WNTK Local News

The Upper Valley’s lone supervised visitation center, Waypoint, is suspending services to New Hampshire residents due to lack of funding, reports Manchester Ink Link.

Supervised Visitation Centers provide children safe spaces for visits with non-custodial parents. Most cases are children or families affected by domestic violence, mental illness, sexual assault, or other circumstances that force one parent to lose custody.

It costs an average of $150,000 a year to run these centers, and although NH passed legislation in 2019 that would provide funding, those funds never made it into the state budget. Waypoint attempted to raise the money to keep the program running. NH is the only state in the union in which visitation centers do not receive government funding. The space will remain open to Vermont citizens, as the state funds these centers.

The center is used by an average of 21 families per day; 10 from NH and 11 from VT. There are now only two others in the state serving NH families.

New Hampshire health officials announced 77 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, reports Info NH via their Facebook page.

These 77 new cases follow Saturday’s record seven deaths in the state, which were largely linked to institutional outbreaks. The state now has 1864 confirmed cases, with several under investigation. Only four cases are individuals under the age of 18, with the rest being adults. 68% of the COVID-19 citizens reportedly identify as cisgender women, while rest are reported cisgender men. Four new hospitalizations were announced, bringing the states total to 242.

Governor Chris Sununu recently extended the state’s “stay-at-home” order for another 21 days.

Vermont health officials have released the latest COVID-19 numbers for Sunday, April 26, 2020, via WCAX.

As of Sunday, there are now 851 confirmed cases across the state, resulting in 46 deaths. Approximately 14,800 tests have been conducted thus far. There are only 17 people being monitored for symptoms, while 826 citizens have completed the monitoring process. Chittenden County has the most positive cases with 410 confirmed, while Essex County has the fewest with two.

VT’s “stay-at-home” order is set to go through May 15.

350 gallons of oil spilled into the Connecticut River near Hanover, New Hampshire on Saturday, reports WMUR.

Saturday afternoon, the Hanover Fire Department was dispatched to the US Army Cold Research and Engineering Laboratory where a security reportedly discovered a leak. The leak was discovered to come from a newly installed boiler in the main lab, which were both shut down. The spill was contained by a boom crossing the river, and will take a couple days to clean up.

Boat travel will be restricted until the boom is removed.

Keady Family Practice in Claremont, New Hampshire has begun antibody testing for COVID-19, reports WMUR.

Health officials state that antibody research is one of the ways to understand how widespread the virus is. Dr. Celia Keady states that antibody research is important for multiple reasons, one of which is understanding when the virus first appeared in the United States.

Someone who tests positive for antibodies is not necessarily immune to the illness, says Keady, but researchers are trying to identify what level of protection they provide. Those with antibodies can donated plasma, according to Keady.

Antibody test results are returned in a couple of days.

Health officials in Vermont have announced Thursday’s updated COVID-19 numbers, via WCAX.

As of now, there are 825 confirmed cases in the state, resulting in 43 deaths. To date, 13,852 tests have been conducted in VT. 21 people are being monitored for potential symptoms, while 821 have completed the monitoring process.

VT’s “stay-at-home” order is still set to last through May 15.

Three more COVID-19 related deaths were announced Thursday by New Hampshire health officials, reports WMUR.

The deaths are reportedly related to the several institutional outbreaks around the state. Of the 51 deaths in NH, 30 have been from the institutional outbreaks. Health officials report that the state is testing nearly double the amount of people each day as we were a week ago. 82 new COVID-19 cases were reported today, bringing NH to 1670 known cases.

As of Thursday, 218 citizens of NH have been hospitalized due to the virus.

A lawsuit filed by top Democratic lawmakers disputing federal COVID-19 relief spending has been dismissed, reports nhpr.

In a 16-page paper, Superior Court Judge David A. Anderson sided with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and dismissed the lawsuit brought against him. Anderson stated, “stopping or delaying the governor from distributing funds in the midst of a global pandemic would be contrary to public interest.”

Sununu stated in a press release that it is “paramount that we get relief out to New Hampshire families fast, and that is what I am determined to do.” House Democrats argued that the Republican Sununu was cutting legislature out of the decision of how to spend the $1.25 billion disaster relief funds.

Democrats are currently the majority control of the Legislature.

Community members have pitched in to raise approximately $91,000 for the Valley News, reports NBC 5.

Companies throughout the country have been affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the Valley News publication has been no different. To date, the newspaper has had to lay off five full-time employees, along with three part-time employees due to the financial strain. They have also been cutting content, and number of pages in the daily print.

Recently, the paper began a fundraiser. As of Monday night, the paper had raised around $91,000, not counting money received through paper mail.

According to publisher Dan McClory, the funds will be used to counter losses the paper is taking.

WCAX and Vermont health officials have provided a COVID-19 update for Wednesday, April 22, 2020.

As of today, VT has 823 cases of the coronavirus. Health officials also report two new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the state’s total to 40. 13,462 tests have been conducted throughout the state. There are 23 people in the symptom monitoring process, while 819 citizens have completed monitoring.

Chittenden County has far and away the most cases in the state with 393, while Essex County continues to have the lowest with two.