WMWV – 93.5

New Hampshire officials say a hospital system employee who recently traveled to Italy is the first person in the state to test positive for the new coronavirus. State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said Monday the patient is experiencing mild symptoms and remains at home in Grafton County while health officials investigate. More than 80,000 cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, have occurred worldwide since the virus emerged in China in late 2019. About 3,000 people have died. The illness is characterized by fever and coughing and, in serious cases, shortness of breath or pneumonia. The first reported death in the U.S. from the virus was confirmed Saturday in Seattle. (Associated Press)

Memorial Hospital has started a Grief and Loss Support Group for women experiencing grief as a result of a loss of pregnancy or birth. The program will be hosted by Children Unlimited. Memorial Hospital says the group will provide coping skills and education to help women understand their experience and story. Registered nurse Leigh Copsey of the hospital’s family birthing center says that staff had offered pamphlets, brochures, or referred patients to books on the subject in the past but it felt inadequate. The new program is designed to try and fill that void. Memorial says the Grief and Loss Support Group meets the first Monday of every month at noon at Children Unlimited, 182 West Main Street in Conway.

This past Tuesday US Senator from New Hampshire Maggie Hassan stopped by the Mt. Washington Valley Adult Day Center to meet with local healthcare leaders and discuss challenges and legislation in the industry, particularly when caring for the elderly. One of the topics raised by the Senator is the newly proposed budget by the Trump administration. Hassan says, “The Trump administration just released its proposed budget. There are cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in that proposed budget. We are pushing back hard at that […] but it’s going to be important for everybody to stay vigilante about that because what has always helped in this area is when people show up in DC and say ‘this is how this would impact me in real life’ and that is how we’ve stopped these cuts in the past.” According to the officially published budget that claim is misleading. Medicare and Medicaid spending are scheduled to continue to increase total dollars spent under the proposed budget by the administration.

Congress budgets based off percentage of GDP, a calculation of the size of the economy based on total spending in the economy- including government spending. The new budget proposal increases the total dollars spent as well as total percentage of its share of GDP over time for Medicare but it reduces spending-to-GDP for Medicaid. Total dollars spent on Medicaid will continue to rise, however. The Trump administration also proposes enabling States to include controversial work requirements that have been subject to debate here in New Hampshire and in Maine.

The United States is expected to reach $1 trillion deficits this year, a number reflective of current spending. If that trends holds the nearly $23 trillion national debt will continue to increase in size even faster. The World Bank has published a study estimating that roughly past 77% public debt-to-GDP creates drag on national economies. The current public debt-to-GDP ratio is over 100%.

The Presidential Primaries have moved beyond New Hampshire. They’re just the first taste of the 2020 election cycle which is likely to be contentious and divisive regardless of who wins. I used my opportunity to talk to those at the polls holding signs to see if they saw any chance for unity in America’s future. Here’s what they had to say:

Ed Martinez, “I think two years we’re gonna see a lot more unity after they see that Trump isn’t what everyone said he was. He wants the best that anybody can want for our nation.”

Tina Craig, “The division is not working. The division is breaking up families, it’s breaking up communities. It makes me very, very sad that we have such an incredibly divisive person running our country who just rips the other side apart.”

Frank Evetts, “You know they say Trump caused all this but actually it started with Obama. These people here- you can see them waving to us. Some people are nice. Some people are bad. I mean I wouldn’t do that to an opposing candidate but that’s what they do! The democrats seem to just hate Trump.”

Mike Tullan, “We need grassroots organizations that are getting the right information out to people. There’s so much misinformation right now and, you know, there can’t be unity when people aren’t looking at the same facts. You know I really hope we can put someone in office who is fighting for everyone and I don’t see that right now.”

Raven McAuliffe, “The division definitely existed before Trump but he’s made it a lot worse for us, kind of pushing the Republican party so far right. And other candidates in the Democratic party have also worked at that division too by pushing the party so far left. So hopefully putting someone more moderate in the Presidency will help bring both of the parties closer to the middle by giving the some common ground, something to work together on.”

One thing that most of the people interviewed agreed on was that they saw the media as playing a role in the disunity that’s occurring.