At least 60 people respond to call for help at veterans home

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — At least 60 people have responded to a call for staffing help at the State Veterans Home in Tilton, which has been dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak.

“LNAs, LPNs and RNs, we’re really looking for and the licensed positions,” Margaret LaBrecque, commandant of the home, told WMUR-TV on Monday. “We’re looking for some housekeepers just to go around, sanitize, remove the trash.”

Since the virus was first detected at the home Nov. 10, at least 53 residents and 64 staff members have tested positive, and 15 veterans have died, according to state figures released last week.

On Saturday, LeBrecque called for an “all-hands on deck response” for help with clinical and non-clinical staff to help in day-to-day operations for the veterans home.

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DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Dartmouth College has decided to delay the return of undergraduates to campus next month because of concerns about the surge in COVID-19 cases around the country and in New Hampshire.

Students were scheduled to return following the holidays on Jan. 5-6, with classes starting on Jan. 7. Classes will start remotely, instead, Provost Joseph Helble said Monday in a campus email. Students are now scheduled to return on Jan. 16-17.

Helble said students will take COVID-19 tests five days before arriving on campus, and that most students will be out of quarantine by Jan. 26. Students and employees on campus will be tested twice a week as of January.

Community transmission through November has grown and reached “far higher levels” than Dartmouth had anticipated, a trend that is expected to continue, Helble said.

As of Friday, Dartmouth had six active COVID-19 cases among students and staff. Seven Dartmouth community members were in quarantine and 18 in isolation.