Dover, NH Restaurant Temporarily Closes as COVID-19 Precaution

The number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in New Hampshire rose in the first update of numbers since Thursday as a Dover restaurant makes the decision to temporarily close because of the winter surge.

The state Department of Health and Human Services announced 30 deaths, the most COVID-19 deaths reported in a single day since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The number includes cases that had been under investigation from prior weeks.

There were also 4,263 newly confirmed cases making for 8,026 current COVID-19 cases in the state including 397 hospitalizations, according to the DHHS.

Closing Down for New Year's Eve

Patty B's restaurant announced Monday on its social media it is temporarily shutting down through New Year's Day, traditionally one of the busiest periods for restaurants.

"We understand this is not convenient but we must protect our staff and our very loyal customers. Thank you for your understanding and as always we thank you for your continued support through these tough times," the restaurant said in a statement.

The comments on their Facebook post were supportive of the decision.

"Thank you for your care and concern for the community! Happy New Year! See y’all in 2022," Jaclyn Rohr wrote.

The restaurant was having staffing issues for Christmas Eve and was only open for dine-in and catering pickups, according to its website.

Strafford County has 689 active COVID-19 cases as of Monday, the fourth highest in the state, according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard

The CDC on Monday changed its recommendations about quarantining shortening the time for isolation from 10 days to five because of what has been learned about the Omicron variant.

"The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after," the CDC said in a statement. "Therefore, people who test positive should isolate for 5 days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for 5 days to minimize the risk of infecting others."

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