Nursing evolves during COVID

The Conway Daily Sun

Staci Colbath (right) of Flatbread Co. of North Conway presents gift certificates for VNHCH nurses to Kelly Peckham, RN. Joe Viger photo.

CONWAY — On the front lines of a world health crisis, nursing professionals need our support now more than ever.

Their skill and commitment during the coronavirus pandemic make a lifesaving difference every day.

Nurses have played a major role in healing humanity — from war and disease to poverty and starvation. They continue to steadfastly do as they have always done — care for the ill, the injured, the infirm, the dying.

The American Nursing Association has designated May as Nurses Month. May was selected as May 12 is Florence Nightingale’s birthday. This recognition seeks to honor the individuals known as the heart of health care.

Visiting Nurse Home Care and Hospice this month is celebrating their dedicated nursing staff and has been joined by local businesses Sherman Farm, Flatbread Co., Fields of Ambrosia, McSherry’s Nursery and 302 West Smokehouse in providing gifts of thanks and recognition to these dedicated health-care professionals. “We wanted to do something for the visiting nurses,” said Michelle Dutton of Sherman Farms of East Conway. “We considered donating meals but realized everyone has different preferences. So we decided to donate gift cards instead. That way they can pick up what they need.”

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No, it’s not business as usual for Makris Lobster and Steakhouse

By RAY DUCKLER

Concord Monitor

Jimmy Makris, owner of Makris Lobster & Steak House in Concord on May 7, 2020, talks about the police visit after a person complained about too many cars in the parking lot. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Jimmy Makris is getting fed up.

His popular restaurant, Makris Lobster and Steakhouse, has been shackled. The bills are piling up and not enough money is coming in, just like every other non-essential business since the coronavirus surfaced.

He’s closed, except for takeout, just as the governor ordered. In a little over a week, he could open at 50 percent capacity as the state begins to lift restrictions on businesses, but that’s still a losing proposition. Revenue won't be enough to cover expenses, he said.

Adding insult to injury, Makris had a pair of surprise visits – from the State Liquor Commission and Concord police – in the past week as yet another consequence from the pandemic appeared: The case of the nosy neighbor.

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Noticias Actualizadas de New Hampshire: 7 de mayo

By DANIELA ALLEE & MARIA AGUIRRE
NH Public Radio

CREDIT FLICKR / BHASKAR DUTTA

Hoy en "¿Qué hay de nuevo, New Hampshire?", te contamos: 

El gobernador Chris Sununu permite que cualquier residente del estado que crea tener síntomas de COVID-19, como fiebre o escalofríos, pueda tener acceso a las prueba con reserva previa. 

Las pruebas del coronavirus en NH para personas sin seguro médico, serán cubiertas por Medicaid, pero no cubrirán el tratamiento de la enfermedad. 

El Consejo de Diversidad e Inclusión le pide al estado crear un equipo y un plan para abordar el impacto desproporcionado del COVID-19 en las comunidades latinas y afroamericanas. 

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En Nashua, su departamento de salud pública ofrecerá pruebas para COVID-19 en el estacionamiento de la iglesia St. Aloysius el viernes 8 de mayo de 3 p.m. a 7 p.m. Llama a (603) 589-3456 para pedir una cita. 

Si vives en el área de Manchester, te sientes enfermo y no tienes un doctor, llama a (603)-668-1547 para evaluar si necesitas un examen gratuito y una cita.

New Licenses, Drivers Ed, On Hold During Pandemic

By Kelly Burch
Granite State News Collaborative

Rather than cruising around in the Mazda truck that he bought himself, Anthony Witfoth, 18, of Winchester finds himself stuck at home or calling to arrange rides. Courtesy photo.

WINCHESTER — Anthony Witfoth, 18, walked into the Keene branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles in mid-March, excited to get his license. But when Witfoth handed over his paperwork to take the written portion of the test and book his road test, he got bad news: the computer system wasn’t working.

“They said they needed to talk to IT and I should call back,” Witfoth says. “Then, they closed.”

Weeks later, Witfoth, a senior at Keene High School, has no license and no idea when he’ll be able to get it. Learning to drive is one of the many rights-of-passage for New Hampshire teens that are being put on hold by the coronavirus and the accompanying shutdown. On March 18 the Department of Motor Vehicles suspended all road tests (other than for commercial driver’s licenses) for the duration of the governor’s stay at home order.

