Despite the still active stay at home order, Governor Sununu announced today that there will be certain sectors of the state that will be allowed to service the communities in a larger capacity.  Sununu said that these businesses are not required to open but should they want to, there have been guidelines put together by a large task force with safety being the first priority.

Beginning now, hospitals will be able to schedule time sensitive procedures and surgeries.  The types of procedures mentioned during the conference were MRI’s, CT Scans, knee and hip replacements for chronic pain and biopsies.   Please reach out to your provider for more information.

Campgrounds can open immediately and only for New Hampshire residents and members of private campgrounds.  There will be additional physical distancing restrictions in place.

Interior state parks can remain open and health and safety guidelines can be found online.  However the governor is keeping beaches closed due to their close proximity to Massachusetts and the chance of spreading the virus through out of state visitors.

Manufacturing is still considered an essential industry and no additional restrictions were mentioned during the conference however, the state will continue to provide guidance for safety.

On May 11^th, the state of New Hampshire will provide guidance to allow golf courses to open in a limited capacity.  Like campgrounds, golf courses will only be opened to New Hampshire residence and with restrictions.  Golfing itself won’t look any different but there won’t be any clubhouses open and food and beverage service will have its own restrictions.

Also beginning the 11^th, barber shops and salons will be allowed to resume operations with strict guidelines surrounding the number of occupants allowed in the building, appointments will be available by reservation only for simple cuts and coloring.  Face coverings will be required for the client and stylist.

Drive-in movie theaters will also be allowed to open beginning the 11^th.  There will be guidelines for proper social distancing, no congregating in the bathrooms, or other areas and like golf, food and beverage will have its own set of rules to follow.

Last thing we can expect to see reopening is retail establishments on the 11^th.  Face coverings will be required for employees.  Strict sanitation guidelines have been put forth.  Social distancing practices will also be required.

May 18^th will bring us the opening of outdoor seating for restaurants.  The outdoor fresh air seating will be a safer step for restaurants and New Hampshire residents should people traveling from other states be patronizing the restaurants.  The governor saw it as a way to ease into the reopening of this category and hopes that cities and towns will go easy on their own restrictions so that restaurants can get creative about where to seat guests outside.  Tables must be 6 feet apart, there can be no more than 6 in a party, face coverings must be worn by servers and restaurants need to follow all DPH and NHRLA regulations.

For more information on the above and the detailed guidelines that are in place until May 31st, please visit NH.gov.

There are many heroes in our area and the Visiting Nurse Home Care and Hospice of North Conway employs many of them including Sandra Ruka, Executive Director.  She says it’s a whole new world for the non-profit and its employees.  “Coronavirus has definitely affected all our operations from office staff to clinical.  We have very much a reduced workforce in the office.  Everyone else is working remotely. Our clinicians are pretty much all working out seeing patients.”  Sandra goes on to explain that the business itself hasn’t been affected by the virus; and that they’re fortunate to have kept their same level of service without turning anyone away for home service or hospice care.  “However it is a vastly different world with everybody working remotely and following all the guidelines that we need to to protect our staff and our patients.”

The Visiting Nurse Home Care and Hospice provides a huge array of services from skilled nursing and home maker related duties to physical, occupational and speech therapy to end of life care.  The need to visit client homes is inevitable.  It’s one thing to practice social distancing, but what happens when home visits need to happen despite the pandemic?  And what happens, especially, if Coronavirus is detected in the residence?

Executive Director Ruka outlines for us the protocol for Visiting Nurse Home Care and Hospice staff is to make those visits wearing full protective PPE gear and they help the families of the patients too.  “Thanks to the effort of an amazing group of volunteers we’ve been able to provide cloth masks to all our patients and their family members.”   Yesterday the organization’s  first “dream team” started making an emergency supply of Tyvek protective gowns to ensure the safety of the clinical staff and clients. 

In a recent post on the Visiting Nurse Home Care Hospice of Carroll County they thank their staff with the following message: “Thankful for our amazing staff selflessly serving the home care needs of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. We celebrate and recognize the contributions of the nurses, home health aides, homemakers, support staff, social workers, therapists, and hospice workers who continue to provide care to clients in their homes and in keeping the office running smoothly.  We would also like to extend our thanks to the volunteers who have made hundreds of masks to keep our staff and clients safe.  We thank them for fulfilling our mission in these most difficult times, providing exceptional home health care enabling independent living and quality of life for our clients and their families.”

For more information about the Visiting Nurse Home Care and Hospice organization, please visit: www.vnhch.org.