterans hospitals and clinics around the country as part of an effort led by New Hampshire inventor Dean Kamen to secure personal protective equipment for front-line workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie joined Kamen and members of the state's congressional delegation Friday in Manchester to accept the shipment.

Rundlett Middle School in Concord pivoted to remote learning Friday, after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Superintendent Kathleen Murphy announced the new case in an email to the school community Thursday afternoon. Murphy wrote that initial reports indicate that several staff members will be in quarantine. A student in sixth grade at Rundlett has also tested positive. The student is in Cohort 1 and has not been in school since Nov. 16, according to a Friday email from Murphy. Based on attendance data, the DHHS has decided not to do contact tracing. Rundlett will remain in remote learning until Jan. 18.

A student at Christa McAuliffe School has also tested positive for COVID-19. The student is in Cohort A and has not been in school since Nov. 16, according to Murphy. Based on the attendance data, DHHS has decided not to do contact tracing. Concord schools have had 16 COVID-19 cases so far this year, 11 among students and five among employees. 

Maple Street School in Hopkinton closed Friday after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.  Principal Amy Doyle announced the case in an email sent to the school community on Thursday afternoon, and said the school will be closed for cleaning Friday, in accordance with the district’s safety protocol. Staff and families whose students may have been in close contact with the affected individual were notified by the school. The school will reopen for hybrid learning on Monday. Hopkinton School District has had six cases so far this year, according to DHHS data.

On Tuesday, a student at St. Paul’s School tested positive for COVID-19 after a group of students was tested as part of the process to document the health of students who had holiday travel plans. But the student was asymptomatic, and tested negative the next day, according to a Wednesday update from Rector Kathleen Giles. St. Paul’s School has had four cases so far this year, according to DHHS data.

Gov. Chris Sununu will take his third oath of office in January, this time it will be a little chillier, as the ceremony will be held outside the State House.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Jan. 7 inauguration ceremony will be held on the State House plaza instead of in Representatives Hall to allow for social distancing.

Sununu is also doing away with the traditional series of inaugural balls typically held in January. Instead, private funds will be raised to host free, family-friendly outdoor events next summer, he said Thursday.

The new Legislature will convene on Dec. 2 at the University of New Hampshire for the first time since the November election.

Nursing home residents and staffers, essential health care workers and first responders will be the priority when a vaccine for the coronavirus becomes available, according to New Hampshire's vaccine distribution plan.

Beth Daly, chief of the bureau of infectious disease control, said Thursday the state also will prioritize vaccinating those populations in areas with the highest transmission rates for the virus.

The state will partner with primary care providers, hospitals and pharmacies in hopes of making the distribution as easy as the current process for obtaining a flu vaccine, she said.

(Staff writer Eileen O’Grady contributed to this report.)