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Newly opened Newburyport gallery rides the wind of change

By Terry Date
The Eagle-Tribune

Vintage Chic Anew owner Kimberley Wilson, left, and Newburyport artist Karen Fitzgerald wear their face coverings as they check on the gallery in the story. Bryan Eaton.

The fledgling Pleasant Street Gallery has aged beyond its mere two months, plying, as it has, coronavirus currents.

Framed art fills the walls in neat columns like sails on masts.

Fields, streams, skies, cityscapes and seascapes hang inside the gallery in the Vintage Chic Anew store in downtown Newburyport.

Below the oils, watercolors and photographs sit painted dressers, woven baskets, candlestick holders and vases.

Replicas of vintage signs invite nostalgia.

Seated in chairs at opposite sides of a long table are Newburyport artist Karen Fitzgerald, in a red mask, and store owner Kimberley Wilson, in a blue mask.

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N.H.’s local meat processing has avoided national turmoil

By DAVID BROOKS

Concord Monitor

Workers cut beef into sections at PT Farm meat processing plant in North Haverhill, N.H., in September 2012. (Valley News — Sarah Priestap)

New Hampshire’s small but thriving meat-processing industry, the creation of years of effort accompanying the state’s resurgence in small farms, seems unaffected by the turmoil in the vastly larger industry in other parts of the country.

The state has four USDA-approved sites that can slaughter, cut and package beef for sale through stores, all of them tiny by the standards of national corporations. None has been reported to have shut due to COVID-19 or had reported outbreaks of the disease, perhaps in part because they have small, local work forces.

“People are taking it seriously,” said Peter Roy, owner of PT Farm in north Haverhill, who has about 15 employees at peak times. “There’s a guy who never missed a day of work in five years, he wasn’t feeling well so he stayed home to be sure. Nobody wants it here.”

The contrast with industrial meat-processing facilities, which hire seasonal labor, often new immigrants, and have high turnover, is striking, he said.

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Noticias Actualizadas de New Hampshire: 6 de mayo

By DANIELA ALLEE & MARIA AGUIRRE

NH Public Radio

Hoy en "¿Qué hay de nuevo, New Hampshire?", tu dosis diaria de noticias en español, te contamos que 77% de fallecimientos se han dado por brotes del virus en casas de ancianos o centros de salud de la tercera edad de NH. 

La corte suprema de NH ordena que todas las personas que entran a una corte en New Hampshire deberán utilizar un cubrebocas. Esta orden es vigente hasta el 25 de Mayo o cuando termine la emergencia. 

Centros de cuidado infantil que atienden a las familias de trabajadores esenciales en NH, cierran por falta de demanda. Los servicios de educación especial sí se darán en el verano de manera remota.

Para escuchar estas y otras noticias, haz click en el audio.

Noticias Actualizadas de New Hampshire: 5 de mayo

By DANIELA ALLEE & MARIA AGUIRRE

NH Public Radio

Hoy en "¿Qué hay de nuevo, New Hampshire?" te contamos que se confirman 72 nuevos casos de COVID-19 en NH pero ningún fallecimiento adicional. Son 2,588 casos confirmados en total.

Nueve mil pequeños negocios y organizaciones sin fines de lucros de NH fueron aprobados para recibir el PPP. La cifra supera al medio billón de dólares.

Hoy, los hospitales del estado vuelven a realizar cirugías urgentes después de haberlas dejado en pausa durante las primeras semanas de la pandemia. 

Para escuchar estas y otras noticias, haz click en el audio.

Home-buying is still going strong in N.H. even though it’s gotten more complicated

By DAVID BROOKS

Concord Monitor staff

Tom and Judy Clark get the sold sign after the closing at BHHS Verani Realty in Concord on April 30. The Clarks are moving up from East Boston to be closer to their children and grandchildren. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

As you would expect, COVID-19 has created a lot of change in New Hampshire’s economy. But you might not have expected what those changes are for the real estate industry.

“We’ve been open for 15 years; March was our single best month for new orders,” Matthew Neuman, owner of Absolute Title, a property title company with offices in Concord, said last week. “And April – we’re not even done with the month and it’s our second biggest month ever.”

Despite economic uncertainty caused by business closings and the complications that social distancing has placed on document signing and house tours, the business of buying, selling and refinancing residences hasn’t slowed at all.

“I’ve had four drive-through (closings) today. … Real estate is booming in New Hampshire,” said Robin Mooney of Broker’s Title of Londonderry, speaking at a closing in Concord’s Fisherville neighborhood on Thursday.

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Quarantine cooking with your kids? Here are 5 recipes made by budding chefs

By Sharyn Jackson
Tribune News Service

Now is a great time to get kids involved with the cooking. It can also entertain them at the same time. (Dreamstime/Tribune News Service)

My 2-year-old, Milo, has recently begun stringing short sentences together, and my favorite of his newfound phrases is this declaration of pride: “I did it!”

That’s what he said when he helped me make pizza dough by kneading the flour, water, yeast and oil with his chubby little toddler hands. Later, he sprinkled cheese over the dough and waited (OK, impatiently) while the pie baked and then cooled. Sure, he tried to nibble the raw dough a couple of times and downed a handful of mozzarella before I could stop him. Otherwise, our little kitchen adventure went pretty smoothly.

When he finally got to eat a slice of homemade pizza, he used another of his new sentences: “I made this.”

Nothing has ever tasted better.

With schools and most day cares closed and many parents working from home during a shelter-at-home advisory, sometimes the easiest way to get food on the table and entertain our kids is by cooking together.

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What two New Hampshire business owners think about reopening

By Daniela Allee

Kae Mason is owner of Salon K in Concord (Courtesy photo)

The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since Friday afternoon for Kae Mason, who owns Salon K in Concord.

She says since Gov. Chris Sununu announced that some businesses can reopen this month with restrictions, her salon has booked over 175 appointments.

“I was concerned as to whether people would feel it was too soon, and what I was seeing is that they’re more ready than too soon,” she said.

Under the new stay-at-home order, barber shops and hair salons can begin to serve the public again on May 11.

To prepare for reopening, Mason has sterilized the salon, prepared sanitizer for each station and ordered masks for her 18 employees and clients to use.

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On the front line

 By Krysten Godfrey Maddocks

ParentingNH

Kaylie Stewart of Londonderry is a registered nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Courtesy Photo

With New Hampshire schools closed and remote learning continuing through the end of the school year, parents are juggling more now than ever. And it’s tougher still for those essential workers who must commute to their jobs at hospitals, police stations, grocery stores, banks or newsrooms. Some receive hazard pay and protective equipment for their work, while others do not. Not only are they potentially exposing themselves to COVID-19, but they worry about introducing the virus to their families.

While working on the front lines is par for the course in professions such as health care or law enforcement, it’s new territory for others. Even for those professionals used to working during a crisis, COVID-19 brings with it new challenges and fears.

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Out & About: Keeping productivity worries in check

By LIZ SAUCHELLI

Valley News Staff Writer

The best representation of my inability to be productive during the COVID-19 pandemic is best illustrated by the stack of large picture frames leaning against my bureau.

They began accumulating there a couple weeks after my boyfriend and I received our instructions to begin working from home. With all our evenings and weekends suddenly free, we thought it would be a great time to finish decorating our apartment. We made a plan on what would go where: His (what I believe to be quite scary) framed Goosebumps puzzles would hang in the hallways while the blank wall in our bedroom would be reserved for nature-themed illustrations and prints.

It was successful at first. We navigated the mild frustrations of measuring walls and making sure frames were evenly spaced. It wasn’t perfect, but it was work we could be proud of. It was a physical accomplishment we could point to and say, “look what we did this weekend.”

Then the weeks went on and the malaise of staying at home began to set in. The remaining pictures were moved against the bureau instead of hung on the wall, and every time I needed to open a lower drawer in my bureau, I’d move them. “Tomorrow, after we’re done working from home for the day” became “this weekend, when our minds aren’t on work.” And then we stopped commenting on the frames altogether and moving them just became another part of a new stay-at-home routine.

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‘It’s something we’ve never seen before’: In-home care providers are on the COVID-19 front lines

By TIM GOODWIN

Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services nurse Kristina McGuirk visits patients who have returned from the hospital after battling COVID-19. Staff photo by Ben Conant

When patients infected with coronavirus first made an appearance on Kristina McGuirk’s case load, it was hard not to be concerned.

As a nurse with Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services, McGuirk’s job is to go into people’s homes to provide care for those dealing with a variety of conditions and medical concerns. But the addition of COVID-19 brought on that question of “what if?”

“You have to assume everyone has it and that’s really the best way,” McGuirk said. “I obviously don’t know what I was expecting. It’s something we’ve never seen before.”

She’s worried about being infected herself or bringing it home to her fiance. For those on her weekly caseload who had contracted coronavirus, her visits have so far come after the patient returned home from hospitalization.

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