COVID-19 Update May 14 – Bonnie4Salem

COVID-19 Update May 14

Salem: 201 confirmed cases, 108 cases are still active.

Today Salem crossed the 200 case mark, as another four Salem residents have been diagnosed with COVID-19. 68 people out of every 10,000 Salem residents have been diagnosed. 93 of the Salem cases are no longer active; these people have either recovered or have died. More than half of those here in Salem that have been infected are still waiting to recover.

NH announced that there were 84 new positive test results for COVID-19, including three children under the age of 18, for a total of 3,382 cases. (From the number of cases announced yesterday and today, I come up with 83 new cases.). 19 of the new cases were in Rockingham County. DHHS says that community-based transmission continues to occur in the State.

Yesterday, over 1900 COVID-19 test results were reported; the highest total to date. Today I came with a total of 3,355 test results reported in one day, and an astronomical increase in negative results. DHHS recognized this, by reporting that these numbers reflect both diagnostic (PCR) tests for active virus infections as well as data on antibody tests. They promised that tomorrow’s update will include separate data sets for antibody tests and PCR tests. Hopefully, they will correct today’s data.

There were four new hospitalized cases in NH today, bringing the total of those hospitalized to 330 (10% of all confirmed cases); approximately one-third of all NH hospitalizations (115) are still in the hospital.

Today NH DHHS announced that 1 more person, a female over 60 years of age, has died in NH from COVID-19, bringing NH’s total to 151 people. Of those NH residents who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, 4.46%% have died.

Key points covered below in today’s report:

Info on how to get tested for COVID-19 in NH: Updated
The elderly aren’t the only ones losing their lives to COVID-19
- CDC issues alert to doctors on rare COVID-19 ‘mystery illness’ in kids
- Mass. among states with cases of illness affecting children possibly linked to coronavirus
Some are winning, some are not. Which countries (and states) do the best beating COVID-19?
A closely watched model now predicts more NH deaths

Click on the calendar to enlarge
https://www.bonnie4salem.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/may14-calendar.jpg

Q: How much testing is NH doing in comparison to our neighboring states?

A: We aren’t doing enough tests!
WHY???

On April 19, this was posted on Facebook:

NHPR has charts. Lots of charts!
If you want more than what I’m providing, they can be found at NHPR’s website.

COVID Symptom Tracker: This is a project of Mass General Hospital. In the absence of proper testing, this may be the best way of tracking how we are doing. I’m keeping it near the top, so I’ll remember to log in each day.
https://covid.joinzoe.com/us?fbclid=IwAR2IsoxZ9RBKC4uPQscKiuUUTJCA3cCt3dUr9tjNSsFqOU1rv10jmysmt4Y

Today’s COVID-19 Statistics:

I have had a table here for weeks, which compared the day to day changes.
If you actually miss it, please let me know, and I’ll bring it back.
Bonnie on May 12.

Salem’s confirmed cases:

March 30 (Range 10-19)
March 31 (Range 20+)
April 3: 25 cases (Range 20+)
April 6: 33 cases (+8 in 3 days)
April 8: 20+ cases
April 9: 20-49
April 10: Over 50
April 23: 116
April 27: 144
April 28: 143 (Huh? Less than yesterday? Triple checked!)
April 30: 146
May 1: 154
May 2: 162
May 3: 173
May 4-5: 175
May 6: 178; 94 active
May 7: 186; 101 active
May 8: 189; 103 active
May 9: 191; 101 active
May 10: 191; 100 active
May 11: 193; 102 active
May 12: 195; 103 active
May 13: 197; 104 active
May 14: 201; 108 active

NH Hot Spots (AS OF MONDAY, MAY 11)
NH has 13 NH municipalities that have more than 50 confirmed cases.

Manchester: 684 (+14 from yesterday); 61 per 10K residents
Nashua: 289 (+6); 32 per 10K residents
Derry: 244; (+3); 73 cases per 10K residents
Salem: 191 (0); 65 cases per 10K residents
Londonderry: 91 (+1); 35 cases per 10K
Bedford: 101 (+4); 45 cases per 10K
Dover: 82 (+1); 26 cases per 10K
Milford: 70 (-1); 44 cases per 10K
Hudson: 65 (+3); 25 cases per 10K
Concord: 63 (0); 15 cases per 10K
Franklin: 58 (+1); 67 cases per 10K
Goffstown: Added May 12

All other municipalities have less than 50 cases. All of the other municipalities with 20-49 cases are geographically south of Concord/Rochester, and east of Concord/Milford, except for Franklin.

Counties (as of Monday, May 11)

Hillsborough (inc. Manchester and Nashua): 1,438 (+45); 34 per 10K residents
Rockingham (inc. Salem & Derry): 978 (+14); 32 per 10K

About 79% of all of those in NH who have tested positive to COVID-19 live in these two counties.

Our neighboring towns:

Methuen on May 9: 685; 135 confirmed cases per 10K residents. 275 recovered (+1). 32 deaths (+0)
Lawrence on May 11:: 2,274 (+10). 283 cases per 10K residents. 95 deaths (+2)
Haverhill on May 13: 950 cases up 117 from May 6. 148 cases per 10K; was 130 a week ago.

If more people were tested, the numbers would be higher.
Without better testing, we can’t know what our real numbers are.

We need proper testing to fight COVID-19

The NH Division of Public Health Services, Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, has announced a Weekly Summary Report, with more details than are provided in the daily reports from the Department of Health & Human Services. Today, May 7 the NH DHHS has issued its “weekly” report for the week ending May 4. [This is the first weekly report since the week ending April 27, which was issued the same day.].

As of May 4, 713 healthcare workers have been infected (27.6% of all confirmed cases). 24 of the medical care workers were hospitalized; one died.

More women have tested positive than men by about 11%. However, approximately 60% of the hospitalizations and 60% of the deaths are men.
18 kids under 9 years have tested positive. 19% of those infected are 50-59 years old, the largest age group. Those who are 30-39, 40-49, and 60-69 are each 13-14% of the cases. 20% of the confirmed cases are 70 or older, however, these age groups make up almost 40% of the cases, and 85% of the deaths.
Race/Ethnicity: Although 90% of NH’s population is white; they only account for 76.4% of the confirmed infections, 82% of the hospitalizations, and 91.5% of the deaths. Hispanic/Latino make up 3.9% of the population, but 7.4% of the infections, 7.8% of the hospitalizations, and 6.8% of the deaths. Blacks/African Americans are 1.4% of the population, and 5.4% of the infections, 3.7% of hospitalizations, and 1.7% of the deaths. Asians are 3.0% of the population, and 4.1% of the cases; no Asians from NH have died. All other races are 1.8% of the population, and 7.7% of the population, 2.4% of hospitalizations, and 1.7% of deaths.
Persons in Hillsborough County, including Manchester and Nashua, make up 44.7% of all infections, 46.5% of hospitalizations, and 46.5% of the deaths. Persons in Rockingham County (Salem and Derry) make up 33.9% of the total infections, 31.1% of the hospitalizations, and 32.6% of all deaths. The third most impacted county is Merrimack (Concord), which only has 7.7% of all infections.

NH News relating to COVID-19

Info on how to get tested for COVID-19 in NH: Updated

I am frequently asked how people can get tested, so I created a separate post on this topic. Today I made some major changes to this page. You can view it here.

The elderly aren’t the only ones losing their lives to COVID-19

CDC issues alert to doctors on rare COVID-19 ‘mystery illness’ in kids

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health alert to physicians Thursday on what has emerged as a rare but potentially deadly condition linked to COVID-19 in children. The illness, which the CDC calls “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children,” or MIS-C, has been reported in at least 19 states and Washington, D.C. Read more.

Mass. among states with cases of illness affecting children possibly linked to coronavirus

Doctors are seeing more cases of a dangerous, but rare condition in children that’s possibly connected to the novel coronavirus. It appears to be affecting children, in some cases, up to six weeks after exposure to the virus. Read more. From other sources: At least 150 kids in the US have been diagnosed, 18 have been put on ventilators and at least 3 kids have died. So far, there have been no cases diagnosed in NH.

Some are winning, some are not. Which countries (and states) do the best beating COVID-19?

Countries are broken into three sections: Countries beating COVID-19, Countries that are nearly there, and Countries that need to take action. Sadly, the US is in the last group. The authors also break the states into the same three sections. Can you guess where NH is? <sigh>

A closely watched model now predicts more NH deaths

An independent health research center has sharply increased its predictions for deaths in New Hampshire, which could run from about 10-16 deaths per day for the rest of May. Read more.

Salem Government

The Town of Salem’s Emergency Operations Center Team (EOC) will be making weekly reports every Monday evening at 7:00. Their reports can be seen at http://sctv-17.com/CablecastPublicSite/?channel=1

Find other Salem Government board meetings: https://www.townofsalemnh.org/boards

To watch past or live viewings:

Comcast TV Channel 23
http://sctv-17.com/CablecastPublicSite/?channel=1
https://livestream.com/salemnh
https://www.facebook.com/sctv17

State Representation:
Salem has nine State Representatives. If you are having issues connected to COVID-19, they have access to the people who can get you the help you need. You can find contact info for our reps here: http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/default.aspx

Our Senator, Chuck Morse, can be contacted at Chuck.Morse@leg.state.nh.us His Concord office phone is 603.271.3207.

Disclaimer:

On April 7, NH scientist and politician, Mindi Messmer, PG, CG wrote on her Facebook page: “… testing has pretty much stopped at the NH PHL. The testing penetration is so low in NH, only 1/2% of the 1.3M people, meaning 99.5% of the 1.3M have not been tested, that I am not putting up projections or tests for NH because the graphs would be meaningless and I don’t want to give the false impression that we know what’s going on in NH.”

On April 8, the National Academy of Sciences reported that 16 out of 51 tests were inaccurate. (false negatives). Others also have concerns about both false negatives and false positives.

Please keep these ideas in mind as you review the information on this page or any other page.

Resources to help in these challenging times:

Have Questions?

NH residents can dial the state’s COVID-19 hotline at 2-1-1 or 603-271-4496 for answers to questions related to the outbreak and to be directed to available resources for help.

Do YOU think you have COVID-19?

To report suspected cases, contact the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at 603-271-4496, (603-271-5300 for after hours), or nhbidc@dhhs.nhs.gov.

The IRS has released its new app to track stimulus payments, “Get My Payment .” which had been scheduled to be released on April 17. Expect to wait. (And possibly, like me, be disappointed.) If your info isn’t available today, try again tomorrow, as info is going to be updated every night.

Resource Compilations:

From Congresswoman Annie Kuster: A list of many resources, including Keeping Safe from COVID-19; New Hampshire Specific COVID-19 Information; Direct Payment to Granite Staters (Economic Impact Payments); Support for Small Businesses; Unemployment Assistance; Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Survivors; Student Loans; Taxes; Traveling Internationally; Veterans. https://kuster.house.gov/covid-19

Mental Health Resources, compiled by Jan Schmidt, Alderman and State Rep in Nashua. http://janschmidt4ward1.com/uncategorized/free-online-meetings-and-virtual-platforms/

How You Can Help Others:

Stay home, wash hands, wear cloth masks in public, check on neighbors
Donate food: NH Food Bank: https://www.nhfoodbank.org or call 669-9725
United Way: http://uwnh.org
Donate blood: https://www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-Cross
COVID-19 Response in New Hampshire: https://volunteernh.org/covid-19-response/
Watch out for the kids. Child abuse reports are down, because they aren’t out where they can be observed. If you suspect child abuse call Salem Police Department (603) 893-1911 or the NH child abuse hotline at DCYF (800) 894-5533. You could also go to https://knowandtell.org. In an immediate emergency, dial 911. DHHS has offered a sheet, “Supporting Child and Family Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Emergency:” https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dcyf/documents/family-wellbeing-during-covid-19.pdf

Masks:

There is no excuse for not having a mask!!!

How to make and how to wear: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
Directions for a no-sew mask (perhaps using the coffee filter, as suggested by the CDC?) http://blog.japanesecreations.com/no-sew-face-mask-with-handkerchief-and-hair-tie
I found another option for a new pattern for a no-sew mask, using a t-shirt, and this one with several options.
Mask materials: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/best-coronavirus-face-mask-materials-new-study_l_5e99b576c5b6a92100e63129
A tip on how to make any mask (except N95) more efficient. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/22/840146830/adding-a-nylon-stocking-layer-could-boost-protection-from-cloth-masks-study-find
I found another good mask video, although I believe that coffee filters are not being recommended any more; they make breathing too hard. It is now in the resource section at the bottom of every report.https://nbclim-f.akamaihd.net/i/Prod/NBCU_LM_VMS/635/99/DIT_20OTS_20NAT_20FEAT_20GIAT_20DIY_20FACE_20MASKS_20040520_20JD_20REV_202_20with_20L3__,935446,886827,037719,116849,460519,061449,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8

Salem:

Free meals for Salem kids under 18: https://sau57.org/covid19/meals
Town of Salem COVID-29 Info: https://www.townofsalemnh.org/home/covid-19-information
COVID-19 Salem Community Hotline & Email: https://www.townofsalemnh.org/home/news/covid-19-community-hotline-and-email
Salem Police: Dial 911 for emergencies or (603) 893-1911 for non-emergency issues.

New Hampshire:

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services:

Office of the Governor: https://www.governor.nh.gov

List of NH “essential” services: https://www.governor.nh.gov/news-media/emergency-orders/documents/emergency-order-17-ex-a.pdf

Mindi Messmer: A scientist who is reporting frequently on COVID-19, Mindi is also a candidate for Executive Council, District 3 (including Salem). https://www.facebook.com/Mindi4NH/ Sign up for her “Daily or So COVID-19 Updates” https://actionnetwork.org/forms/daily-or-so-covid-19-updates

More info about COVID-19

COVID-19: The CIDRAP Viewpoint. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/downloads/cidrap-covid19-viewpoint-part1_0.pdfhttps://www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/downloads/cidrap-covid19-viewpoint-part1_0.pdf

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

COVID Symptom Tracker:
This is a project of Mass General Hospital. In the absence of proper testing, let’s let them know how we are doing. https://covid.joinzoe.com/us?fbclid=IwAR2IsoxZ9RBKC4uPQscKiuUUTJCA3cCt3dUr9tjNSsFqOU1rv10jmysmt4Y

Tuft’s University: COVID-19 Convalescent (Recovered) Patient Registry

Trackers (Cases)

COVI-19 Tracker: https://bing.com/covid/local/newhampshire_unitedstates
Live statistics: https://ncov2019.live/data
US Coronavirus Tracking https://infection2020.com
The COVID Tracking Project https://covidtracking.com/data/state/new-hampshire#historical

The World Health Organization:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

Media with NH COVID-19 news:

WMUR: https://www.wmur.com
NHPR: https://www.nhpr.org

Housing

NH landlords cannot start eviction proceedings for any tenant unable to pay due to the impact of the coronavirus. Foreclosures are also frozen. https://www.governor.nh.gov/news-media/emergency-orders/documents/emergency-order-4.pdf
Housing and Urban Development: https://www.hud.gov/states/new_hampshire
NH Housing: https://www.nhhfa.org

Unemployment

If you were working in NH: https://www.nhes.nh.gov
If you worked in MA: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-unemployment-assistance

Financial Assistance

Coronavirus Tax Relief: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments
SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Formerly Food Stamps)
1. About SNAP: https://govtbenefits.org/snap-vs-food-stamps/
2. NH SNAP: http://www.benefitsapplication.com/program_info/NH/Food%20Stamps

Link to other NH benefits:

http://www.benefitsapplication.com/program_info/NH/%20Financial%20Assistance%20for%20Needy%20Families

Businesses and Employers: Guidance for Small Businesses

New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA): (resources): https://businesshelp.nheconomy.com/hc/en-us
NH DHHS: https://www.nh.gov/covid19/resources-guidance/businesses.htm
SBA: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USSBA/bulletins/281d439
SBA: https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources
CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html
CDC: Cleaning: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/cleaning-disinfection.html
OSHA: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf
Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce: http://www.gschamber.com
McLane Middleton: An extensive list of resources for businesses: https://www.mclane.com/Coronavirus-Resource-Center
The CARES Act: https://www.mclane.com/The-CARES-Act-QA-Webinar-Replay-4/2/2020
Unemployment: https://www.mclane.com/Coronavirus-Employment-Webinar-3-26-2020
Resource for Nonprofit businesses: https://www.nhnonprofits.org/page/coronavirus-covid-19-resources-nonprofits

Sources for data included in these reports:

Please report any errors or omissions to bonnie@bonnie4salem.us. Thank you.