Posted on by Bonnie

COVID-19 Update May 26

COVID-19 Update May 26
Salem Total: 235 confirmed cases, 80 cases per 10,000 residents
Salem Today: 7 new cases; 73 active cases.
 
*** TODAY’s SPOTLIGHT
* Globally: 5,683,802 cases; 352,200 deaths
* US: 1,725,275 cases; 100,572 deaths. Over 100,000 Americans have died.
* Today we saw a low number of test results because of the holiday weekend; but 20% of the new tests were in Salem.
* There were 10 new cases in Rockingham County. 7 were in Salem.
* Another 116 people were reported as “recovered;” 1,162 have been reported as “recovered” in the last week.
* 60% of all confirmed cases in NH have recovered.
* CDC says up to 50% of the antibody tests are inaccurate.
 
****** CONFIRMED CASES IN NH ******
* New positive cases per DHHS: 34
* My new positive cases (Total of today’s cases minus yesterday’s total): 34
* Children under 18 in new cases: ? (Presumed 0?)
* Total positive cases in NH: 4,231
* Percentage of tests that are positive: 2.9%
* Active cases: 1,467
* Percentage of positive cases that are still active: 34.7%
* Daily average of diagnostic (PCR) tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 1,629
* New cases in Rockingham County: 10
* Total cases in Rockingham County: 1,240
* Percent of all cases from either Hillsborough County or Rockingham County: 80%
* Children in NH diagnosed with MIS-C: (as of 5/22/2020): 1
 
****** OTHER TEST RESULTS ******
* New negative PCR cases in NH: 1,159
* Total negative cases in NH (as reported by DHHS): 60,001
* Total PCR tests results reported today (Positive results plus negative results): 1,193
* New antibody tests: 241
* Total antibody tests: 10,031
* Daily average of antibody tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 611
 
****** RECOVERED IN NH ******
* Announced today: 116
* Total: 2,550
* Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 60.3%
 
****** HOSPITALIZATIONS IN NH ******
* New: 1
* Current: 91
* Total: 421
* Percentage of all confirmed cases that have been hospitalized: 10%
* Percentage of those who have been hospitalized that are still in the hospital: 21.6%
 
****** 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: 214
* NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 5.1%
* NH Residents hospitalized with COVID-19 that died: 50.8%
* Lives lost in Rockingham: 0
 
We must not forget that these are all someone’s husband or wife, mother or father, sister or brother, sibling or friend.
 
****** Key points covered in today’s report ******
* Nearly 200 Cases of Severe Child COVID Syndrome Now Being Investigated
* Gov. Sununu requests National Guard continue to aid pandemic response
* Psychotherapist answers viewer questions about coping with crisis
* Heath Officials are working with the Reopening Task Force.
* Governor’s Press Conference
 
We had a small number of reports today, not unexpected, because of the long weekend. I’m concerned that, of the towns that I watch, the three with the highest new case count are the ones with malls. Hopefully this is not the beginning of a trend. We’ll know soon. Plan for the worse, but strive for the best.
 
Stay safe, and always, be kind.
~Bonnie

Click on the calendar to enlarge
https://www.bonnie4salem.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/may26-calendar.jpg

 

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

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

 

Today’s COVID-19 Statistics:

Salem’s confirmed cases: 

  • May 19: 213; 118 active
  • May 20: 218; 116 active
  • May 21: 220; 86 active
  • May 22: 225; 77 active
  • May 23: 227; 74 active
  • May 24: 226???; 76 active
  • May 25: 228; 67 active
  • May 26: 235; 73 active

Earlier dates have been moved to https://www.bonnie4salem.us/covid-19-cases-in-salem/

Weekly report has been moved to https://www.bonnie4salem.us/covid-19-weekly-updates/

NH Hot Spots (As of Saturday, May 24. The increase is from last Saturday, May 16.)
NH has 13 NH municipalities that have more than 50 confirmed cases.

  1. Manchester: 1000 (+149); 89 per 10K residents; 460 current
  2. Nashua: 469 (370); 47 per 10K residents; 126 current
  3. Derry: 298; (+31); 89 cases per 10K residents; 154 current
  4. Salem: 227 (+16); 77 cases per 10K residents; 74 current
  • Bedford: 168 (+38); 74 cases per 10K; 84 current
  • Concord: 88 (+10); 20 cases per 10K; 37 current
  • Dover: 92 (+3); 29 cases per 10K; 14 current
  • Franklin: 61 (+3); 70 cases per 10K; 44 current
  • Goffstown: 87 (+20); 48 cases per 10K; 61 current
  • Hooksett:  51 (new to list since last week); 35 cases per 10K; 28 current
  • Hudson: 78 (+8); 31 cases per 10K; 32 current
  • Londonderry: 122 (+18); 46 cases per 10K; 43 current
  • Milford: 84 (+8); 52 cases per 10K; 31 current
  • Pelham: 51 (new to list since last week); 36 cases per 10K; 15 current
  • Portsmouth: 59 (+2); 26 cases per 10K; 21 current
  • Rochester: 51 (new to the list since last week) 16 cases per 10K; 24 current

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 Sat., May 16. Increases from last Saturday, May 9.)

  • Hillsborough (inc. Manchester and Nashua): 2,049 (+326); 49 per 10K residents
  • Rockingham (inc. Salem & Derry): 1,218 (+131); 39 per 10K

About 80% of all of those in NH who have tested positive to COVID-19 live in these two counties.

Our neighboring towns:

  • Methuen on May 22: 777 (+75 from May 16); 168 confirmed cases per 10K residents. 496 recovered (+120). 45 deaths (+8)
  • Lawrence on May 22: 2,756 (+492 from May 15). 340 cases per 10K residents. 112 deaths (+13)
  • Haverhill on May 20: 1066 cases (up 116 from May 13). 166 cases per 10K

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

We need proper testing to fight COVID-19

NH News relating to COVID-19

Nearly 200 Cases of Severe Child COVID Syndrome Now Being Investigated

New York City now officially has 89 cases of MIS-C, with another 43 cases under investigation. Cases span a wide age demographic, affecting infants to young adults, though most cases are in kids age 1 to 14. The syndrome has been reported in nearly half the nation’s states, including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. New York City alone now has 89 officially confirmed MIS-C cases. Three children in New York have died. The emergence of the syndrome has prompted the medical community to rethink how it looks at COVID and kids. Symptoms include persistent fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, enlarged lymph nodes, and swollen hands and feet, among others. Read more.

Gov. Sununu requests National Guard continue to aid pandemic response

The National Guard is staffing testing sites, distributing PPE, working the unemployment phones, supporting food bank operations, and doing contact tracing. They are vital to NH’s fight against the virus, but we may lose them in mid June, unless President Trump will extend New Hampshire’s National Guard activation. Read more.

Psychotherapist answers viewer questions about coping with crisis

Concord psychotherapist Lynn Lyons answered questions about anxiety, worrying, overcoming mental fatigue. #QuarantineFatigue. (Especially good for parents of school-aged kids. Be a Border Collie with a tennis ball!) See More.

Health officials are working with the Reopening Task Force.

Taskforce members said they’re trying to balance public safety and avoiding economic collapse. Guidelines have been crafted aimed at slowing or preventing the spread of COVID-19 for businesses in NH. With what could be good news for charities in the Greater Salem area, the task force is expected to vote on Wednesday for proposals for reopening charitable gaming, as well as indoor sports facilities and driver education businesses. Read more. 

Governor’s Press Conference:

  • Low numbers over the holiday weekend.
  • As of Friday, those eligible for testing will be expanded to include employees who cannot avoid prolonged close contact with peers or the public.
  • Those already allowed are: Anyone with a symptom, diseases (chronic lung disease, chronic or severe asthma, heart condition, compromised immune system, obesity, diabetes, liver disease, chronic kidney disease), health care workers, childcare workers, anyone over 60, anyone who lives with anybody in any of the above categories.
  • Categories are expanding to allow those who are at the highest risk, and those who will impact the community, first. We can’t open it up to everyone; we can’t test all 1.3 million NH residents at once.
  • Supplies are now less of a concern:
    • Swabs are not a factor (2 million received this weekend)
    • Test kits are coming in weekly
    • We have enough PPE except for N95 masks
  • There continues to be widespread community transmission
  • 3 facilities had outbreaks
    • All American Assisted Living, Londonderry: 6 residents, 11 staff
    • The Courville at Manchester: 6 residents, 6 staff
    • Kimi Nichols Center in Plaistow (adults with disabilities): 3 residents, 2 staff
  • Other outbreaks:
    • 17 current LTC facilities are active
    • A few other locations, not long-term care, have outbreaks (i.e. Kimi Nichols Center, announced today.
    • 4 or 5 locations are ready to drop off the active outbreak list tomorrow.
    • Several have already dropped off the list
    • Locations with one case every 2 weeks is not considered an outbreak
  • Governor Sununu signed Emergency Order #48 regarding IEP services. This will ensure continued special education services for students, and will require school districts to hold individualized IEP  team meetings.
    • [This is not yet on the governor’s website as I write this, but all emergency orders are on the governor’s webpage.]
  • Main Street ReliefFund: Prequalification Due Date: May 29, 2020. Details here.
  • It’s Lyme Disease season. Go to org
  • Violations of Stay-at-Home 2.0? There aren’t many. People understand the responsibility that they have. Attorney General will be taking action on violations of the order.
  • Nursing home residents don’t have the luxury of social distancing away from their caregivers. They rely on caregivers to take care of them. Those caregivers are part of our communities. As long as there is COVID circulating in our communities, there is always a risk of bringing it into our nursing homes, and there is always s a risk of a negative outcome.
  • Worship guidance from CDC was rec’d Friday. An announcement will be made later this week.
  • Masks? Why has this become so political? Because we need something to argue about. “It’s silly.”
  • What will it take for you to step in and order masks for everyone? We encourage folks to wear them, but we don’t require it. Most people are wearing them. We do mandate in certain areas (retail employees, restaurants). We don’t need to do more.
  • Appropriate action if businesses are thwarting the mask guidance?Case-by-case basis.
  • National Guard? We will lose them on June 24, unless the order is extended. 20-25% are deployed. Gov. is hoping the deadline will be extended because they are on the front line. They do very flexible services, wherever they are needed. We need them for food banks, call centers, testing facilities, etc.If Pres. Trump does not extend the order, there are different options, which will mean more cost implications to the State, and a need to scale back and prioritize options..
  • Not every state has the same amount of CARES Act. States have flexibility to design a system on how funds are used. MA has 5x the population of NH, but only 2x the funds.
  • Be patient. Hold on. Hopefully sooner than we think, we’ll be back on track economically.
  • John Hopkins show Coos County having 13 cases, NH shows 4 cases. Why? Our numbers are accurate. Numbers get adjusted for order communities, Public health drills down to get accurate numbers.
  • NH is negotiating a contract to do testing every 7-10 days at all long-term care (LTC) facilities.
  • Funding for cyber-security and elections? The system is secure and viable. $3.2M funds came in for this. Vote absentee because of COVID if you wish.
    • [Absentee voting info can be found at VoteInNH.org.]
    • [FYI: Twitter flagged President Trump’s claim made about 9:00 this morning about voter fraud for mail-in ballots as unsubstantiated.]
  • How much of the State Budget can’t be rebuilt by federal money? Very rough estimate: $500-700M revenue short-fall.
  • Would you consider Broad-based tax to fill shortfall? Absolutely not. (Veto). If nothing comes from the federal government, we can cut programs. Too early to make decisions, until we know what the Federal government will or won’t do.
  • Most of those with severe issues from COVID-19 have/had underlying health issues.

 

RESOURCES:

Resources have been moved. They can now be found at https://www.bonnie4salem.us/covid-19-resources/

Sources used to create this report:

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