COVID-19 Update 26 July 2021

The next update is scheduled for next Monday.

SALEM:

Salem since last update: 8 new cases
Total: 2,992 confirmed cases in Salem
We now have 11 active cases.
1 out of every 10 Salem residents has been infected.
Salem’s new cases per 100K for 14 days: Rate not calculated. (I question this. See below.)
Salem’s Positivity Rate for the past 2 weeks: 3.6%. It was down to zero two weeks.
Salem’s new cases account for 2.5% of the new cases reported this week, and 4.2% of the new cases reported today for the past three days. (Salem has 2.2% of NH’s population.)

NEW HAMPSHIRE:

NH has now passed 100,000 confirmed cases.
Active cases rose by 140 to 364, which is where we were in early June.
16 more people were admitted to the hospital because of COVID-19 this week.
5 more people were admitted to the ICU this week. We know that 488 people have been admitted to the ICU. What we don’t know is how many are still in the ICU, how many have been intubated, or how many are still on ventilators. In the past 3 months, available ICU beds have ranged from 9.5% to 23.6. We were averaging about 17% from the end of April to the end of June, but over the last three weeks an average of 13.3% of all available ICU beds are available.
In the last three months, available ventilators have ranged from 61.5% to 84.3%.
3 more deaths were reported since the last update.
Total NH individuals fully vaccinated: About 53.6% of our population, a one-week decrease of only 1.6%. 58.4% are partially vaccinate, also a one-week decrease of only 1.9%. These percentages are smaller than reported last week. See my message for an explanation.

From NH DHHS:
On Tuesday, July 20, 2021, DHHS announced 61 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 23 people who tested positive by PCR test and 38 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 270 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Today’s new cases were in Rockingham County: 9 (14.8%); Salem: 0]

On Wednesday, July 21, 2021, DHHS announced 60 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 32 people who tested positive by PCR test and 28 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 282 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 12 (20%); Salem: 1 (1.7%)]

On Thursday, July 22, 2021, DHHS announced 48 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 30 people who tested positive by PCR test and 18 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 308 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 6 (12.5%); Salem: -1 (-2.1%)]

On Friday, July 23, 2021, DHHS announced 59 new positive test results for COVID-19. Today’s results include 34 people who tested positive by PCR test and 25 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 316 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 19 (32.2%); Salem: 1 (1.7%)]

On Monday, July 26, 2021, DHHS announced 29 new positive test results for COVID-19 for Sunday, July 25. Today’s results include 22 people who tested positive by PCR test and 7 who tested positive by antigen test. DHHS also announced 67 cases from Friday, July 23 (37 by PCR test and 30 by antigen test), and 70 cases from Saturday, July 24 (43 by PCR test and 27 by antigen test). There are now 364 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. [Rockingham County: 46 (24.1%); Salem: 7 (4.2%)]

Each day, DHHS says that “Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates.” Percentages shown are % of new cases.

