Posted on by Bonnie

COVID-19 Update April 28

COVID-19 Update April 28

Salem has 143 confirmed cases. I think.

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services says Salem has 143 total cases, which is down 1 from yesterday. Puzzling! (And, yes, I triple checked my numbers.)

Happily, NH went another 24 hours without losing any of our residents to COVID-19, although 7 more people were hospitalized. Another large batch of people who are recovered was processed recently. (+138). The total number of negative test results just passed the 20K threshold. Today’s 72 newly diagnosed cases, including one under the age of 18, bring the state count to over 2,000; the average for the last week is 74 cases per day. At 1,014 active cases, we have 110 more than we had a week ago.

Today NH DHHS announced an increase of 82 new positive test results. They are showing 2,010 cases. Yesterday they reported 1,938. I believe their report should say that today there were 72 new cases.

Yesterday the Governor said the new testing program would provide up to 1500 tests a day. It would take almost 2.5 years —until mid-October 2022 — to test the entire population. Today NH returned results from 601 tests, less than half of the goal.

Today, Americans passed 1 million confirmed cases, making up approximately 1/3 of all cases in the world. More Americans have now died from COVID-19 over the past two months than were killed in the Vietnam War over several decades.

Did you know? NH residents can dial the state’s COVID-19 hotline at 2-1-1 or 603-271-4496 for answers to questions related to the outbreak and to be directed to available resources for help.

These times are difficult for all of us, but things will get better. Have faith, stay safe, and, always, be kind.

Key points covered below in today’s report:

  • Report from Chief Larry Best, Salem’s Emergency Management Director
  • Massachusetts extends its Stay
  • Gov. Sununu interview on NHPR
  • Salemhaven COVID-19 update
  • Andru Volinsky, looking for answers
  • More mask ideas
  • Masks required in several MA communities
  • OpEd by NH State Rep, Dr. Gary Woods
  • Unemployment Stats
  • NH hairstylists are petitioning the Gov. to reopen salons

ALSO:

  • Tonight I updated the map with state boundaries
  • I added the new mask info to the “Mask” section of the Resources, which is at the bottom of every report.
  • Last night I mentioned concerns about child abuse, and included a link to a DHHS paper, “Supporting Child and Family Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Emergency.” Tonight I put that article in Resources under “How You Can Help Others.”

 

Click on the calendar to enlarge
https://www.bonnie4salem.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/april29-calendar.jpg

Edited 4/29: There were errors in the Total negative. Corrected on 4/29. The previous version had total tested on some days.
I apologize for any confusion.

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

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

Could this be the answer?

On April 19, this was posted on Facebook:

The Governor maintains that we don’t have enough supplies (test availability).

Why is this so important?
COVID vs. US Daily Average Cause of Death

By Robert Martin on 15 Apr 2020

The following charts are from NHPR

#End of NHPR’s charts.

Additional charts can be found at https://www.nhpr.org/post/updated-tracking-covid-19-cases-and-testing-new-hampshire

COVID Symptom Tracker: This is a project of Mass General Hospital. In the absence of proper testing, this may be the best way of tracking how we are doing. I’m keeping it near the top, so I’ll remember to log in each day.
https://covid.joinzoe.com/us?fbclid=IwAR2IsoxZ9RBKC4uPQscKiuUUTJCA3cCt3dUr9tjNSsFqOU1rv10jmysmt4Y


Today’s COVID-19 Statistics:

April 28April 27Change from yesterday
Total Confirmed Cases2,0101,938+72
Recovered 93647% (was 41%)
798+138
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19
603% 600
Current Cases1,0141,080-56
Total Hospitalized24912% (was 13)
246+3
Current Hospitalized10699+7
Tested Negative18,73618,207+529
Persons with specimens submitted to NH PHL8,6358,515+120
Persons with test pending at NH PHL81223-142
Being Monitored (Approximate) 2,5502,400+150
Total Tested (Confirmed Cases + Tested Negative)20,74620,145+601

 

Salem’s confirmed cases: 

  • March 30 (Range 10-19)
  • March 31 (Range 20+)
  • April 3: 25 cases (Range 20+)
  • April 6: 33 cases (+8 in 3 days)
  • April 8: 20+ cases
  • April 9: 20-49
  • April 10: Over 50
  • April 23: 116
  • April 27: 144
  • April 28: 143 (Huh? Less than yesterday? Triple checked!)


NH Hot Spots
Six NH municipalities have more than 50 confirmed cases:

  • Manchester: 436 (+31 from yesterday); 39 per 10K residents (+3)
  • Nashua: 180 (+2 from yesterday); 21 per 10K residents
  • Salem: 143 (-1 from yesterday); 49 cases per 10K residents
  • Derry: 132; (+9); 39 cases per 10K residents (+2)
  • Dover: 65; 20 cases per 10K residents (No change from yesterday)
  • Londonderry: 59; 22 cases per 10K residents (No change from yesterday)

All other municipalities have less than 50 cases.  All of the other municipalities with 20-49 cases are geographically south of Concord/Dover, and east of Concord/Milford.

