Posted on by Bonnie

COVID-19 Update October 29

COVID-19 Update October 

  • Total: 402 confirmed cases in Salem
  • 1 out of 74 Salem residents have been infected
  • Salem Today: 4 new cases, 37 active cases 

Community Transmission (per NH Department of Health and Human Services)

The overall level of community transmission is defined using three metrics.  A community is then assigned an overall level based on the highest-level determination for any specific metric. The metric which is changing the most right now is the number of new cases.

  • NH Community Transmission Metrics:
    • New Cases per 100k over 14 days: 
      • Scale: Minimal: <50; Moderate: 50 – 100; Substantial: >100. 
      • Today: 1,357 cases; Daily average: 100.0 (SUBSTANTIAL)
    • New hospitalizations per 100k over 14 days:
      • Scale: Minimal: <10; Moderate: 10 – 20; Substantial: >20, 
      • Today: Total hospitalizations: 14 total; Daily average: 1.0%
    • Average PCR Test Positivity Rate over 7 days:
      • Scale: Minimal: <5%; Moderate: 5% – 10%; Substantial: >10%
      • Today: Tests over last 7 days: 637.  Total. PCR Tests over last 7 days: 40,467 Daily average: 1.6%
    • Today’s Level of Transmission: Moderate
  • Rockingham County Transmission:
    • New Cases per 100k over 14 days: 106.1
    • New hospitalizations per 100k over 14 days: 1.3
    • Average PCR Test Positivity Rate over 7 days: 2.1
    • Rockingham County Transmission: Substantial
  • Other NH Locations, with changes from yesterday
    • Manchester: (156.7 new case average; 2.7 hospitalizations; 3.3% positivity). Substantial
    • Nashua: (118.6 new case average; 3.4 hospitalizations; 2.0% positivity). Substantial
    • Merrimack: (132.3 new case average; 0.7 hospitalizations; 1.9% positivity). Substantial
    • Hillsborough County excluding Manchester and Nashua (106.4 new case average). Substantial
    • Belknap County (80.3 new case average): Moderate
    • Strafford County (74.6 new case average): Moderate
    • Coos County (114.0 new case average): Substantial
    • Grafton County (62.4 new case average): Minimal
    • Carroll County (36.9 new case average): Minimal
    • Sullivan County (44.0 new case average): Minimal
    • Cheshire County (37.9 new case average): Minimal
  • Changes to New Cases per 100K for NH, all counties, and our two largest cities:
    • Rockingham County, Belknap County and Nashua went down.
    • There were no changes in Carroll County or Manchester.
    • The rest of the State went up. 
    • Substantial increases were in Coos County (+31.7), Grafton County (+16.7) and Manchester (10.7). Coos had a big enough change that they are now considered to have substantial community transmission.

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

  • Four more Salem residents was diagnosed with COVID-19. We have had 26 new cases in the past week.
  • Salem now has 37 people who are considered to be infectious. A month ago, we were down to less than 5 active cases. We haven’t had this many since July 10.
  • We are now back up to approximately 4,600 persons being monitored in NH. I had not seen this number go this high until two days ago.
  • Today there were no new hospital patients today, but the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 went up by one to 30. 
  • Four more families are grieving today for their lost family members today, making 7 deaths in the past two days, and 12 lives lost over the past week.
  • Communities:
    • Notable changes in active cases from yesterday to today:
      • 51 people were reported as “recovered;” these are reflected in today’s changes. Only one of these communities have more active cases than yesterday. 
      • We now have 16 communities with more than 20 active cases. Between them, these 16 communities have 638 active cases, accounting for 58% of all active cases. (Shown: # of active cases and change from yesterday). 
        • Manchester: 128 (+6). Nashua: 76 (+2). Concord: 57 (+7). Bedford: 48 (+3). Warner: 43 (+0). Salem: 37 (+2). Hudson: 32 (+0). Windham: 29 (+0). Derry: 27 (+0). Londonderry: 26 (+3). Durham: 23 (+2). Dover: 22 (+1). Portsmouth: 21 (-5).
        • Plymouth, Milford and Goffstown all now have more than 20 active cases. Plymouth is the community that is more north than any of the rest of them.
        • Exeter has dropped down to less than 50 active cases. 
    • Some of the communities with significant changes in cumulative cases: 
      • Manchester (+10). Nashua (+6). Concord (+9). Goffstown (+5). Salem (+4)
      • Salem now has more than 400 total cases. 
  • Three long-term care facilities have outbreaks:
    • Bedford Hills Center: 61 residents, 20 staff, 18 deaths
    • Pine Rock Manor, Warner: 47 residents, 13 staff, 5 deaths
    • St. Teresa Rehab and Nursing Center, Manchester: 32 residents, 14 staff, 7 deaths
    • All of the other outbreaks have been closed.
  • Massachusetts has now done more than 3 million tests. NH has performed just over 1/3 million tests.

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

  • New positive cases by my math (Total of today’s cases minus yesterday’s total): 127
  • New positive cases per DHHS: 131
  • 103 PCR tests
  • 28 Antigen tests
  • Children under 18 in new cases: 20
  • Total positive cases in NH: 10,768
  • Percentage of today’s tests that are positive per DHHS: 1.1%
  • Total PCR tests results reported today (Positive results plus negative results: 2,445
  • The daily average of diagnostic (PCR) tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 1,765
  • New negative results reported today: 2318
  • Total negative cases in NH: 327,740

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

  • Total cases in Rockingham County: 2,638
  • New cases in Rockingham County: 21
  • Rockingham County: New cases per 100K residents: 6.8
  • Rockingham County 1-week average per 100K residents: 8.7
  • Rockingham County Positivity Rate: 2.1%
  • Percent of all cases from Rockingham County: 24.5%
  • Percent of all cases from either Hillsborough County or Rockingham County: 76%

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

  • Active cases in NH: 1,106
  • Active cases in Rockingham County: 262
  • Percent of NH’s active cases that are in Rockingham County: 23.7%. 

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

  • New antibody tests: 26
  • Total antibody tests (No break downs of positive vs. negative): 32,108
  • The daily average of antibody tests reported from 7 days ago to today: 33

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

  • 0-9: +8 (3% of all cases. 1% of new cases)
  • 10-19: +8 (9% of all; 17% today) (Was 8% of all, now 9%)
  • 20-29: +27 (18% of all0; 28% today) 
  • 30-39: +22 (14% of all; +11% today)
  • 40-49: +18 (13% of all; 10% today)
  • 50-59: +16 (15% of all; 15% today)
  • 60-69: +4 (11% of all; 14% today) (Was 12% of all)
  • 70-79: +6 (7% of all; 1% today) 
  • 80+: +2 (10% of all; 3% today)
  • Unknown: 0 (0% of all; 0% today)

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

  • Announced today: 51
  • Total Recovered: 9,180
  • Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 85.3%

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

  • New: 0
  • Current: 30 (+1)
  • Total Hospitalized: 775
  • Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 7.20%

• • • • • • 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: 472
  • NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 4.48%
  • 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.


Hello, Salem!

We are living in challenging times. If COVID-19 isn’t the lead story in the news, politics are. Some people are worried that their favorite candidate(s) won’t get elected, and some people are worried that these people will get in. 

While NH’s COVID-19 numbers aren’t good, the pandemic is much worse in other parts of the state. Some people are fed up with hearing about it, and some are frustrated to not have more info. Some think it’s nothing, while others are grieving the loss of family and friends. Some people are concerned about the financial impacts they have felt, and are concerned that things will get worse for their businesses, jobs or families. Some parents are getting tired of remote learning, and others are panicking that their kids will be forced to stay home. Some families and individuals are looking at the upcoming holidays with anticipation, and others are dreading the changes to their normal traditions.

If you are reading this, it’s hard to imagine that you don’t fit into one of these categories. And then, to top it off, the days are getting darker, and now we have the threat of a hard frost, and snow.

So, how are you doing? I mean, how are you REALLY doing?

Try to stay positive. Watch out for others; are your friends and family doing ok? Don’t presume, ask them. 

If you are feeling blue, don’t be afraid to ask for help. See are some options:

  • NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Health. 24-hour hotline: 1-800-950-6264. https://www.nami.org/Home
  • Center for Life Management (603) 434-1577, Option 1. https://www.centerforlifemanagement.org/
  • #SuicideAwareness: 1-800-273-8255.

As always, stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie

This screenshot comes from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6942e2.htm?s_cid=mm6942e2_w

This report is explained here:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/health/2020/10/20/cdc-from-january-to-october-us-had-299k-more-deaths-than-in-previous-years/

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Changes-by-month-877x1024.jpg

Useful links

Sources used to create these reports:

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