• • • • • • TODAY’S SUMMARY • • • • • •

8 more Salem residents were diagnosed with COVID-19 this week. This brings our total to 2,992 Salem residents who have had confirmed case of COVID-19.
Salem’s active cases increased by 4 people this week. We now have 11 people infected, the same number we had in late May.
DHHS says Salem’s new cases for the past two weeks per 100K residents is too low to report. “Rate Not Calculated: For towns with cumulative cases between 1-4 in the last 14 days, data limited to protect the privacy of individuals.” Last week, Nashua was the only community with a number in this report. This week, only Nashua and Manchester are reported, so I don’t think the State is updating this data for anything except the big cities and the counties. <sigh>
Salem’s positivity rate for PCR & antigen results in the past week is 3.6%. Two weeks ago, it was zero. Last week it was 3.7%. Salem’s positivity rate was up to 14.3% on Dec. 14.
There are 21 NH communities with a positivity rate of more than 0. (9 a week ago). There are 20 communities with a positivity rate higher than 2%. (6 a week ago). 8 communities have more than 5% (2 a week ago). 1 community, Chester, has a positivity rate of more than 10%. (0 a week ago.) Nine communities have a positivity rate higher than Salem’s.
NH has added 320 new cases in the past week. (196 new cases the week before.) NH reported 177 more people have “recovered” since my last update (162 last week). After allowing for those who lost their lives because of COVID-19, NH’s number of active cases went down by up by 140 since my last report, to 364.
We were able to get down to 155 active cases, on June 28. When things reached the low point for active cases last fall, we got down to 209 on Sept 4.
Of the new cases this week, 62 were healthcare workers, and 27 were in long-term care facilities.
Rockingham is now at 85 active cases; we had 40 last week.
NH has had 44.2 new cases per 100K residents in the past 14 days. One week ago, it was 30.2, and two weeks ago it was down to 26.3.
NH’s positivity rate for PCR & antigen results in the past week is 2.1%. One week ago it was 1.4%.
DHHS is reporting a total of 1,638 people who have been hospitalized because of COVID-19, an increase of 16 since last week. A total of 357 Rockingham County residents have been hospitalized because of COVID-19, which is 0 more than what DHHS reported last week.
The number of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 23 which is 5 more than we had one week ago. We were down to 6 on Sept 12, before things starting escalating. More recently, we were down to 12 on Wednesday, July 7.
The total number of ICU admissions is 488, an increase of 5 ICU admissions in the past week.
There have been 3 deaths in the past week, bringing the total to 1,385 people who have died in NH due to COVID-19. There has been a total of 269 lives lost in Rockingham County, which is one more than last week.

• • • • • COMMUNITIES • • • • • •

DHHS reports that the new cases this week reside in the following counties and NH’s two major cities:

Belknap: 33
Carroll: 13
Cheshire: 17
Coos: 4
Grafton: 22
Manchester: 16
Merrimack: 45
Nashua: 19
Rest of Hillsborough: 38
Rockingham County: 92
Strafford: 30
Sullivan: 6

The county of residence is being determined for 14 new cases. Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates.

• • • • • COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION • • • • • •

Cases per 100K residents and difference from last week:
- NH: 44.2 (30.2 the week before, and 26.3 the week before that)
- Belknap: 75.0 (+37.5)
- Carroll: 45.0 (+16.4)
- Cheshire: 36.8 (+2.6)
- Coos: 41.2 (-82.4)
- Grafton: 37.8 (+12.2)
- Manchester: 33.1 (+15.2)
- Merrimack: 50.2 (+21.8)
- Nashua: 48.0 (+16.8)
- Rest of Hillsborough excluding Manchester and Nashua: 32.9 (+5.5)
- Rockingham: 44.2 (+16.1)
- Strafford: 38.3 (+20.7)
- Sullivan: 27.8 (+6.9)
Changes in positivity rate:
- NH: 2.1 (was 1.9% last week)
- Belknap: 2.9% (was 0.9%)
- Carroll: 2.3% (1.8%)
- Cheshire: 1.3% (1.6%)
- Coos: 0.8% (3.1%)
- Grafton: 0.9% (0.8%)
- Manchester: 2.6% 0.8%)
- Merrimack: 2.8% (1.8%)
- Nashua: 2.5% (1.6%)
- Rest of Hillsborough excluding Manchester and Nashua: 1.8% (1.6%)
- Rockingham: 3.0% (1.8%)
- Strafford: 1.7% (1.6%)
- Sullivan: 0.7% (2.7%)
- Unknown: 0.9% (0.9%)

• • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

NH has 364 active cases. Last week we had 224. We were down to 155 cases as recently as June 28.
At 85 (40 last week), Rockingham County has the most active cases of any county, except for Hillsborough County, which has 92 cases (69 last week), with 44 in Nashua (21 last week), and 25 in Manchester (10 last week).
All counties have active cases:
- Belknap: 30 (13 last week)
- Carroll: 11 (7)
- Cheshire: 15 (10)
- Coos: 2 (11)
- Grafton: 22 (12)
- Manchester: 25 (10)
- Merrimack: 44 (27)
- Nashua: 28 (21)
- Rest of Hillsborough: 39 (38)
- Rockingham: 85 (40)
- Strafford: 25 (18)
- Sullivan: 6 (4)
- Unknown: 32 (13)
17 communities now have 5 or more active cases, accounting for 209 (57.4%) of the 364 total active cases. Last week it was 10 communities, which accounted for 95 (42.4%) of the 224 active cases.
Communities with 5 or more active cases in NH re: Nashua (28); Manchester (25); Rochester (14); Salem and Derry(11); Concord, Franklin, and Laconia (9); Hooksett, Hudson, and Portsmouth (8); Merrimack, Raymond, and Windham (7); Bedford (6); Lebanon and Meredith (5). All others are down to less than 5 active cases.

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

Total people who have tested positive: 100,286
New positive cases by my math: 320
New positive cases per DHHS: 394

• • • • • • ROCKINGHAM COUNTY (22.78% of NH’s population) • • • • • •

Total people who have tested positive: 24,582
New positive cases: 77
Percentage of today’s new positive cases: 24.1%
Positivity rate: 3.0%

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

73 children under 18 are included in this week’s new cases.
18.5% of new cases announced by DHHS this week are kids under 18 years old.
Under 60: 260 new cases; 6 hospitalizations, 0 deaths
60+: 60 new cases; 10 hospitalizations; 3 deaths

(Totals showing changes since my last report, which was last Monday.)

0-9: 6% of Total cases: 5698 (+27); Hospitalizations: 11; Deaths: 0
10-19: 13% of Total cases: 12561 (+42); Hospitalizations: 11 (+1); Deaths: 0
20-29: 20% of Total cases: 20094 (+58); Hospitalizations: 35(+1); Deaths: 1
30-39: 15% of Total cases: 14757 (+47); Hospitalizations: 67; Deaths: 7
40-49: 13% of Total cases: 13175 (+38); Hospitalizations: 118 (+1); Deaths: 12
50-59: 15% of Total cases: 15297 (+48); Hospitalizations: 228 (+3); Deaths: 35
60-69: 10% of Total cases: 9817 (+35); Hospitalizations: 376 (+6); Deaths: 142
70-79: 5% of Total cases: 4846 (+17); Hospitalizations: 407 (+1); Deaths: 332 (+1)
80+: 4% of Total cases: 3980 (+8); Hospitalizations: 385 (+3); Deaths: 856
Unknown: 0% of Total cases: 61 (+0); Hospitalizations: 0; Deaths: 0 (+2)

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •

Active cases in NH: 364
Active cases in Rockingham County: 85

• • • • • • RECOVERED • • • • • •

Total recovered: 98,537
Recovered this week: 177
Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 98.3%

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

Currently hospitalized: 23
New people hospitalized from NH: 16
Total hospitalized patients: 1,638
Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 1.63%
Total admitted to ICU: 488
New ICU admissions this week: 5
New hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 0 since last week
Total hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 357

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • •

Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 1,385
Lives lost this week: 3
Persons over 60 years of age who died this week: 3
Persons under 60 years of age who died this week: 0
NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 1.38%
Lives lost in Rockingham County this week: 1
Total lives lost in Rockingham County: 269

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!

The rumor was that there were 46 positive cases at CVS in Salem yesterday. Happily, that was just a rumor! Still, 46 tests in one location sounds like a lot. Those numbers won’t be reported to the State in time to be included in this week’s update. But what this does say is that people are concerned. The virus is out there. So wear your masks!!!

Here are some random thoughts from this past week:

Vaccinations:

NH DHHS reports 819,184 (58.4%) NH residents have been partially vaccinated. [Last week was 818,113 (60.3%); -1.9%]

750,212 (53.6%) people are fully vaccinated. [Last week was 749,249, (55.2%); -1.6%]

Since last week, DHHS has added new data, showing that NH had administered 45,133 doses to Non-NH residents. There’s no explanation for the decrease, but I’m guessing that the percentages previously released by DHHS included these non-residents.

