COVID-19 Update 17 May 2021

COVID-19 Update 17 May 2021

Total: 2,937 confirmed cases in Salem
Salem today: 2 new cases since yesterday
Salem has 13 active cases, which is where we were in mid-October. In late September, we had less than 5 active cases.
1 out of every 10 Salem residents has been infected
Salem’s new cases per 100K for 14 days: 118
Salem’s Positivity Rate for the past 2 weeks: 2.5%
Salem’s new cases account for 1.9% of all of today’s cases. (Salem has 2.2% of NH’s population.)

On Monday, May 17, 2021, DHHS announced 104 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 62 people who tested positive by PCR test and 42 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 1,169 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire.

Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates.

• • • • • • TODAY’S SUMMARY • • • • • •

Salem added 2 new cases since yesterday, bringing our total to 2,937 Salem residents who have had confirmed case of COVID-19.
Salem’s active cases decreased by 2 since yesterday bringing the total to 13. Salem had 21 active cases one week ago. The last time we were this low was mid-October. In late September, we had less than 5 active cases.
Salem’s new cases per 100K residents is 118. Yesterday, it was 135. One week ago, it was 189.
Salem’s positivity rate for PCR & antigen results in the past week is 2.5%, a “minimal” level of community transmission, although it is above the goal of less than 2%. Yesterday it was 2.3%. One week ago, it was 2.5%. Salem’s positivity rate was 14.3% on Dec. 14. Since this rate has been shared, yesterday was the lowest we’ve been.
While Salem’s positivity rate continues to fall, there are still 55 NH communities with a positivity rate of more than 0. (73 a week ago). There are 55 communities with a positivity rate higher than 2%. (73 a week ago). 29 communities have more than 5% (34 a week ago). 6 communities have a positivity rate of more than 10%. (9 a week ago.) 52communities have a higher positivity rate than Salem’s. (62 a week ago. It was as high as 10 on March 28.)
1 out of every 10 Salem Residents have had a confirmed case of COVID-19. In Rockingham County it is 1:13; in New Hampshire, it is 1:14.
Today the new cases “by math” (yesterday vs. today’s cumulative total of positive cases as reported by DHHS) was 98. NH reported 202 people have “recovered” since yesterday’s update. After allowing for those who lost their lives today because of COVID-19, NH’s number of active cases went down by 105 to 1,169 since yesterday. That’s 255 fewer active cases than we had a week ago.
The last time NH’s active case count was lower than today was October 29. We are back to where we were in mid June. We had 798 active cases on Oct 21, and 209 cases on Sept 4. On April 1, 2020 we had 320 cases in NH. Our peak was December 27, when we had 6,994 active cases.
NH has had 180.2 new cases per 100K residents in the past 14 days. Yesterday, it was 184.0. One week ago, it was 434.4.
NH’s positivity rate for PCR & antigen results in the past week is 2.9%. Yesterday it was 2.9%. One week ago, it was 5.0%
DHHS is reporting a total of 1,394 people who have been hospitalized as of today because of COVID-19. This is anincrease of 2 people since yesterday’s update, and an increase of 18 since last week. There was 0 hospitalizations reported today from Rockingham County; our county’s total hospitalization count is 308.
The number of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 46 which is 4 less than yesterday and 25 less than oneweek ago.
The cumulative total of ICU admissions increased by 0 since yesterday; the total number of ICU admissions is 412. We have seen an increase of 3 ICU admissions in the past seven days.
There was 1 life lost due to COVID-19 for the period covered by this report, bringing the total to 1,333 people who have died in NH due to COVID-19. We have lost 15 people in NH due to COVID-19 in the past week. There no lives lost today from Rockingham County; the total number of people who have died from our county is 259.

• • • • • Communities • • • • • •

DHHS reports that the new cases reside in the following counties:
Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (22), Cheshire (17), Rockingham (17), Strafford (8), Grafton (6), Merrimack (5), Sullivan (3), Carroll (2), Belknap (1), and Coos (1) counties, and in the cities of Nashua (9) and Manchester (5). The county of residence is being determined for eight new cases.

• • • • • • DIAGNOSTIC TESTS IN NH • • • • • •

New positive cases by my math (Total of today’s cases minus previous total): 98
New positive cases per DHHS: 104
Total people who have tested positive: 97,774

• • • • • • ROCKINGHAM COUNTY (22.78% of NH’s population) • • • • • •

Total cases in Rockingham County: 24,009
New cases in Rockingham County: 17
Rockingham County’s percentage of new cases: 16.3%
Rockingham County Positivity Rate: 3.6%

• • • • • • CHANGES BY AGES • • • • • •

26 children under 18 are included in today’s new cases.
25.0% of new cases announced by DHHS today are kids under 18 years old.

(Totals, showing changes since yesterday.)

0-9: 6% of Total cases: 5397 (+8); Hospitalizations: 8; Deaths: 0
10-19: 12% of Total cases: 12145 (+22); Hospitalizations: 10; Deaths: 0
20-29: 20% of Total cases: 19684 (+18); Hospitalizations: 32; Deaths: 1
30-39: 15% of Total cases: 14354 (+22); Hospitalizations: 62; Deaths: 6
40-49: 13% of Total cases: 12845 (+6); Hospitalizations: 101; Deaths: 12
50-59: 15% of Total cases: 15017 (+14); Hospitalizations: 183 (+1); Deaths: 31
60-69: 10% of Total cases: 9610 (+7); Hospitalizations: 331 (+1); Deaths: 129
70-79: 5% of Total cases: 4734 (+1); Hospitalizations: 352; Deaths: 318
80+: 4% of Total cases: 3898 (+1); Hospitalizations: 315; Deaths: 836 (+1)
Unknown: 0% of Total cases: 90 (+-1); Hospitalizations: 0; Deaths: 0

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

Active cases in NH: 1,169
Active cases in Rockingham County: 194

• • • • • • RECOVERED • • • • • •

Recovered today: 202
Total recovered: 95,272
Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 97.4%

• • • • • • HOSPITALIZATIONS IN NH • • • • • •

Currently hospitalized: 46
New people hospitalized from NH: 2
Total hospitalized patients: 1,394
Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 1.43%
Total admitted to ICU: 412
New hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 0
Total hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 308

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • •

Lives lost today: 1
Persons over 60 years of age who died today: 1
Persons under 60 years of age who died today: 0
Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 1,333
NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 1.36%
Lives lost in Rockingham County today: 0
Total lives lost in Rockingham County: 259

These are not simply numbers. We must not forget that these are all someone’s husband or wife, mother or father, sister or brother, son or daughter, friend or neighbor.

Hello, Salem!

There was some concerning news today:

1. Multiple news reports share that the B.1.617.2 coronavirus variant first found in India has been discovered in the southern-most county of Maine which borders the NH border. B.1.617.2 is causing havoc in India, and is now considered to be a “variant of concern” in the UK, because of have increased transmission rates, as well as the severity of disease, based on hospitalization and case fatality rates. There is also concern that vaccinations may not be effective against this variant.

This variant is scaring folks in the UK, where it is already the dominant variant in some locations. Read more about the B.1.617.2 variant here.

2. “Most COVID-19 patients have neurological symptoms.” In a new study, 80% of those patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had neurological manifestations including encephalopathy (a disease that affects the function or structure of the brain) (49%), coma (17%), and stroke (6%). Presence of clinically captured neurologic signs and/or syndromes was associated with increased risk of in-hospital death.

I have added this new study to all of the other consequences of COVID-19 that I’ve been documenting here.

These are just two more reasons why we need to stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie