Posted on by Bonnie

COVID-19 Update May 3

COVID-19 Update May 3

Salem: 173 confirmed cases

173 Salem residents have tested as positive with COVID-19. That’s 11 more than yesterday; 59 for every 10,000 residents. Three other municipalities (Manchester, Nashua and Derry) have more cases than Salem. Amongst those with a significant number of cases, only Derry and Hudson have a higher percentage of their population with confirmed cases.

Yesterday, Concord became the next municipality to have more than 50 cases. Today Hudson became the smallest community to have 50+ cases. 

Manchester still has the most cases (529), but significantly less than Methuen MA, which is about 40 miles away. Methuen has 618 cases. Hudson has the most cases per 10,000, when compared to all towns with significant (at or near 50+ confirmed) cases at 74.

DHHS has an error in the numbers that they reported today. Their numbers don’t add up correctly. I feel I have to use the numbers that they provide, although I believe the number of recovered cases is incorrect, which makes the number of current/active cases wrong, as well. I believe the recovered cases should be 1,017, the same as yesterday, which would make the number of current cases 1,325. DHHS also announced 90 new cases, but the math only supports 89.

In my weekly Zoom meeting this afternoon with my family, my granddaughter said she wanted to talk about anything, as long as it’s not the virus. So here goes:

What a lovely weekend! Hopefully, you were able to take a stroll around your neighborhood, as I did. There were so many beautiful flowers in bloom! No matter how bad things get, try to find something to give you pleasure. We live in New Hampshire; we are survivors! And we will survive this crisis. Stay safe, and, always, be kind.

Key points covered below in today’s report:

  • Issues with numbers from NH DHHS:
  • Who will get the federal funds?

Also:

  • Today I added a graph of the confirmed cases in Salem.

 

Click on the calendar to enlarge
https://www.bonnie4salem.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/may2-calendar.jpg

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mindi does an excellent report daily. You can sign up to get it here.

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:

May 3May 2Change from yesterday
Total Confirmed Cases2,5182,429+89
Recovered 1,10740% (was 46%)
1,017+90
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19
863%84+2
Active Cases1,4151,238+87
Total Hospitalized28211%277+5
Current Hospitalized1031030
Tested Negative28,31825,964+2,354
Persons with specimens submitted to NH PHL10,37110,097274
Persons with test pending at NH PHL244220+24
Being Monitored (Approximate) 2,8502,800+50
Total Tested (Confirmed Cases + Tested Negative)30,83628,393+2,433

 

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!)
  • April 30: 146
  • May 1: 154
  • May 2: 162
  • May 3: 173

 

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

  • Manchester: 529 (+21 from yesterday); 47 per 10K residents
  • Nashua: 229 (+9 from yesterday); 27 per 10K residents
  • Derry: 221; (+14); 67 cases per 10K residents
  • Salem: 173 (+11); 59 cases per 10K residents
  • Londonderry: 82 (+3); 31 cases per 10K residents
  • Dover: 73 (+3); 23 cases per 10K residents
  • Bedford: 58 (+1); 26 cases per 10K.
  • Concord: 53 (+1); 27 cases pr 10K
  • Hudson: 54 (+5); 74 cases per 10K.

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, except for Franklin, which has 48 cases.

Counties:

  • Hillsborough (inc. Manchester and Nashua): 1,109 (+51); 27 per 10K residents
  • Rockingham (inc. Salem & Derry): 862 (+34); 28 per 10K

These two counties make up about 77% of all confirmed cases in NH.

Our neighboring towns:

  • Methuen: 618 (+8). 29 deaths. 231 (+ recovered (+40). 156 cases per 10K residents
  • Lawrence (as of May 2): 1,832 (+59). 80 deaths (+3); 228 cases per 10K residents
  • Haverhill: 600 cases (April 29), up 215 from April 23. 101 cases per 10K.

If more people were tested, the numbers would be higher.
Without better testing, 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

Issues with numbers from NH DHHS:
1. Correction: Yesterday I crunched my numbers based on what the NH Department of Health & Human Services supplied. This morning I realized that the numbers didn’t add up properly. In digging into it, I realized that DHHS has amended its report for the number of current cases. The number of active cases should have been reported as 1,328, not 1,238. I have updated yesterday’s calendar to reflect this correction.

2. And, today’s numbers are off again. Last night the count was off by 90. Tonight it is off by 90.

When I take yesterday’s total current (active) cases, add the number of new diagnoses, remove the number of new recovered cases, and the number of deaths, I expect to get the number of today’s total current cases as reported by DHHS. I don’t.

If you are interested, here’s my accounting: 1,328+(2,518-2,429)-(1107-1017)-(86-84) = 1328+(89)-(90)-(2)=1,325. DHHS is reporting 1,415 current cases, a difference of 90. If I was a betting gal, I’d say that there were no recovered cases reported today, and the number from yesterday 1,017, is unchanged; and the 1,107 on the report is another transposition error.
I have emailed them to verify this, but have not heard back yet. (It was late in the day when these numbers were released). In the meantime, I will have to use their numbers on the calendar.

DHHS also announced 90 new cases, but the math only supports 89.

Who will get the federal funds?

After two weeks of testimony from state agencies, businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, hospitals and other health-care providers, educators, higher education, first responders, social service providers and representatives of other niches in the state’s economy, it is time to decide where the $1.25 billion in federal CARES Act money will go.

As it stands now, the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recover (GOFERR) and a Stakeholder Advisory Board will make recommendations to Gov. Sununu, who will then make the final decision on how the funds are spent on his own. 

In the meantime, Governor Sununu and members of the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee await the ruling of Judge Anderson in the lawsuit filed by members of the committee, which is responsible for distribution of the State’s funds, per the NH Constitution. The Judge originally ruled in favor of Governor Sununu, but has been asked to reconsider after lawmakers filed an amended complaint. Read more about the lawsuit.

Hospitals, the hospitality industry, nonprofits, education, childcare industry and others are asking for assistance. What is clear is that there are pressing needs, and no where near enough funds to take care of everyone. Read more about the disbursement of funds.

 

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.

Resource Compilations:

From Congresswoman Annie Kuster: A list of many resources, including Keeping Safe from COVID-19; New Hampshire Specific COVID-19 Information; Direct Payment to Granite Staters (Economic Impact Payments); Support for Small Businesses; Unemployment Assistance; Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Survivors; Student Loans; Taxes; Traveling Internationally; Veterans. https://kuster.house.gov/covid-19

Mental Health Resources, compiled by Jan Schmidt, Alderman and State Rep in Nashua. http://janschmidt4ward1.com/uncategorized/free-online-meetings-and-virtual-platforms/

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

COVID-19: The CIDRAP Viewpoint.  https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/downloads/cidrap-covid19-viewpoint-part1_0.pdfhttps://www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/downloads/cidrap-covid19-viewpoint-part1_0.pdf

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.