A task force will work on a plan to gradually reopen New Hampshire’s economy. 

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu recently appointed a bipartisan group of lawmakers, business leaders and state officials to examine how the state can begin to re-open its economy. 

The Governor’s Economic Re-Opening Task Force will work collaboratively with public health experts and stakeholders, he said. 

“This is not an open and closed situation, it just isn’t, nor should it be. We’ve always said public health has to be preeminent,” he said. “We stepped into a lot of the restrictions, and we’re going to step out of it very, very carefully.” 

The state’s stay-at-home order originally expired May 4, but as of publication time Sununu said an extension was likely. He has already extended the state’s state of emergency, also originally slated to expire May 4, for three weeks. 

Nonessential stores, hair salons and barbershops should be allowed to open by appointment only as soon as possible, the president of the New Hampshire Retail Association said at the task force’s first meeting. 

In her remarks, Nancy Kyle outlined a three-phase approach to expanding permissible retail activity that has been shutdown or curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic. 

A significant public relations campaign will be needed to assure shoppers they will be safe, and she said timing is key. Many stores will be struggling to rehire workers who are making more money collecting unemployment benefits, she said. 

“Don’t do it on Memorial Day weekend. Try to do it midweek, so people can ease into it,” she said. 

As The Registry Review went to press, 1,720 people in New Hampshire had tested positive for the virus. About a third have recovered, and 53 died. 

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.