More than 50 inmates at New Hampshire’s largest jail have tested positive for the coronavirus, and officials are still awaiting results for an additional 135.
The Valley Street Jail in Manchester began testing inmates last week after attorneys raised concerns and a judge warned of “deliberate indifference to the health of inmates,” New Hampshire Public Radio reported. The positive cases amount to about a quarter of all inmates at the facility.
Superintendent Willie Scurry said the infections were identified among two units and that anyone who tested positive is quarantined in their cell. He said last week that 22 staff members also have tested positive.
In other coronavirus developments:
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TOWN MEETING
While state lawmakers wrangle with how to conduct business during the pandemic, some are hoping to make things easier on town officials concerned about hosting annual meetings this spring.
A bipartisan Senate bill would allow the governing bodies of towns and school districts to postpone their March elections to the second Tuesday of April, May, June or July if they are concerned about coronavirus. Towns also would be allowed to postpone the business or deliberative session of the annual Town Meeting when budgets are adopted to later dates. In the event of postponement, elected officials whose terms would have expired would continue.
The arrival of the pandemic last spring created confusion and raised questions about the legality of postponing such meetings. Some towns conducted parts of their meeting online and offered drive-up voting instead of the traditional in-person gatherings.
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THE NUMBERS
More than 47,000 people have tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, including 879 confirmed cases announced Monday that include numbers for several days. One additional death was announced, bringing the total to 781.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire increased over the past two weeks, going from 798 new cases per day on Dec. 20 to 805 new cases per day on Jan. 3.
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