COVID-19 Update December 17

COVID-19 Update December 17

Total: 1,137 confirmed cases in Salem
Salem’s Positivity Rate for the past 2 weeks: 14.0%
1 out of 26 Salem residents have been infected
Salem today: 23 new cases since yesterday; 227 active cases

• • • • • • Report from NH Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS) • • • • • •

From today’s Press Release from NH DHHS: “On Thursday, December 17, 2020, DHHS announced 872 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a daily PCR test positivity rate of 5.4%. Today’s results include 579 people who tested positive by PCR test and 293 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 6,928 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. Of the results reported today:

12/11: 46 new cases today, for an updated total of 844 cases
12/12: 67 new cases today, for an updated total of 603 cases
12/13: 156 new cases today, for an updated total of 881 cases
12/14: 34 new cases today, for an updated total of 593 cases
12/15: 155 new cases today, for an updated total of 575 cases
12/16: 414 new cases

Test results for previous days are still being processed and the total number of new positives for those days are not yet complete. Updated case counts for prior days will be reflected on the COVID-19 interactive dashboard.”

• • • • • • Community Transmission • • • • • •

Community Transmission (per NH Department of Health and Human Services): 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%

Average of New Cases per 100K people over 14 days:
- New Hampshire: 790.3
- Rockingham County: 898.5
- All 10 counties and our two biggest cities are all at the substantial level ranging from 215.6 (Sullivan County) to 1,173.8 (Manchester).
- Salem: 1,108
Average of New Hospitalization per 100K people over 14 days:
- New Hampshire: 1.6
- Rockingham County: 0.5
- Belknap County: 4.6
- Nashua: 7.0
Average Positivity Rate over 7 days:
- New Hampshire: 8.7%
- Rockingham County: 11.2%
- Manchester: 10.4%
- Salem: 14.0%
- Nashua: 11.3%
- Grafton County: 3.0%
- 60 communities have a positivity rate of more than 10%.
- 115 communities have a positivity rate of more than 5%.
- 127 communities have a positivity rate of more than 2%.
- 16 communities have a positivity rate higher than Salem.

• • • • • • TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT • • • • • •

23 more Salem residents were diagnosed with COVID-19. The average for the past week is 27.3 people per day.
227 Salem residents currently are in isolation. This is the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. We are averaging 212 active cases per day for the last week, with the numbers increasing in the latter part of the week.
NH DHHS has reported 6,092 new cases for the past week, although the total number of cases has only increased by 5,991 people.
In NH, another record was set for active cases. 6,928 people are still considered to be infectious.
560 people were reported as “recovered.” Over the past week, 5,321 people have “recovered” this week. The daily average for recovered cases is 760 over the past week.
90 more kids under 18 were diagnosed with COVID. This makes 735 kids over the past week, with a daily average of 105 kids per day.
7 more people were hospitalized today because of COVID-19, including one more person admitted to the ICU. 25 people have been hospitalized over the past week because of this disease.
4 people died in the 24-hour period covered by this update. 45 people have died in the past week.

• • • • • • Communities • • • • • •

NH DHHS says that the new cases reside in Rockingham (209), Merrimack (128), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (122), Strafford (59), Belknap (54), Grafton (36), Cheshire (24), Carrol (17), Sullivan (12), and Coos (10) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (97) and Nashua (58). The county of residence is being determined for forty-six new cases.
Active cases:
- An additional 579 people were reported as “recovered” today; these are reflected in today’s changes.
- Three communities have added enough new cases bringing them to 50 or more active cases.
- There are 28 NH communities with more than 50 active cases. Between them, these communities have 4,338 active cases, accounting for 63% of all active cases.
- Manchester, Nashua, and Concord are the only communities with more active cases than Salem.
- These four, plus Derry, are the only NH communities that have more than 200 active cases.
- Communities with more than 50 active cases, showing changes in active cases since yesterday: Manchester: 801 (+32). Nashua: 507 (+12). Concord: 424 (+8). Salem: 227 (+2). Derry: 215 (+0). Hudson: 181 (+17). Londonderry: 158 (+1). Dover: 141 (-5). Windham: 134 (+7). Merrimack: 133 (+1). Bedford: 113 (+8). Portsmouth: 110 (+14). Hampton: 102 (-7). Rochester: 102 (-1). Pelham: 99 (-3). Goffstown: 98 (+2). Hooksett: 95 (+5). Laconia: 95 (+5). Keene: 90 (+0). Milford: 88 (-23). Belmont: 60 (+7). Newmarket: 57 (+7). Somersworth: 53 (+3). Seabrook: 52 (+4). Plaistow: 52 (+5). Weare: 51 (+1). Hampstead: 50 (-3). Amherst: 50 (+5).
- Other communities with an increase or decrease by five or more people: Alexandria: 5 (+5). Barrington: 35 (+5). Berlin: 29 (+7). Boscawen: 37 (+6). Candia: 39 (+6). Chichester: 24 (+5). Danbury: 7 (+7). Durham: 29 (+5). Epsom: 48 (+6). Litchfield: 39 (+6). Littleton: 5 (+5). Madison: 5 (+5). Meredith: 46 (+10). Newbury: 5 (+5). Raymond: 48 (+9). Rumney: 8 (+8). Sandown: 46 (+5). Stratham: 27 (+7). Westmoreland: 5 (+5).
Cumulative Cases
- There are now 101 communities that have had 50 or more cases.
- 48 communities have 5 or more new cases from yesterday
- Only Manchester, Nashua, Concord, and Derry have had more total cases than Salem.
- The ten communities with the highest number of cumulative cases, showing changes from yesterday: Manchester: 5576 (+103). Nashua: 3094 (+59). Concord: 1243 (+36). Derry: 1147 (+19). Salem: 1137 (+23). Bedford: 907 (+17). Londonderry: 834 (+13). Hudson: 787 (+27). Merrimack: 676 (+15). Goffstown: 660 (+11).
- Other communities with 5 or more new cases, showing changes from yesterday: Amherst: 184 (+8). Barrington: 149 (+7). Belmont: 185 (+8). Berlin: 118 (+8). Boscawen: 90 (+10). Bow: 168 (+7). Candia: 112 (+8). Chichester: 49 (+7). Croydon: 5 (+5). Dover: 649 (+16). Durham: 458 (+6). Epping: 181 (+7). Epsom: 151 (+7). Exeter: 271 (+5). Franklin: 211 (+8). Hampton: 479 (+5). Hanover: 140 (+6). Hooksett: 527 (+17). Hopkinton: 109 (+5). Keene: 369 (+9). Laconia: 330 (+11). Litchfield: 234 (+7). Meredith: 176 (+16). Milford: 416 (+5). Newmarket: 161 (+9). Newton: 117 (+5). Northwood: 84 (+5). Pelham: 439 (+7). Pembroke: 194 (+5). Plaistow: 283 (+5). Portsmouth: 540 (+20). Raymond: 258 (+12). Rochester: 541 (+9). Rumney: 20 (+5). Sanbornton: 62 (+5). Sandown: 194 (+6). Seabrook: 268 (+6). Somersworth: 211 (+6). Stratham: 112 (+7). Weare: 219 (+8). Windham: 551 (+21).

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

New positive cases by my math (Total of today’s cases minus previous total): 831
New positive cases per DHHS: 872
- 579 PCR tests
- 293 Antigen tests
Children under 18 in new cases: 90
Total positive cases in NH: 34,264
Percentage of today’s tests that are positive per DHHS: 5.4%
Total PCR test results reported today (Positive results plus negative results): 2,718
The daily average of diagnostic (PCR) tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 2,518
New negative results reported today: 1,887
Total negative cases in NH: 441,800

• • • • • • ROCKINGHAM COUNTY • • • • • •

Total cases in Rockingham County: 8,546
New cases in Rockingham County: 209
Rockingham County: New cases per 100K residents: 67.5
Rockingham County 1-week average per 100K residents: 72.0
Rockingham County Positivity Rate: 11.2%
Percent of all cases from Rockingham County: 24.9%
Percent of all cases from either Hillsborough County or Rockingham County: 66%

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

Active cases in NH: 6,928
Active cases in Rockingham County: 1,806
Percent of NH’s active cases that are in Rockingham County: 26.1%

• • • • • • OTHER TEST RESULTS • • • • • •

New antibody tests: 71
Total antibody tests (No break downs of positive vs. negative): 34,129
The daily average of antibody tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 54

• • • • • • CHANGES BY AGES • • • • • •
(Shown: Total infections, percentage of all infections, and increase since yesterday.)

0-9: 1381 = 4% (+24).
10-19: 3385 = 10% (+105).
20-29: 6586 = 19% (+166).
30-39: 5080 = 15% (+106).
40-49: 4611 = 13% (+122).
50-59: 5477 = 16% (+132).
60-69: 3735 = 11% (+92).
70-79: 1954 = 6% (+41).
80+: 2020 = 6% (+44).
Unknown: 35 = 0% (+-1).

• • • • • • RECOVERED IN NH • • • • • •

Announced today: 579
Total Recovered: 26,707
Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 77.9%

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

New people hospitalized from NH: 7
Currently hospitalized: 284
Total hospitalized patients: 877
Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 2.56%
Total admitted to ICU: 293
New hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: -4 ???
Total hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 205

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • •

Lives lost today: 4
Persons over 60 years of age who died today: 4
Persons under 60 years of age who died today: 0
Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 629
NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 1.84%
Lives lost in Rockingham County today: 1
Total lives lost in Rockingham County: 123

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.

“Sometimes we want to believe something so badly that we allow ourselves to be taken advantage of.”
― Aaron B. Powell, Doomsday Diaries III: Luke the Protector

Hello, Salem!

As if we don’t have enough problems, scam artists are now preying on the vulnerable, taking advantage of their concerns about COVID-19.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued ADVICE TO AVOID CORONAVIRUS SCAMS

Learn how to tell the difference between a real contact tracer and a scammer. Legitimate tracers need health information, not money or personal financial information.

Don’t respond to texts, emails or calls about checks from the government. Here’s what you need to know.

Ignore offers for treatments or cures. Scammers are selling products to treat or prevent COVID-19 without proof that they work.

Be wary of ads for test kits. Most test kits being advertised have not been approved by the FDA, and aren’t necessarily accurate.

Hang up on robocalls. Scammers are using illegal robocalls to pitch everything from low-priced health insurance to work-at-home schemes.

Watch for emails claiming to be from the CDC or WHO. Use sites like coronavirus.gov and usa.gov/coronavirus to get the latest information. And don’t click on links from sources you don’t know.

Do your homework when it comes to donations. Never donate in cash, by gift card, or by wiring money.

In addition, they also say:

You can’t pay to put your name on a list to get the vaccine. That’s a scam!
You can’t pay to get early access to the vaccine. That’s a scam!
Nobody legit will call about the vaccine and ask for your Social Security, bank account, or credit card. That’s a scam!

(See graphic from the FTC, below).

The scam artists especially target the elderly. If you are fortunate enough to still have parents (or grandparents), you might consider talking with them about this.

Stay smart, stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie

This video was posted almost two months ago. Things have changed in that time. On October 2, US deaths were 1,035,451, according to the video. (My records say 1,033,174 per WorldOmeter.) WorldOMeter now says the global death rate is 1,446,889, an increase of 413,715 in less than two months. Just please remember that there is a lot more between COVID->Death vs. COVID->Recovery. More and more, long-haulers are making the news, as are other consequences of COVID-19.

From the beginning of the pandemic, it took 43 days before NH reached it’s first 1,000 confirmed diagnoses. It took 31 days to go from 10,000 to 18,000. In another 5 days, we added another 2,000.