COVID-19 Update 19 May 2021

COVID-19 Update 19 May 2021

Total: 2,946 confirmed cases in Salem
Salem today: 4 new cases since yesterday
Salem has 18 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: 3.5%
Salem’s new cases account for 3.2% of all of today’s cases. (Salem has 2.2% of NH’s population.)
We have been making progress, although we are, hopefully temporarily, heading in the wrong direction yesterday and today.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021, DHHS announced 124 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 68 people who tested positive by PCR test and 56 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 1,104 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 4 new cases since yesterday, bringing our total to 2,946 Salem residents who have had confirmed case of COVID-19.
Salem’s active cases increased by 4 since yesterday bringing the total to 18. Salem had 18 active cases one week ago.
Salem’s new cases per 100K residents is 118. Yesterday, it was 122. One week ago, it was 172.
Salem’s positivity rate for PCR & antigen results in the past week is 3.5%, a “minimal” level of community transmission, although it is above the goal of less than 2%. Yesterday it was 2.9%. One week ago, it was 2.7%. Salem’s positivity rate was 14.3% on Dec. 14. Since this rate has been shared, Sunday was the lowest we’ve been at 2.3%.
There are 58 NH communities with a positivity rate of more than 0. (64 a week ago). There are 56 communities with a positivity rate higher than 2%. (58 a week ago). 29 communities have more than 5% (34 a week ago). 10 communities have a positivity rate of more than 10%. (4 a week ago.) 43 communities have a higher positivity rate than Salem’s. (52 a week ago. It was as high as 10 on March 28.)
Over 4,900 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID 19, including 9 new cases reported today. The daily average has increased by 12 over the past week. Today, one more healthcare worker was hospitalized, bringing the total to 82. Ten healthcare workers have lost their lives because of COVID-19.
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 74. NH reported 82 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 14 to 1,104 since yesterday. That’s 346 fewer active cases than we had a week ago.
The last time NH’s active case count was lower than today was October 28. 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 167.1 new cases per 100K residents in the past 14 days. Yesterday, it was 172.1. One week ago, it was 436.4.
NH’s positivity rate for PCR & antigen results in the past week is 2.8%. Yesterday it was 2.9%. One week ago, it was 5.3%
DHHS is reporting a total of 1,397 people who have been hospitalized as of today because of COVID-19. This is anincrease of 3 people since yesterday’s update, and an increase of 13 since last week. There were 2 hospitalizations reported today from Rockingham County; our county’s total hospitalization count is 310.
The number of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 50 which is 2 more than yesterday and 12 less than one week ago.
The cumulative total of ICU admissions increased by 0 since yesterday; the total number of ICU admissions is 413. We have seen an increase of 3 ICU admissions in the past seven days.
Today, one life was lost due to COVID-19 for the period covered by this report, bringing the total of lives lost to 1,340 people who have died in NH due to COVID-19. We have lost 14 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:
Rockingham (28), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (16), Cheshire (11), Merrimack (11), Grafton (8), Strafford (8), Sullivan (6), Coos (5), Belknap (4), and Carroll (3) counties, and in the cities of Nashua (11) and Manchester (10). The county of residence is being determined for three new cases.

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

New positive cases by my math (Total of today’s cases minus previous total): 74
New positive cases per DHHS: 124
Total people who have tested positive: 97,978

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

Total cases in Rockingham County: 24,071
New cases in Rockingham County: 28
Rockingham County’s percentage of new cases: 22.6%
Rockingham County Positivity Rate: 4.0%

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

26 children under 18 are included in today’s new cases.
21.0% of new cases announced by DHHS today are kids under 18 years old.

(Totals showing changes since yesterday.)

0-9: 6% of Total cases: 5425 (+14); Hospitalizations: 8; Deaths: 0
10-19: 12% of Total cases: 12175 (+13); Hospitalizations: 10; Deaths: 0
20-29: 20% of Total cases: 19719 (+8); Hospitalizations: 32; Deaths: 1
30-39: 15% of Total cases: 14395 (+19); Hospitalizations: 62; Deaths: 6
40-49: 13% of Total cases: 12872 (+11); Hospitalizations: 102 (+1); Deaths: 12
50-59: 15% of Total cases: 15030 (+0); Hospitalizations: 183; Deaths: 33 (+1)
60-69: 10% of Total cases: 9631 (+4); Hospitalizations: 333 (+2); Deaths: 131
70-79: 5% of Total cases: 4741 (+4); Hospitalizations: 352; Deaths: 320
80+: 4% of Total cases: 3901 (+2); Hospitalizations: 315; Deaths: 837
Unknown: 0% of Total cases: 89 (+-1); Hospitalizations: 0; Deaths: 0

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

Active cases in NH: 1,104
Active cases in Rockingham County: 196

• • • • • • RECOVERED • • • • • •

Recovered today: 82
Total recovered: 95,534
Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 97.5%

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

Currently hospitalized: 50
New people hospitalized from NH: 3
Total hospitalized patients: 1,397
Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 1.43%
Total admitted to ICU: 413
New hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 2
Total hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 310

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • •

Lives lost today: 1
Persons over 60 years of age who died today: 0
Persons under 60 years of age who died today: 1
Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 1,340
NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 1.37%
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!

Today researchers reported the first case of COVID-19 causing dangerous, recurring blood clots in a patient’s arm. The report offers new insight into how the damage of inflammation caused by COVID-19 can linger.

I have added this to the list of other consequences of COVID-19. This is the second addition to the list of suggested readings about the impact of COVID-19 in the past two days.

And here’s something else that concerns me: DHHS reported two outbreaks in their weekly press report. I don’t have anything other than a friend’s word, but I’m told that there was an outbreak three weeks ago at a long-term care facility here in Salem. My source tells me that there were 2 patients who had been vaccinated who tested positive, but had mild symptoms, and 4 staff members, of whom at least 2 were not vaccinated. Now it’s 3 weeks since the start of the outbreak, and all have recovered. DHHS has not reported this as an outbreak.

Vaccinated staff members are no longer required to be tested/swabbed weekly.

This information is concerning on so many different levels, but is a reminder that we need to be diligent, stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie