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Liquor stores mull curbside pickups; state blocks release of COVID-19 age metrics, embittering young adults

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A move to allow curbside pickup would lessen infection risk to customers, staff (Courtesy photo)

Thursday saw the state's biggest one-day jump in COVID-19 cases and its first death of a resident under the age of 60, a Hillsborough County man with underlying medical conditions.

Meanwhile, the state continues to withhold the age range of coronavirus victims, only classifying those who die as over or under 60. Neighboring states like Maine and Massachusetts both release whether confirmed coronavirus cases reflect an individual in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s or over 70.

The Rochester Voice sent several emails and made calls to the state's Joint Information Center, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan and the governor's office on Thursday as to why the state refuses such information, but was unable to find out any more. A staffer at the Joint Information Center said someone would be asked to get back with a reason why they refuse to divulge the information, but no return email or phone call was forthcoming.

The need to release the age-group information was underscored on Thursday by comments made by Catholic Medical Center's Chief Medical Officer who said younger people are getting the coronavirus just like older people. Dr. Keith Stahl made the comments on WGIR's New Hampshire Today with Jack Heath.

"They are getting it, that's always been the case," said Dr. Stahl. "We didn't talk about it because we wanted to focus more on the older folk. But yes if you're younger you can get it, and you can die from it. There are fatalities in younger people."

Some young people in the Rochester area have expressed distress that they were not informed of the severity the coronavirus posed to their age group, saying they were led to believe early on that they were somehow less likely to be impacted by the virus.

This may have led them to believe that social distancing among those of their own age group carried few risks, they say.

The young people The Rochester Voice spoke with did not wished to be identified for this story.

Meanwhile, during a Twitter Q & A on Thursday, Governor Sununu said they were looking to implement a curbside service at state liquor stores.

He also said he was mulling a move to allow golf course to open, but it would have to be in conjunction with neighboring states so as not to avoid a mass influx of golf enthusiasts.

With the 64 new positive test results on Thursday, New Hampshire now has 479 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in New Hampshire, including 35 in Strafford County, the sixth-hardest hit county in the state. Rockingham County has suffered the most, with 170 confirmed cases.

The new cases are 42 adult females and 22 adult males and reside in Rockingham (17), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (12), Strafford (6), Merrimack (4), Cheshire (1), Grafton (1), and Sullivan (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (19) and Nashua (3).

Regionally, Dover has 10-19 positive test cases while Farmington and Barrington are in the 1-4 range. Milton has no recorded cases.

Ten of the new cases were hospitalized for their illness; thus far, 73 (15%) of the 479 positive cases have been hospitalized. Thirty-seven of the new cases have no identified risk factors. Community-based transmission continues to increase in the State and has been identified in all counties with cases.

More statewide numbers on the pandemic

NH Persons with COVID-19 479

Recovered 101 (21%)

Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 5 (1%)

Total Current COVID-19 Cases 373

Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 73 (15%)

Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 1,700

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