Outbreaks in NH:

NH DHHS reported institutional outbreaks on Thursday, July 22. There are no new locations. Epsom Health Center has one more infected resident, bringing the total to 5 residents, and one staff.

Laconia Rehabilitation Center is the still on the list, with no changes: 10 residents and 2 staff are affected. All other outbreaks, which can be seen here, were closed as of the 22nd.

Variants:

Concerns continue to grow for the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Some of the symptoms of the new Delta variant are different than the traditional COVID-19 symptoms. They can include:

Sore throat
Runny nose or congestion
Fever
Headaches
Stomach pain
Loss of appetite
Vomiting
Nausea
Joint pain
Hearing loss
Diarrhea
Small blood clots

The Delta variant is not the predominant variant in the US. NH has been blessed with only a small handful of cases so far. (It is important to note that not every positive case in NH is sequenced to determine the variant).

Per WMUR, as of July 22, NH had:

Number of B.1.1.7 variant (Alpha; UK) cases: 1,143
Number of B.1.351 variant (Beta; South Africa) cases: 1
Number of P.1 variant (Gamma; Brazil) cases: 181
Number of B.1.617.2 variant (Delta; India) cases: 21
Number of B.1.427 & B.1.429 variant (Epsilon; California) cases: 106
Number of MIS-C cases: 1-24 (per CDC)

Lambda:
“Lambda Variant of COVID-19 Might Be Resistant to Vaccines. Investigators in Chile conclude that the lambda COVID-19 variant is not only more infectious than standard SARS-CoV-2, but could also possibly shrug off vaccines.”

There’s some confusion about this variant. Infection Control Today, and additional sources, talk about a case identified in a Houston Hospital as if it is the only case. However, GISAID (Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data) reported almost two weeks ago that over 600 Lambda cases had been ID’d in the US.

Per Newsweek:

C.37, also known as the Lambda variant, was first detected in Peru in December 2020, quickly spread across South America, and it has since spread to dozens of countries, including the U.S, where more than 700 cases of the Lambda variant have been reported.
It’s also not yet known if the variant is more resistant to the existing COVID vaccines.
There had been no cases of Lambda identified in NH or MA reported by GISAID as of July 14. Connecticut has had 21, and the other New England states have had one each.
The full list of states with Lambda cases, recorded on July 14 (nearly 2 weeks ago) by GISAID, is as follows: Arizona (21), Alabama (26), Arkansas (7), California (145) Colorado (10) Connecticut (21) Delaware (1), D.C. (2), Florida (126), Georgia (22), Illinois (2), Indiana (4), Kansas (2), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (2), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Michigan (18), Minnesota (15), Mississippi (1), Missouri (2), Montana (5), Nebraska (3), Nevada (1), New Jersey (38), New Mexico (2), New York (70), North Carolina (7), Ohio (16), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (3), Pennsylvania (15), Rhode Island (1), South Carolina (5), Tennessee (16), Texas (22), Utah (13), Vermont (1), Virginia (9), Washington (33), West Virginia (7) Wisconsin (3).

Lambda symptoms:
Currently, the symptoms of the Lambda variant are similar to that of the initial COVID-19 strain. Common symptoms that present themselves with the Lambda variant include the following:

Cough
High fever
Body pain
Loss of taste or smell
Trouble breathing

Additional suggested reading:

Long-COVID: Some studies suggest that up to 1/3 of all COVID-19 victims have some degree of Long COVID aka Long Haul. Months after “recovering” they are still feeling the effects of this virus, anything about long-COVID or Long Haul is worth reading. Here’s one article, listing 98 symptoms Coronavirus patients say they’ve had.

Disability: SOME of those with Long COVID are now eligible for disability.

Lambda variant: I’m concerned about this variant, so I suggest reading anything you find about the Lambda variant, including this article and this one.

I plan to be back with another update next Monday night. In the meantime, stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie