Posted on by Bonnie

COVID-19 Update May 7

COVID-19 Update May 7

Salem: 186 confirmed cases, 101 cases are still active.

Today Salem saw an increase of 8 more confirmed cases of COVID-19. 63 people out of every 10,000 Salem residents have been diagnosed. 85 of the Salem cases have been told that they have recovered, but more than half of those here in town who have been infected are still waiting to recover.

While the Salem numbers are higher than we would like, it was a good day for the state, as there were no hospitalizations and no deaths. The number of current cases went up by 45. 41% of those who have been diagnosed in NH have recovered; 55% are still fighting this disease.

How are you doing? Do you need any help? Let me know! Stay safe, and, always, be kind.

Key points covered below in today’s report:

  • NH’s weekly Demographic Data has been released
  • Ongoing issues with the State Joint Information Center
  • NH Department of Education
  • NH Unemployment Rates

Click on the calendar to enlarge
https://www.bonnie4salem.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/may7-calendar.jpg

 

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

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

 

 

Mindi does an excellent report daily. You can sign up to get it here.

Could this be the answer?

On April 19, this was posted on Facebook:

The Governor maintains that we don’t have enough supplies (test availability).

Why is this so important?
COVID vs. US Daily Average Cause of Death

By Robert Martin on 15 Apr 2020

The following charts are from NHPR

#End of NHPR’s charts.

Additional charts can be found at https://www.nhpr.org/post/updated-tracking-covid-19-cases-and-testing-new-hampshire

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:

May 7May 6Change from yesterday
Total Confirmed Cases2,8432,740+103
Recovered 1,16541%
1,110+55
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19
1114% 1110
Active Cases1,5641,519+45
Total Hospitalized30811%307+1
Current Hospitalized1131130
Tested Negative27,82926,0661,763
Persons with specimens submitted to NH PHL11,79711,174623
Persons with test pending at NH PHL532345187
Being Monitored (Approximate) 3,0502,900150
Total Tested (Confirmed Cases + Tested Negative)30,67228,8061,866

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

NH Hot Spots
With today’s addition of Milford, now 11 NH municipalities have more than 50 confirmed cases:

  • Manchester: 629 (+26 from yesterday); 56 per 10K residents
  • Nashua: 258 (+6); 20 per 10K residents
  • Derry: 239; (+3); 71 cases per 10K residents
  • Salem: 186 (+8); 63 cases per 10K residents
  • Londonderry: 86 (+1); 33 cases per 10K residents
  • Bedford: 87 (5); 38 cases per 10K.
  • Dover: 78 (+1); 25 cases per 10K residents
  • Hudson: 60 (+2); 23 cases per 10K
  • Milford: 60 (+22); 37 cases per 10K
  • Concord: 59 (+2); 14 cases pr 10K
  • Franklin: 52 (0); 60 cases per 10K

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:

  • Hillsborough (inc. Manchester and Nashua): 1,308 (+56); 31 per 10K residents
  • Rockingham (inc. Salem & Derry): 933 (+30); 30 per 10K

These two counties make up about 79% of all confirmed cases in NH.

Our two closest counties in Massachusetts are much higher. Middlesex has 16,676 cases; up 349 from yesterday. They have 134 cases per 10K residents. Essex has 10,610 confirmed cases, up by 266 cases, for a total of 134 cases per 10K.

Our neighboring towns:

  • Methuen: 665 (+16); 261 recovered (+4). 31 deaths (+0); 131 confirmed cases per 10K residents
  • Lawrence: 2,183 (+207). 90 deaths (+4); 272 cases per 10K residents
  • Haverhill: 833 cases (May 6), up 233 from April 29. 130 cases per 10K.

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

Ongoing issues with the State Joint Information Center

I have not heard any more regarding my Freedom of Information request from the Dept of Health and Human Services / State Joint Information Center regarding the errors and discrepancies that I have found in their reports.

NH Department of Education

The NH DOE has offered year-end planning guidance. “The Department wishes to clarify that the declared state of emergency and the related emergency orders do not necessitate the cancellation of all year-end events. If held, however, such events will require substantial modification from their traditional formats in order to comply with the Governor’s Emergency Orders and to ensure the safety of all participants. “ The DOE says schools can host in-person ceremonies, if all attendees can easily maintain proper social distancing (i.e. a drive-up ceremony), but suggests car parades and virtual graduations as a substitute. Read more.

NH Unemployment Rates

11,834 New Hampshire residents filed new unemployment claims last week. This makes the fourth consecutive week with declining numbers. For the week ending April 11, 25,273 people filed as a new claim. For the week ending April 18, NH saw 20,414 people. April 25 was 15,001 new claims. Total in four weeks: 111,724.

I’m not convinced that a reduction in “NEW” unemployment figures is a reason to celebrate. One of the things that people are sharing with me is their frustration in being able to work through the process to begin receiving these benefits. I suspect many of these new claims are people who have been trying to get into the system for weeks.

There are about 115,000 active weekly claims, which would indicate that approximately 3,276 were unemployed before the week ending April 11. Richard Lavers, deputy commissioner of New Hampshire Employment Security says, “We don’t yet know if [the number or active claims] has stabilized or not.” 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:

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:

Masks:

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

Salem:

New Hampshire:

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services:

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

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)

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

Media with NH COVID-19 news:

Housing

Unemployment

Financial Assistance

Link to other  NH benefits:

Businesses and Employers: Guidance for Small Businesses 

Sources for data included in these reports:

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