Counties:

  • Hillsborough (inc. Manchester and Nashua):  896 (+27); 21 per 10K residents
  • Rockingham (inc. Salem & Derry): 664 (+21); 21 per 10K

These two counties make up about 78% of all confirmed cases in NH.

Our neighboring towns:

  • Methuen:  531 (+6).  23 deaths (+3). 148 recovered (+5); 134 cases per 10K  residents (+1)
  • Lawrence (As of April 27): 1574 (+73 from Wednesday). 64 deaths (+3); 150 cases per 10K residents

Without better testing, and without transparency, we can’t know what our real numbers are.

 

 

Of the confirmed cases in NH, about 13% have required hospitalization. Over 30% of the confirmed cases are healthcare workers. Most of those with mild symptoms have not been able to get tested.

We need proper testing to fight COVID-19

The NH Division of Public Health Services, Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, has announced a Weekly Summary Report, with more details than I see in the daily reports from the Department of Health & Human Services. See the report or my summary of the key points in my report on April 13.

Weekly info has been released for Week of April 20
As of April 20th, 471 healthcare workers have been infected (33% of all confirmed cases). Six kids under 9 years have tested positive. 21% of those infected are 50-59 years old, the largest age group. Those who are 30-39, 40-49, and 60-69 are each 15% of the cases. Surprisingly, only 17% of the confirmed cases are 70 or older, however, the rate per 100,000 for those over 70 is skyrocketing, as there are fewer people in that age range. 54% of all NH cases are female, 46% are male.

Race/Ethnicity: 90% of NH’s population is white; 81% of the confirmed cases are white. Hispanic/Latino are 3.9% of the population, but 6.1% of the cases. Blacks/African Americans are 1.4% of the population, and 5.4% of the cases. Asians are 3.0% of the population, and 3.2% of the cases. All other races are 1.8% of the population, and 4.4% of the population.

NH News relating to COVID-19

Report from Chief Larry Best, Salem’s Emergency Management Director

  • Monday was the 10th briefing since March 16. The Emergency Operations Center is in a holding pattern, waiting to know if the State will reopen on May 4.
  • Rockingham County has had an increase of 140 cases in the past week. By comparison, Middlesex County had an increase of 4,000 cases, and Essex had an increase of 2,500 cases this week. It is nearby.
  • Hedgehog Skate Park is closed
  • The Fire Department did a parade for the long-term care facilities in town, to thank them for their support.
  • Seek medical attention if you would seek help under normal conditions. There is a big drop in all emergencies, from chest pain to broken bones.
  • There are new symptoms now associated with COVID-19, including confusion, falls, dizziness, incontinence, chills, muscle pain, and loss of taste or smell. Those who are infected may not necessarily have the normal symptoms (fever, dry cough, respiratory symptoms) usually associated with COVID-19. See the full report.

Massachusetts extends its Stay

Governor Baker has extended the business closures and stay-at-home advisory for Massachusetts residents from May 4 to May 18. MA has recently reported 1,840 new COVID-19 cases and 150 new deaths.  Read more.

Gov. Sununu interview on NHPR

“So we will take a phased approach with businesses. We may take a phased approach with the stay-at-home order itself. We’d like to loosen that a little bit. But again, public health always has to be kind of preeminent in our decisions, making sure we don’t open ourselves up to enticing folks from Massachusetts to come up here, spread the virus unintentionally, and create a bigger problem for ourselves in the long run.”

“We’re sharing [draft guidance documents] with Vermont and Maine, and they’re sharing their documents with ours. So they won’t look exactly the same, but I think we all agree that, you know, our timing should be roughly the same just for continuity of message. We’re all roughly in the same boat here.”

“And there are certain things here that can’t open because of Massachusetts unfortunately. Things like hotels, travel and tourism, venues, things of that nature are going to be much harder because those are all designed around attracting people out of Massachusetts. So you have to be careful not to create that unintentional viral spread again.” Read or listen to the full interview.

Salemhaven COVID-19 update

Yesterday I shared that the State has announced that Salemhaven had 9 residents and 2 employees were diagnosed with COVID-19. Today the facility’s website says 3 employees, or 4 employees, depending on which paragraph you read.  Not all staff has been tested.  (Say, what???) Their website says, “Staff testing decisions have been guided by DPH. We are arranging for staff to participate in the Governors <sic> initiative to test long term care staff.” Read more.

Andru Volinsky, looking for answers

Andru Volinsky, one of NH’s Executive Councilors, and candidate for NH Governor, is asking for accountability of the funds currently in the state treasury, including the money received from the federal stimulus. The NH Constitution(Part 2, Article 56) requires that the Governor get the advice and consent of the Executive Council before using those funds. “Some of the money would be, general fund money, in the normal course and some of the money would be CARES Act money. And I’ve asked for delineation between the two and then, at least a rough sense of where the money would go.” Read more.

More mask ideas

I found another good mask video, with several good ideas (although I believe that coffee filters are no longer being recommended; they make it too hard to breathe.) The video is now in the resource section at the bottom of every report.

Masks required in several MA communities

Don’t go to Lawrence, Cambridge, or Somerville without a mask. These communities are now requiring facemasks be worn. Violators could face fines of up to $300.  Read more. And more.

OpEd by NH State Rep, Dr. Gary Woods
An opinion piece on the lack of testing by a State Rep, who also happens to be a doctor. “As our state lags our New England neighbors in testing per capita, we need to ramp up testing fast. New Hampshire lost critical time to build up testing infrastructure because Sununu put his blind trust in Trump [to deliver the Abbott rapid testing equipment and supplies].” Read more.

Unemployment Stats

Hospitality, retail, and healthcare workers are the people impacted the most by COVID-19 shutdown in NH, according to the State’s unemployment figures. Statewide, the unemployment rate is about 13.5%. In Coos County, it’s 35% or more. With the extra $600 per week federal enhancement to unemployment, NH unemployed are receiving 95% of their income, sometimes even more. A recent New York Times article rated New Hampshire as the state paying the lowest amount of benefits – after the federal enhancement — compared to the average weekly wage. However, most states are taking longer to get the $600 than NH. Read more.

NH hairstylists are petitioning the Gov. to reopen salons

The petitioner is asking  Gov. Sununu to allow them to reopen and see one client at a time. She wants the state to allow salons to open for no more than ten people at a time. Stylists would work six feet from each other, taking only one client at a time, and they’d have to wear masks and sanitize in between every appointment.  Her online petition now has more than 2,500 signatures. Read more.

Salem Government

The Town of Salem’s Emergency Operations Center Team (EOC) will be making weekly reports every Monday evening at 7:00. Their reports can be seen at http://sctv-17.com/CablecastPublicSite/?channel=1

Find other Salem Government board meetings: https://www.townofsalemnh.org/boards

To watch past or live viewings:

State Representation:
Salem has nine State Representatives. If you are having issues connected to COVID-19, they have access to the people who can get you the help you need. You can find contact info for our reps here: http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/default.aspx

Our Senator, Chuck Morse, can be contacted at Chuck.Morse@leg.state.nh.us His Concord office phone is 603.271.3207.

Disclaimer:

On April 7, NH scientist and politician, Mindi Messmer, PG, CG wrote on her Facebook page: “… testing has pretty much stopped at the NH PHL. The testing penetration is so low in NH, only 1/2% of the 1.3M people, meaning 99.5% of the 1.3M have not been tested, that I am not putting up projections or tests for NH because the graphs would be meaningless and I don’t want to give the false impression that we know what’s going on in NH.”

On April 8, the National Academy of Sciences reported that 16 out of 51 tests were inaccurate. (false negatives). Others also have concerns about both false negatives and false positives.

Please keep these ideas in mind as you review the information on this page or any other page.

Resources to help in these challenging times:

Have Questions?

NH residents can dial the state’s COVID-19 hotline at 2-1-1 or 603-271-4496 for answers to questions related to the outbreak and to be directed to available resources for help.

Do YOU think you have COVID-19?

To report suspected cases, contact the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at  603-271-4496, (603-271-5300 for after hours), or nhbidc@dhhs.nhs.gov.

The IRS has released its new app to track stimulus payments, “Get My Payment.” which had been scheduled to be released on April 17. Expect to wait. (And possibly, like me, be disappointed.) If your info isn’t available today, try again tomorrow, as info is going to be updated every night.

How You Can Help Others:

Masks:

There is no excuse for not having a mask!!!

Salem:

New Hampshire:

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services:

Office of the Governor: https://www.governor.nh.gov

Mindi Messmer: A scientist who is reporting frequently on COVID-19, Mindi is also a candidate for Executive Council, District 3 (including Salem). https://www.facebook.com/Mindi4NH/ Sign up for her “Daily or So COVID-19 Updates” https://actionnetwork.org/forms/daily-or-so-covid-19-updates

More info about COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:


COVID Symptom Tracker:
This is a project of Mass General Hospital. In the absence of proper testing, let’s let them know how we are doing. https://covid.joinzoe.com/us?fbclid=IwAR2IsoxZ9RBKC4uPQscKiuUUTJCA3cCt3dUr9tjNSsFqOU1rv10jmysmt4Y

Tuft’s University: COVID-19 Convalescent (Recovered) Patient Registry

Trackers (Cases)

The World Health Organization:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

Media with NH COVID-19 news:

Housing

Unemployment

Financial Assistance

Link to other  NH benefits:

Businesses and Employers: Guidance for Small Businesses 

Sources for data included in these reports:

Please report any errors or omissions to bonnie@bonnie4salem.us. Thank you.