COVID-19 Update December 8

COVID-19 Update December 8

Total: 894 confirmed cases in Salem
Salem’s Positivity Rate for the past 2 weeks: 14.2%
1 out of 33 Salem residents have been infected
Salem today: 33 new cases since yesterday; 183 active cases

From today’s Press Release from NH DHHS: “On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, DHHS announced 807 new positive test results for COVID-19 and a daily PCR test positivity rate of 5.4%. Today’s results include 527 people who tested positive by PCR test and 280 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 5,818 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. Included in the results reported today are cases from the following days:

12/3: 91 new cases today, for an updated total of 889
12/4: 222 new cases today, for an updated total of 852
12/6: 226 new cases today, for an updated total of 526
12/7: 268 new cases today, for a total of 268

“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: 613.1
- Rockingham County: 686.3
- All 10 counties and our two biggest cities are all at the substantial level ranging from 199.3 (Sullivan County) to 1,096.80 (Manchester).
- Salem: 818
- Highest average: Tilton: 2,200 (Veterans Home)
Average of New Hospitalization per 100K people over 14 days:
- New Hampshire: 0.5
- Rockingham County: 0.8
- Nashua: 1.6
Average Positivity Rate over 7 days:
- New Hampshire: 9.2%
- Rockingham County: 12.5%
- Manchester: 13.0%
- Salem: 14.2%
- Nashua: 11.1%
- Highest rate: Kensington: 30.8%
- 61 communities have a positivity rate of more than 10%.
- 114 communities have a positivity rate of more than 5%.
- 123 communities have a positivity rate of more than 2%.
- 25 communities have a positivity rate higher than Salem.

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

A new record was set today when 33 more Salem residents were diagnosed with COVID-19. In the past week, we have added 155 new residents to the list. The daily average for the past week is 22 new cases. Over 17% of all of Salem’s cases have been reported in the past week.
The number of Salem residents who are currently considered to be infectious is 183. This is another new record.
Today, NH DHHS announced 807 new cases. Although it’s less than yesterday’s 1,045, it is still the second-highest day ever.
Today, another 85 kids under 18 were reported as positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to 569 for the past week. Today, the total number of NH kids under 10 that have been diagnosed has exceeded 1,000.
Over 6,500 residents of Rockingham County have been infected with COVID-19, a two-day increase of more than 500.
There were no new healthcare workers reported with positive test results in the 24-hours covered by this report, but there have been 85 diagnosed within the past week.
16 residents of long-term care facilities were diagnosed today with 206 diagnoses in the past week.
The hospital census is growing much faster than the number of new patients being reported. In the past week, the number of total patients hospitalized has increased by 8, but the number of people currently hospitalized has increased by 49. Seems odd, right?
Although no new hospitalizations have been reported for two days, the number of patients hospitalized increased today by 26, the highest one-day increase.
For the first time, ever, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID is over 200. The peak during the spring surge was on May 13, when 126 patients were hospitalized.
There have not been any new admissions to NH’s ICUs for three days.
DHHS has not reported any deaths today, but 38 lives were lost to COVID in the past week.

