Universal Best Practices: Continuing the COVID-19 Fight

Goodbye "Safer at Home" guidelines Hello "Universal Best Practices."

Gov. Chris Sununu unveiled New Hampshire's next step on Thursday which take effect in week during his weekly coronavirus briefing in the effort to ward off COVID-19 and return life to normal

They are very much like the Safer at Home guidelines but are now only considered recommendations. Businesses are free to implement additional precautions.  However, unlike the Safer at Home guidelines they were not broken down by type of business.

"I am a big believer that if you want someone to use a document as a tool for yourself or your employees  you have to keep it readable and simple. You can't give them 100 pages and have them sift through and hopefully sift through it all to figure it out," Sununu said.

Separate practices for schools and for sleepover camps will be released, according to the governor.

The governor said the  purpose of the practices is to reemphasize and more of a reminder what he considers  the most important parts of the guidance, mandates that we previously had in place," Sununu said, adding there is no requirement for vaccinations.

The practices include vaccinations, identifying people who have, or might have,
COVID-19, testing, continued social and physical distancing, face mask use, cohorting and limiting group sizes, modifying layouts and processes, hand washing, cleaning and disinfection and avoiding shared objects, improving building, room  and space ventilation and contact tracing.

One thing that will not be enforced is a specific three or six foot distances between customers at restaurants and atten venues.

"It's all best practices. They have complete flexibility as of May 7. If they want to phase things out or limit their spacing or tickets I think that is idea," Sununu said. "Everyone has to find the best path for their venue or whatever it is."

Sununu also announced at the briefing that any state workers still working at home will return to their offices on May 10 and will be open to the public.

The governor said another key to a return to normal is vaccinations which Sununu said seems to have leveled off.

"We're definitely seeing the demand plateau." That's due in part to so many people getting at least their first shot of the vaccine already -- more than 50% by the state's count, and even more than that by the state's count.

Sununu is also against government vaccine passports to prove having received a vaccination in order to gain access to certain places and services. He has no objection to businesses requiring them.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH