Posted on by Bonnie

COVID-19 Update October 4

COVID-19 Update October 4

  • Total: 340 confirmed cases in Salem
  • 1 out of every 87 Salem residents have been infected
  • Salem Today: 1 new case, 9 active cases 

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

  • Today we have one new confirmed case in Salem. 
  • Salem has added 13 new cases in the past four days.
  • Salem now has 9 active cases. (Yes, that does seem awfully fast.)
  • The State’s School Dashboard is still showing that there is a student at Woodbury Middle School. WMUR has reported that there is a student at Peter Woodbury (Elementary) School in Bedford. I believe the school dashboard is in error.

The info from DHHS, which is the base of the calculations reported in my updates, was very late tonight. It is normally available around 6:00. It was not there at 9:30. Tonights (limited) info was finally available by 10:30.

Recently I have questioned a few things that NH DHHS has reported. It appears that someone is listening. 

Antigen test results

  • Yesterday: I wrote, “The dashboard shows PCR test results, but there is no record of antigen tests.”
  • Today: A reader expressed concern about individuals being counted as a new person being reported twice, once when they have the antigen test and once when they have a follow-up PCR test.
  • Tonight: The press release broke down PCR vs Antigen tests, but they have removed the line “Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)” from the dashboard. Without that, we have no way of knowing how many tests have been performed so hopefully this is a temporary omission.

Antibody test results

  • Earlier today: I replied to a post discussing some confusion re: PCR vs Antigen vs Antibody tests. I wrote” While I’m complaining, I’d like more info on antibody tests. We know how many are being performed, but not the results.”
  • Tonight: Antibody test info has been removed from the dashboard.

Positivity Rate

  • Saturday: I shared that DHHS had a positivity rate of 0.9%, but I came up with a positivity rate of 4.86%, based on the 99 new cases they reported, and a 10.66% positivity rate based on the difference from Friday to Saturday of 217 new cases.
  • Tonight: In their press release, and on the dashboard, NH DHHS wrote: “Due to a technical update impacting the reporting of lab data, the percent positive calculation is not included in tonight’s press release. The information will be available on the dashboard after 9 p.m. We will resume including it in the daily press release tomorrow. We apologize for any inconvenience.” [The link in the press release is broken; and the info is not available on the dashboard as of 1:00 p.m.]
  • Also today: There is no report of total persons tested. That number is used to calculate the number of new tests performed; and that number is needed to calculate the positivity rate.

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

  • New positive cases per DHHS: 53
    • 33 PCR tests
    • 20 Antigen test
  • New positive cases by my math (Total of today’s cases minus yesterday’s total): 48
  • Children under 18 in new cases: 6
  • Total positive cases in NH: 8,645
  • Percentage of today’s tests that are positive: ???
  • Total PCR test results reported today (Positive results plus negative results): ???
  • The daily average of diagnostic (PCR) tests reported from 7 days ago to today: ???
  • New negative results reported today: ???
  • Total negative cases in NH: ???

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

  • Total cases in Rockingham County: 2,125
  • New cases in Rockingham County: 8
  • Rockingham County: New cases per 100K residents: 2.6
  • Rockingham County 1-week average per 100K residents: 2.6
  • Percent of all cases from Rockingham County: 24.6%
  • Percent of all cases from either Hillsborough County or Rockingham County: 78%

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

  • Active cases in NH: 492
  • Active cases in Rockingham County: 91
  • Percent of NH’s active cases that are in Rockingham County: 18.5%

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

  • New antibody tests: ???
  • Total antibody tests (No break downs of positive vs. negative): ???
  • The daily average of antibody tests reported from 7 days ago to today: ???

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

  • 0-9: +4 (2.7% of all cases. 8.3% of today’s new cases) 
  • 10-19: +0 (7.2% of all; 0% today) 
  • 20-29: +10 (17.3% of all; 20.8% today) 
  • 30-39: +11 (14.0% of all; 22.9% today)
  • 40-49: +7 (12.7% of all; 14.6% today)
  • 50-59: +5 (15.5% of all; 10.4% today)
  • 60-69: +2 (12.0% of all; 4.2% today)
  • 70-79: +5 (7.5% of all; 10.4% today) 
  • 80+: +4 (11.1% of all; 8.3% today)

• • • • • • CHANGES IN SCHOOLS  • • • • • • 

  • Preschool: None
  • Elementary: 23 schools have had infections (+1), 13 schools with active cases (-2), 16 kids currently infected (-1)
  • Middle: 8 schools; 5 active schools; 5 kids
  • High: 20 schools, 6 active schools (-1), 9 kids (-3)
  • College: 14 schools; 10 active schools; 51 kids (-7)

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

  • Announced today: 55
  • Total Recovered: 7,710
  • Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 89.2%

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

  • New: 0
  • Current: 23 (+6 from yesterday)
  • Total Hospitalized: 743
  • Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 8.59%

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • • 

  • Lives lost today: 1
  • Persons over 60 years of age who died today: 1
  • Persons under 60 years of age who died today: 0
  • Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 443
  • NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 5.12%
  • Lives lost in Rockingham today: 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.

I’m tired and frustrated. Tomorrow is another day. I’m determined to make it a good one. Join me in trying to be positive – mentally, not physically! Stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie

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Sources used to create this report:

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