• • • • • • Communities • • • • • •

NH DHHS says that the new cases reside in Rockingham (262), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (145), Merrimack (93), Strafford (68), Belknap (24), Cheshire (21), Grafton (19), Carrol (14), Coos (12), and Sullivan (5) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (89) and Nashua (35). The county of residence is being determined for twenty new cases.
Active cases:
- An additional 375 people were reported as “recovered” today; these are reflected in today’s changes.
- No community that had 50 yesterday have less than 50 today
- One community — Seabrook — now has more than 50 active cases. Dover, Hampton, Merrimack, and Windham now have over 100 active cases.
- There are 24 NH communities with more than 50 active cases. Between them, these communities have 3,562 active cases, accounting for 61% of all active cases.
- Manchester, Nashua, and Concord are the only communities with more active cases than Salem.
- Communities with more than 50 active cases, showing changes in active cases since yesterday: Manchester: 876 (+44). Nashua: 391 (+0). Concord: 261 (+29). Salem: 183 (+18). Londonderry: 168 (+3). Derry: 150 (+4). Bedford: 128 (+14). Hooksett: 121 (+11). Dover: 120 (+32). Windham: 109 (+13). Merrimack: 107 (+15). Hudson: 106 (+0). Hampton: 103 (+17). Goffstown: 99 (+6). Keene: 87 (+7). Milford: 72 (+17). Rochester: 72 (+17). Portsmouth: 64 (+12). Laconia: 62 (+8). Pelham: 60 (+7). Plaistow: 60 (+7). Litchfield: 59 (-2). Seabrook: 52 (+5). Tilton: 52 (+5).
- Other communities with an increase or decrease by five or more people: Exeter: 48 (+13). Amherst: 36 (+11). Weare: 41 (+11). Kingston: 24 (+9). Sandown: 30 (+8). Berlin: 21 (+7). Stratham: 21 (+7). Meredith: 37 (+6). Auburn: 34 (+5). Franconia: 5 (+5). Lebanon: 21 (+5). New Durham: 5 (+5). Sutton: 5 (+5). Wakefield: 5 (+5). Ashland: (-5). Greenfield: (-5). Salisbury: (-5).
Cumulative Cases
- There are now 87 communities that have had 50 or more cases.
- Boscawen has now had more than 50 cases. Milford has now had 300 or more total confirmed cases. Merrimack and Dover now have 500 or more. Concord has exceeded 800.
- Only Manchester, Nashua, and Derry have had more total cases than Salem.
- The ten communities with the highest number of cumulative cases, showing changes from yesterday: Manchester: 4691 (+89). Nashua: 2451 (+34). Derry: 897 (+17). Salem: 894 (+33). Concord: 803 (+39). Bedford: 784 (+23). Londonderry: 640 (+21). Hudson: 580 (+14). Goffstown: 548 (+11). Merrimack: 519 (+27).
- Other communities with 5 or more new cases, showing changes from yesterday: Dover: 501 (+33). Hampton: 368 (+31). Windham: 388 (+20). Hooksett: 420 (+19). Milford: 304 (+17). Exeter: 219 (+16). Portsmouth: 420 (+15). Keene: 274 (+12). Amherst: 134 (+12). Weare: 163 (+11). Pelham: 328 (+10). Plaistow: 224 (+10). Laconia: 223 (+10). Seabrook: 212 (+9). Sandown: 145 (+9). Kingston: 90 (+9). Stratham: 85 (+9). Rochester: 427 (+8). Hampstead: 170 (+7). Meredith: 124 (+7). Berlin: 87 (+7). Somersworth: 158 (+6). Auburn: 145 (+6). Litchfield: 188 (+5). Franklin: 158 (+5). Pembroke: 150 (+5). Epping: 124 (+5). Lebanon: 80 (+5). Deerfield: 75 (+5). Milton: 47 (+5).

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

New positive cases by my math (Total of today’s cases minus previous total): 807
New positive cases per DHHS: 807
- 527 PCR tests
- 280 Antigen tests
Children under 18 in new cases: 85
Total positive cases in NH: 26,623
Percentage of today’s tests that are positive per DHHS: 5.4%
Total PCR test results reported today (Positive results plus negative results): 2,799
The daily average of diagnostic (PCR) tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 2,696
New negative results reported today: 1,992
Total negative cases in NH: 420,066

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

Total cases in Rockingham County: 6,510
New cases in Rockingham County: 262
Rockingham County: New cases per 100K residents: 84.6
Rockingham County 1-week average per 100K residents: 57.9
Rockingham County Positivity Rate: 8.3%
Percent of all cases from Rockingham County: 24.5%
Percent of all cases from either Hillsborough County or Rockingham County: 67%

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

Active cases in NH: 5,818
Active cases in Rockingham County: 1,455
Percent of NH’s active cases that are in Rockingham County: 25.0%

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

New antibody tests: 26
Total antibody tests (No break downs of positive vs. negative): 33,615
The daily average of antibody tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 61

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

0-9: 1027 = 4% (+36).
10-19: 2640 = 10% (+78).
20-29: 5221 = 20% (+152).
30-39: 3939 = 15% (+129).
40-49: 3506 = 13% (+96).
50-59: 4173 = 16% (+120).
60-69: 2899 = 11% (+99).
70-79: 1513 = 6% (+45).
80+: 1689 = 6% (+50).
Unknown: 16 = 0% (+2).

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

Announced today: 375
Total Recovered: 20,239
Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 76.0%

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

New people hospitalized from NH: 0
Currently hospitalized: 211
Total hospitalized patients: 849
Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 3.19%
Total admitted to ICU: 284
New hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 0
Total hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 205

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • •

Lives lost today: 0
Persons over 60 years of age who died today: 0
Persons under 60 years of age who died today: 0
Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 566
NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 2.13%
Lives lost in Rockingham County today: 0
Total lives lost in Rockingham County: 115

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.

“We’re in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone’s arguing over where they’re going to sit.”
― David Suzuki

Hello, Salem!

In NH, 446,689 PCR tests have been done, but we have no idea how many antigen tests have been run. Massachusetts has now tested over 9 Million people for COVID.

As I tried to get to sleep last night, I was thinking about all of these tests … and the supplies used in those tests. And then I thought about all of the disposable masks, and other PPE.

Our positivity rates show us that we aren’t doing anywhere near enough tests, but, man! The amount of materials that have to be disposed of to diagnose is staggering. What we are doing to our environment because of COVID? The impact on our planet is yet another reason to fight this virus.

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.