Posted on by Bonnie

COVID-19 Update January 31

COVID-19 Update January 31

  • Total: 2,076 confirmed cases in Salem. 
  • Salem’s Positivity Rate for the past 2 weeks: 8.1%
  • 1 out of every 14 Salem residents have been infected 
  • Salem today: 13 new cases; 161 active cases. 

• • • • • • Report from NH Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS) • • • • • • 

On Sunday, January 31, 2021, DHHS announced 369 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a current PCR test positivity rate of 3.0%. Today’s results include 252 people who tested positive by PCR test and 117 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 4,886 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. Of the results reported today: 

  • 1/29: 128 new cases today, for an updated total of 525 cases 
  • 1/30: 241 new cases 

Test results for previous days are still being processed and the total number of new positives for those days are not yet complete. Updated case counts for prior days will be reflected on the COVID-19 interactive dashboard. 

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

  • Salem has 13 new cases today. Although NH has 670 people who have been reported as “recovered,” Salem’s active cases only went down by one.
  • NH DHHS reported 369 new cases today. This is the lowest day since November 22.
  • Active cases today are 4,886, the first time this year that it has been under 5,000. The last time it was lower than this was December 6.
  • 670 people were reported as “recovered” today, bringing the total for the month of January to 22,402, with a daily average of 722 people.
  • Since the last update, 4 more people were admitted to the hospital for the first time.  In January, 135 people were hospitalized, for a daily average of 4.4 people.
  • There are now 200 people who are currently hospitalized in NH with COVID-19.  The last time it was lower than this was December 7.
  • One more person was admitted to the ICU in the 24-hours covered by this report, bringing January’s total to 30 admissions.
  • Another 15 people died in NH from COVID since the last update. 298 people have died in NH from COVID-19 in January, accounting for 28% of all of those who have died in NH since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • I’ve updated the graph of Salem’s cases. Notice how, although the cumulative cases continue to rise, the active cases have pretty much flat-lined for the month of January. We are adding as many new cases as fast as we are removing cases.
  • I’ve also updated the graph of NH cases by 1,000’s. We doubled the cases from December 8 to January 13, and from December 15 to now. Note how the interval of the number of days appears to be slowing down.

• • • • • • Communities • • • • • •

  • NH DHHS reports that the new cases reside in Rockingham (83), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (68), Merrimack (34), Strafford (33), Cheshire (18), Sullivan (18), Belknap (11), Carroll (11), Grafton (10), and Coos (2) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (34) and Nashua (32). The county of residence is being determined for fifteen new cases. 
  • • • • • • • DIAGNOSTIC TESTS IN NH • • • • • •
  • New positive cases by my math (Total of today’s cases minus previous total): 333
  • New positive cases per DHHS: 369
    • 229 PCR tests
    • 104 Antigen tests
    • PCR percentage: 68.8%
  • Children under 18 in new cases: 59
  • % of new cases announced by DHHS today that are kids under 18 years old: 16.0%
  • Total positive cases in NH: 65,695
  • Percentage of today’s tests that are positive per DHHS: 3.0%
  • Total PCR test results reported today (Positive results plus negative results): 1,307
  • New negative results reported today: 974
  • Total negative cases in NH: 533,138

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

  • Total cases in Rockingham County: 16,022
  • New cases in Rockingham County: 83
  • Rockingham County Positivity Rate: 7.3%
  • Percent of NH cases that are from Rockingham County: 24.4% 

• • • • • • CHANGES BY AGES • • • • • •  
(Including increases since yesterday.)

  • 0-9: Total cases: 3002(+25); Hospitalizations: 7; Deaths: 0
  • 10-19: Total cases: 6798(+40); Hospitalizations: 7; Deaths: 0
  • 20-29: Total cases: 12356(+67); Hospitalizations: 24; Deaths: 2 (+1)
  • 30-39: Total cases: 9622(+44); Hospitalizations: 45; Deaths: 3 (+1)
  • 40-49: Total cases: 8844(+46); Hospitalizations: 84; Deaths: 9
  • 50-59: Total cases: 10565(+57); Hospitalizations: 133 (+2); Deaths: 18
  • 60-69: Total cases: 7095(+36); Hospitalizations: 244; Deaths: 83
  • 70-79: Total cases: 3810(+15); Hospitalizations: 245; Deaths: 236
  • 80+: Total cases: 3516(+6); Hospitalizations: 248; Deaths: 706
  • Unknown: Total cases: 87(+-3); Hospitalizations: 0; Deaths: 0

• • • • • • ACTIVE CASES • • • • • •                          

  • Active cases in NH: 4,886
  • Active cases in Rockingham County: 1,160
  • Percent of NH’s active cases that are in Rockingham County: 23.7%

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

  • Announced today: 670
  • Total Recovered: 59,752
  • Percentage of diagnosed cases that have recovered: 91.0% 

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

  • Currently hospitalized: 200
  • New people hospitalized from NH: 4
  • Total hospitalized patients: 1,037
  • Percentage of those who have been infected that have been hospitalized: 1.58%
  • Total admitted to ICU: 330
  • New hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 1
  • Total hospitalized patients from Rockingham County: 239

• • • • • • DEATHS IN NH • • • • • • 

  • Lives lost today: 15
  • Persons over 60 years of age who died today: 13
  • Persons under 60 years of age who died today: 2
  • Total fatalities in NH associated with COVID-19: 1,057
  • NH Residents diagnosed with COVID-19 that died: 1.61%
  • Lives lost in Rockingham County today: 3
  • Total lives lost in Rockingham County: 183

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!

“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.”

I include this reminder in every update. In my template where I collect all of the data for each day’s update, I have this reminder in big, bold, and colorful letters, as a reminder to myself. 

When I report on new deaths, it is hard. I make myself remember that these are not just numbers. I wonder what their stories are. With the number of lives that we have been losing lately, it’s becoming really hard to report. January has been NH’s deadliest month. Although there are days when we’ve lost more than today, today is really tough.

There have been 133 people in their 50’s who have been hospitalized because of COVID-19, including two today. Since the pandemic started, two people in their 20’s have died, including one today. And since the pandemic started, three people in their 30’s have died, including one today. It’s sad when we lose a senior, but when we lose people who haven’t had the opportunity to live a full life, it’s a real struggle.

I don’t know who these people are. DHHS says, “We offer our sympathies to the family and friends.” I can’t say that; it feels too … superficial. But I will confess that I shed tears tonight. May they all rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing to those who did know them.

On a brighter side, the number of new and active cases in NH feel like they are going down, and Salem’s new cases are going down a little, and our active cases are stable.

Please, don’t become a statistic. Do everything you can to stay safe, and always, be kind.

~Bonnie

The following video was posted almost two months ago. Things have changed in that time. On October 2, US deaths were 1,035,451, according to the video. (My records say 1,033,174 per WorldOmeter.) WorldOMeter now says the global death rate is 1,446,889, an increase of 413,715 in less than two months. Just please remember that there is a lot more between COVID->Death vs. COVID->Recovery. More and more, long-haulers are making the news, as are other consequences of COVID-19.

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/

Useful links

Sources used to create these reports:

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