COVID-19 Update 9 August 2021

The next update is scheduled for next Monday, August 16.

SALEM:

Salem since last update: 27 new cases.
Total: 3,034 confirmed cases in Salem
We now have 27 active cases (18 last week)
1 out of every 10 Salem residents has been infected.
Salem’s new cases per 100K for 14 days: 150 (87 last week)
Salem’s Positivity Rate for the past 2 weeks: 7.1%. (Last week: 5.9%).
Salem’s new cases account for 2.4% of the new cases reported this week. Last week we were responsible for 2.1%. (Salem has 2.2% of NH’s population.)

NEW HAMPSHIRE:

New cases of COVID-19 cases in NH this week: 1,131. (700 last week)
Of the new cases this week, 44 were healthcare workers, and 12 were in long-term care facilities.
Active COVID-19 cases in NH: 1,270 (738 last week; 364 two weeks ago; 155 active cases on June 28.)
Recovered in NH this week: 597. (324 last week).
State Level of Transmission: Substantial
New patients hospitalized this week because of COVID-19: 13
Current patients hospitalized because of COVID-19: 53 (28 one week ago)
New admissions to ICU this week because of COVID-19: 3
New deaths attributed to COVID-19 reported in NH this week: 2
Total NH individuals fully vaccinated: About 53.8% of our population, a one-week increase of 0.1%. 58.6% are partially vaccinated, a one-week increase of 0.1%.

On Tuesday, August 3, 2021, DHHS announced 169 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 76 people who tested positive by PCR test and 93 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 850 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Of the new cases: Rockingham County: 45 (26.6%); Salem: 4 (2.4%)]

On Wednesday, August 4, 2021, DHHS announced 138 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 78 people who tested positive by PCR test and 60 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 893 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 29 (21%); Salem: 4 (2.9%)]

On Thursday, August 5, 2021, DHHS announced 232 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 119 people who tested positive by PCR test and 113 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 1,061 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 44 (19%); Salem: 5 (2.2%)]

On Friday, August 6, 2021, DHHS announced 176 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 107 people who tested positive by PCR test and 69 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 1,125 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 45 (25.6%); Salem: 3 (1.7%)]

On Monday, August 9, 2021, DHHS announced 96 new positive test results for COVID-19 for Sunday, August 8. Today’s results include 58 people who tested positive by PCR test and 38 who tested positive by antigen test. DHHS also announced 186 cases from Friday, August 6 (114 by PCR test and 72 by antigen test), and 199 cases from Saturday, August 7 (139 by PCR test and 60 by antigen test). There are now 1,270 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 113 (24.4%); Salem: 11 (2.3%)]

Each day, DHHS says that “Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates.” Percentages shown are % of new cases.

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

Total people who have tested positive: 102,117 (100,986 last week)
New positive cases this week by my math: 1,131 (700 last week)
New positive cases per DHHS: 1,196 (769 last week)
Rockingham County (22.78% of NH’s population):
- Total positive tests in Rockingham County: 24,754
- New cases this week: 276 (172 last week)
- % of this week’s cases from Rockingham County: 24.4%

• • • • • NEW CASES • • • • • •

DHHS reports that the new cases this week reside in the following counties and NH’s two major cities:

Belknap: 55
Carroll: 31
Cheshire: 55
Coos: 48
Grafton: 64
Manchester: 98
Merrimack: 88
Nashua: 47
Rest of Hillsborough: 193
Rockingham County: 276
Strafford: 106
Sullivan: 24

The county of residence is being determined for 39 new cases. Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates.

• • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

NH has 1,131 active cases. Last week we had 700. We were down to 155 cases as recently as June 28.
All counties have active cases:
- Belknap: 50 (25 last week)
- Carroll: 36 (17)
- Cheshire: 63 (31)
- Coos: 55 (11)
- Grafton: 74 (46)
- Manchester: 92 (66)
- Merrimack: 86 (57)
- Nashua: 53 (63)
- Rest of Hillsborough: 217 (106)
- Rockingham: 307 (270)
- Strafford: 24 (10)
- Sullivan: 24 (10)
- Unknown: 104 (61)
69 communities now have 5 or more active cases, accounting for 1,078 (84.9%) of the 1,270 total active cases. Last week it was 37 communities, responsible for 541 total active cases (73.3%) of the 738 total active cases.The previous week it was 17 communities, who had 5 or more active cases. (All others have less than 5 active cases.)
Communities with more active cases than Salem are:
- Manchester (92; 66 last week)
- Nashua (53; 63 last week)
- Berlin (45; 10 last week)
- Derry (41; 23 last week)
- Rochester (34; was 20 last week)
- Hudson (32; tied with Salem at 18 last week)
- Merrimack (Tied with Salem at 27; 12 last week)
- Salem (27; was 18 last week)

• • • • • • RECOVERED • • • • • •

Total recovered: 99,458 (98,861 last week)
Recovered this week: 597
Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 97.4% (97.9% last week; 98.3% two weeks ago.)

• • • • • COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION • • • • • •

Recent CDC recommendations for masks are based on Community Transmissions.

Per NH Department of Health and Human Services some time ago: The overall level of community transmission is defined using three metrics. A community is then assigned an overall level based on the highest-level determination for any specific metric. NH Metrics are:

New Cases per 100k over 14 days: Scale: Minimal: <50; Moderate: 50 – 100; Substantial: >100.
New Hospitalizations per 100k over 14 days: Scale: Minimal: <10; Moderate: 10 – 20; Substantial: >20.
Average PCR Test Positivity Rate over 7 days: Scale: Minimal: <5%; Moderate: 5% – 10; Substantial: >10%

More recently, NH DHHS stopped the hospital metric, and now only report the New Cases per 100K, and Average PCR Test Positivity Rate.

NH Level of Transmission: Substantial (Last week: Moderate)
NH New Cases per 100K over 14 days: 139.9
7-Day Total Test Positivity Rate: 4.4%

The State’s Map Dashboard for Current Level of Community Transmission continues to report “Resource not found.” The colored map on that dashboard shows that Carroll, Merrimack and Sullivan counties are at Moderate level of Transmission. All other counties, plus Manchester and Nashua, are at Substantial risk.

Cases per 100K residents:

NH: 139.9 (NH last week: 81.3; NH 2 weeks ago: 44.2)
- Belknap: 140.3 (101.1 last week)
- Carroll: 100.2 (59.3 last week)
- Cheshire: 117 (65.7 last week)
- Coos: 193.3 (53.9 last week)
- Grafton: 116.8 (70.1 last week)
- Manchester: 152.2 (88.6 last week)
- Merrimack: 97.1 (68.7 last week)
- Nashua: 117.1 (95.9 last week)
- Rest of Hillsborough excluding Manchester and Nashua: 138.6 (66.7 last week)
- Rockingham: 144.2 (85.5 last week)
- Strafford: 138.6 (78.8 last week)
- Sullivan: 81.1 (39.4 last week)
Only 15 communities have numbers reported for Cumulative cases per 100K residents, with 8 communities with higher rates than Salem. Last week, there were only six communities, with Salem tied for sixth place.

Positivity Rate:
- NH: 4.4% (was 3.3% last week; 2.1% two weeks ago)
- Belknap: 4.1% (2.60% last week)
- Carroll: 2.8% (1.8% last week)
- Cheshire: 5.5% (3.6% last week)
- Coos: 14.0% (3.1% last week)
- Grafton: 1.9% (1.6% last week)
- Manchester: 5.3 (4.8% last week)
- Merrimack: 3.6% (3.4% last week)
- Nashua: 2.7% (5% last week)
- Rest of Hillsborough excluding Manchester and Nashua: 5.7% (3.80% last week)
- Rockingham: 5.8% (4.4% last week)
- Strafford: 4.5% (3.8% last week)
- Sullivan: 4.1% (1.9% last week)

There are 64 NH communities with a positivity rate of more than 0. (42 a week ago, 21 two weeks ago). There are 63 communities with a positivity rate higher than 2%. (41 a week ago). 44 communities have more than 5% (22 a week ago). 9 communities have a positivity rate of more than 10%. (6 a week ago.) 24 communities have a positivity rate higher than Salem’s. (13 a week ago)

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

Currently hospitalized: 53
New people hospitalized from NH: 13
Total hospitalized patients: 1,667
Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 1.63%
Total admitted to ICU: 494
New ICU admissions this week: 3
New hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 3 since last week
Total hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 362

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • •

Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 1,389
Lives lost this week: 2
Persons over 60 years of age who died this week: 2
Persons under 60 years of age who died this week: 0
NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 1.36%
Lives lost in Rockingham County this week: 0
Total lives lost in Rockingham County: 270

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

221 children under 18 are included in this week’s new cases. (129 last week.)
18.5% of new cases announced by DHHS this week are kids under 18 years old. (16.8% last week.
CNN reports that in the US, nearly 1,600 kids have been hospitalized. We are now back at the same level of minors who are hospitalized as we had in January during the peak.
In NH, 1/5^th of all hospitalizations for kids under 10 since the beginning of the pandemic were reported this week.
Under 60: 260 new cases; 6 hospitalizations, 0 deaths
60+: 60 new cases; 10 hospitalizations; 3 deaths

(Totals showing changes since last Monday.)

0-9: % of Total cases: 5869 (+117); Hospitalizations: 15 (+3); Deaths: 0
10-19: % of Total cases: 12758 (+117); Hospitalizations: 15 (+2); Deaths: 0
20-29: % of Total cases: 20467 (+213); Hospitalizations: 38 (+3); Deaths: 1
30-39: % of Total cases: 15092 (+218); Hospitalizations: 71 (+1); Deaths: 7
40-49: % of Total cases: 13425 (+154); Hospitalizations: 121 (+1); Deaths: 12
50-59: % of Total cases: 15532 (+135); Hospitalizations: 233 (+1); Deaths: 36
60-69: % of Total cases: 9980 (+106); Hospitalizations: 379 (+1); Deaths: 143 (+1)
70-79: % of Total cases: 4924 (+50); Hospitalizations: 410 (+1); Deaths: 333 (+1)
80+: % of Total cases: 4006 (+18); Hospitalizations: 385; Deaths: 857
Unknown: % of Total cases: 64 (+3); Hospitalizations: 0; Deaths: 0

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!

Here are some random thoughts from this past week:

CovidActNow reports that NH is considered to be at a “High Risk” for transmission. Their scale runs from 1. Low Risk; 2. Medium Risk; 3. High Risk; 4. Very High Risk and 5. Severe Risk.

CNN reported today that “the average number of new coronavirus cases in the US has increased ninefold since the beginning of July, and hospitalizations are at their highest rate since February.”

Vaccinations:

NH DHHS reports 819,184 (58.4%) NH residents have been partially vaccinated, an increase of 1,071 people since last week. [Last week was 818,113 (60.3%); -1.9%]

750,212 (53.6%) people are fully vaccinated, an increase of 963 people since last week. [Last week was 749,249, (55.2%); -1.6%]

Since last week, DHHS has added new data, showing that NH had administered 45,133 doses to Non-NH residents. There’s no explanation for the decrease, but I’m guessing that the percentages previously released by DHHS included these non-residents.

Outbreaks in NH:

NH DHHS reported two new institutional outbreaks on Thursday, August 5, bringing the total to 3 institutions. Epsom Health Center continues to be on the list on the list, with 6 (+1) residents, and 2 staff having been infected. The Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin has 5 residents and 1 staff reported as new infections. Rockingham County Nursing Home and Rehab is reporting two new resident cases and 3 new staff cases. All other outbreaks, which can be seen here, were closed as of this outbreak update.

Breakthrough COVID-19 symptoms:

While some vaccinated people are getting COVID, it is still rare, and 99.9% of all recent hospitalizations and deaths associated with COVID-19 are people who are not vaccinated.
CDC reports that 79% of those who are found to have breakthough infections have a cough, headache, sore throat, myalgia and fever.
NBC says approximately 1 in 900 vaccinated people have had breakthough infections. The vast majority of those had mild or no symptoms.

Variants:

The variants Eta, Iota, Kappa, and Lambda are “variants of interest.”

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-info.html

Concerns continue to grow for the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Some of the symptoms of the new Delta variant are different than the traditional COVID-19 symptoms. They can include:

SNEEZING more than usual – (New to this list)
Sore throat
Runny nose or sinus congestion
Fever
Headaches
Stomach pain
Loss of appetite
Vomiting
Nausea
Joint pain
Hearing loss
Diarrhea
Small blood clots
Shortness of breath

Per WMUR, as of August 6, NH had:

Number of people diagnosed with COVID-19: 101,662
Total individuals fully vaccinated: 730,116 (53.7% of NH population)
Number of B.1.1.7 variant (Alpha; UK) cases: 1,202 (+59 from last week)

Number of B.1.351 variant (Beta; South Africa) cases: 1
Number of P.1 variant (Gamma; Brazil) cases: 196 (+15)
Number of B.1.617.2 variant (Delta; India) cases: 90 (+69)

Lambda Variant, C.37 Symptoms:

Currently, the symptoms of the Lambda variant are similar to that of the initial COVID-19 strain. Common symptoms that present themselves with the Lambda variant include the following:
Cough
High fever
Body pain
Loss of taste or smell
Trouble breathing

Additional suggested reading:

CloseUp: State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan discusses current COVID-19 situation in NH here in this video.
Researchers found a lower-than-normal immune response to the messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines for patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). Read more here.
Your guide to the coronavirus variants, from alpha to lambda can be found here.
The Present and Future of COVID Variants is here.
Lambda variant: I’m concerned about this variant, so I suggest reading anything you find about the Lambda variant, including this one and this one.
We many need to watch the Eta variant as well. Here’s all you need to know about this mutated strain
Last week, Salem parents were sent an email from the Salem School District entitled “Revised 2021-22 Reopening Plan.” In part, it said, “each student and staff member will be required to wear masks when indoors and unable to maintain a separation of three feet or more and acrylic shields are not available. This requirement applies regardless of vaccination status.” The full (revised) reopening plan can be found here.