COVID-19 Update June 11

COVID-19 Update June 11

Salem Total: 268 confirmed cases, 1 out of every 110 residents have been infected.
Salem Today: 1 new case. 77 active cases.

*****TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT ******

Globally: 7,595,646 cases; 423,811 deaths
US: 2,089,701 confirmed cases; 116,034 deaths.
There is growing concern across the country about the increase in COVID-19. So far, the Northeast is not impacted. Fears of a second outbreak are blamed for the fall in the stock market.
There are now 1,400 confirmed cases of COVID in Rockingham County.
On Monday, June 15, the Stay at Home Order will be replaced with a Safer at Home Advisory. Details are in tonight’s article, in the News section.

***** DIAGNOSTIC TESTS IN NH ******

New positive cases per DHHS: 34
My new positive cases (Total of today’s cases minus yesterday’s total): 46
Children under 18 in new cases: 1
Total positive cases in NH: 5,209
Percentage of tests that are positive: 1.54%
Active cases: 1,236
Percentage of positive cases that are still active: 23.7%
New cases in Rockingham County: 8
Total cases in Rockingham County: 1,400
Percent of all cases from either Hillsborough County or Rockingham County: 82%
Total PCR tests results reported today (Positive results plus negative results): 2.010
Daily average of diagnostic (PCR) tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 1,392
New negative PCR cases in NH: 1,979
Total negative cases in NH (as reported by DHHS): 86,708

***** OTHER TEST RESULTS ******

New antibody tests: 352
Total antibody tests (No break down of positive vs. negative): 14,884
Daily average of antibody tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 535
Children diagnosed with MIS-C: (as of 5/22/2020): 1

***** RECOVERED IN NH ******

Announced today: 80
Total: 3,665
Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 70.4%

***** HOSPITALIZATIONS IN NH ******

New: 4
Current: 73
Total: 504
Percentage of all confirmed cases that have been hospitalized: 10%
Percentage of those who have been hospitalized that are still in the hospital: 14.5%

***** DEATHS IN NH ******

Lives lost today: 7
Persons over 60 years of age who died today: 7
Persons under 60 years of age who died today: 0
Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 308
NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 5.9%
NH Residents hospitalized with COVID-19 that died: 61.1%
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.

*****Key points. Read details in the article below ******

LTC Outbreaks. I took a look at the outbreaks at long-term care facilities. What I saw surprised me.
Why Do We Need Antibody Tests for COVID-19 and How to Interpret Test Results
Governor’s Press Conference Today.

With so many issues – economic concerns, job security, health concerns, childcare and schooling issues, feelings of isolation, and equality and justice concerns – mental health issues are to be expected. If you are struggling, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) or dial 211. If you just need a friend to talk to, you can always reach out to me. Just know this: You don’t have to get through this alone. Stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie

https://www.bonnie4salem.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/june11-calendar.jpg

Click on the calendar to enlarge

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 (The highest number of active cases.)
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
May 27: 235; 68 active
May 28: 239; 70 active
May 29: 239; 68 active
May 30: 241, 65 active
May 31: 244; 68 active
June 1: 245; 68 active
June 2: 247; 66 active
June 3: 256; 74 active
June 4: 258; 75 active
June 5: 263; 77 active
June 6: 265; 79 active
June 7: 265; 79 active
June 8: 265; 79 active
June 9: 265; 75 active
June 10: 267; 77 active
June 11: 268; 77 active

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

The weekly report has been moved to https://www.bonnie4salem.us/covid-19-weekly-updates/. This is a summary of the info from NH DHHS; with more demographics than provided on a daily basis. They last updated this info on May 18.

The report containing information about other towns, counties and our MA neighbors has been moved to https://www.bonnie4salem.us/covid-19-update-nh-towns/I’m updating this information weekly. The last update was May 24.

Today’s News Pertaining to COVID-19

LTC Outbreaks.

I took a look at the outbreaks at Long-term care facilities. What I saw surprised me. Read more.

Why Do We Need Antibody Tests for COVID-19 and How to Interpret Test Results

A fairly scientific article, but still worth reading if you want to learn more. I’ve added this to my article on testing (types, where to go, etc.) You can find that article at https://www.bonnie4salem.us/covid-19-testing/

Governor’s Press Conference Today.

Main Street Relief Fund:

7,000 small business owners have sent in the second group of documents to complete the application process.
If you applied for these funds, but have not done the additional paperwork, the deadline to complete the paperwork is tomorrow (Friday) at midnight .
Funds are likely to be disbursed next week.

Housing Relief Fund and Foreclosures:

$35M of the CARES Act funding will go to families and individuals facing housing insecurity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grants for households with limited short-term loss of income or increased expenses.
Short-term rental assistance program.
Foreclosures (or was this evictions?) can begin again effective July 1
The foreclosure (or eviction) window has been extended from 7 to 30 days to comply.

Broadband initiative

$50 million from CARES Act funding will be used to make sure homes, schools, and libraries have internet access
Hook up the “last mile.”
Purpose: Help more people be able to work remotely, help with remote education, and make Telehealth more accessible.

Other new CARES Act Funding disbursements to be made:

$15M to homeless shelters.
$2M partnership with Chambers of Commerce
$10M to private colleges with endowments of less than $300M.
$30M to extend the Emergency Healthcare System Relief Fund to go to LTC facilities. (1 week to request funds; application goes live tomorrow)
At least $250-300M is still not allocated.; possibly more with unused funds
Funds have to be spent by the end of 2020.
There is funding for Nonprofit organizations. They may get more from the CARES Act.

Health Update:

34 New cases
4 new hospitalizations
7 deaths, all associated with long-term care facilities.
“97,000 people” have been tested. [My question: 97,000 people or 97,000 tests???]
1 new outbreak: Bedford Hills Center Genesis Facility (9 residents, 11 staff)
1 closed outbreak: Kimi Nichols Center has no more active cases.

Stay-At-Home

Effective June 15, the Stay-at-Home Order is lifted, and replaced with a Safer at Home Advisory. Details can be found at https://www.covidguidance.nh.gov

Phase 2 of Reopening: Effective Monday, June 15:

Amateur Sports
Bowling & Entertainment Centers
Charitable Gaming
Funeral Homes
Gyms(50% capacity)
Libraries
Motorcycle Rides
Museums & Art Galleries
Outdoor Attractions
Outdoor Race Tracks (Except NH Motor Speedway; still working with the folks in Loudon to still working to make NASCAR happen.)
Pools
Restaurants
Tourist Trains
Weddings

Effective June 29: (Final guidance not yet formalized.)

Indoor movie theaters,
Performing art centers
Amusement parks.

Still to be announced:

Nursing home visits. Working on guidance.

MORE:

All industries are re-opening with universal guidance and capacity regulations.
Removal of the Stay-at-Home Order removes restrictions on gatherings of 10. Now there is no limit unless specified in guidance for specific industries.
The recommendations stay unchanged: Everyone should continue to wear masks and keep the 6-foot distance
Could we reinstate the Stay-at-Home order? Is there a plan in place if we have cluster outbreaks? If we have expotential growth or expotential evidence that there is significant community transmission. Not one event or one data point, but a combination of positive cases, percentage of positivity, testing data, hospitalization rates, ability to manage hospitalizations.

Q&A’s

No contact tracing leading back to BLM protests. It’s still early.
How many LTC workers are infected at work vs. get it elsewhere? Impossible to tell.
Can asymptomatic positive people spread virus? Unknown. Still going on that premise.
Some people are getting tested every 2 weeks, mostly healthcare workers.
We will have a new surge.
- July & August: Numbers should look good
- September & October: Numbers will likely spike.
Remote learning was more successful in NH than others. Some kids fell through the cracks. How do we access the success? Assessment needed.
There is $35M in federal government funds to go to local education outside of the CARES Act funding. Additionally, the Governor has $9M in discretionary funding; some will go to additional programs, filling in the gaps for non-traditional educational needs.
Guidance for summer school programs is coming out.
4^th of July Parades and events: Most are canceled or postponed to Labor Day.
Governor tested Sunday for COVID-19. Still doesn’t have test results.
Should we keep kids from going to school until they have a COVID vaccine? We may never have a vaccine that works. There will be guidance, limitations. Certain activities, sports, assemblies might not be able to take place.
Unemployment: If your old job is available, you need to go back to work; that flexibility in NH unemployment will expire on Monday. The other flexibility from State and federal are still in effect. The $600 Federal Unemployment does not go away until July 31

RESOURCES:

My accumulation of resources has been moved. These can now be found at https://www.bonnie4salem.us/covid-19-resources/

Sources used to create this report: