Coronavirus In New Hampshire: 21 More Fatalities

CONCORD, NH — Another 21 people have died due to or related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to state health officials.

During the previous week, five people who were 80 years of age or older died. Another eight in the 70 to 79 age bracket, four in the 60 to 69 age group, and single deaths in both the 50- to 59-years-old and 40 to 49 age bracket also died. The deaths included a man from Belknap County, a woman and two men from Cheshire County, a man from Coos County, two women and eight men from Hillsborough County, a woman and two men from Rockingham County, one man from Strafford County, and a woman from Sullivan County. Two were connected to long-term care settings. Two of the deaths — the man from Belknap County and the man from Coos County occurred between Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 but were also discovered to be COVID-19 deaths later.

There have been 1,683 deaths in New Hampshire since March 2020 connected to COVID-19.

Fatalities for people under 60 crossed the 100 mark in New Hampshire to 102 deaths total. They make up around 6 percent of the fatalities. Most of the under 60 deaths, 61, have been in the 50 to 59 age bracket.

During the past week, 4,898 new infections were reported bringing the total number to 155,711 in New Hampshire. There were 8,048 active infections as of Friday. About 367 were hospitalized, an increase of 51 during the past week. Nearly 146,000 have recovered from the virus. More than 75.4 percent of the state’s population has been tested at least once while nearly 3.476 million tests have been administered. COVID-19 shots have been administered to 60.9 percent of residents as well as nearly 57,000 non-residents.

The state of New Hampshire has 508 active cases connected to a K-12 school setting. Those cases include eight at the Riddle Brook School in Bedford, the Main Dunstable School in Nashua, and the James Mastricola Upper Elementary School in Merrimack; seven cases at the Peter Woodbury School in Bedford, the James Mastricola Elementary School in Merrimack, the Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua, and Exeter High School; five cases at Thornstons Ferry School in Merrimack, Nashua High School North, and the McKelvie Intermediate School in Bedford; four cases at Rundlett Middle School in Concord, Nashua High School South, and the Charlotte Avenue Elementary School in Nashua; the Windham Center School, St. John Regional School in Concord, the Jacques Memorial Elementary School in Milford, the Hampton Centre School, and Concord High School all have three cases; those schools reporting two cases include the Windham Middle School, the Sunset Heights School in Nashua, St. Joseph Regional Catholic School in Salem, the New Franklin School in Portsmouth, the Merrimack Middle School, the Merrimack High School, the Ledge Street School in Nashua, the Elm street Middle School in Nashua, the Broad Street Elementary School in Nashua, Bedford Middle School, the Beaver Meadow Elementary School in Concord, and the Amherst Middle School. There are dozens of schools with a single case.

At colleges and universities in New Hampshire, there are 145 active cases including 45 at UNH in Durham, 43 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, 21 at Plymouth State University, and 14 at Keene State College. Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, and Franklin Pierce University in Rindge all have six cases each. MCPHS University in Manchester has three cases and NHTI, Concord’s community college, has a single case.

NH Breakthrough Data Still Unavailable

For more than two weeks, Patch has been waiting to update readers with breakthrough case data for the months of August, September, and October.

Breakthrough cases are people who were vaccinated for COVID-19 but became infected or died later. The data is key to understanding both vaccine efficacy and the delta variant which is now the most prevalent strain of the virus.

But we will all have to wait a bit longer.

The state, according to Kathy Remillard, a public information officer for the NH DHHS Bureau of Communications, was working with pharmacies “to address the disparities between the CDC’s vaccination data and the vaccination data reported to the state.” In an email, she said once the disparities were resolved, the breakthrough data would be reported.

Remillard also sent a link to an Oct. 21 letter from Gov. Chris Sununu to the Legislature explaining how without the previously rejected but approved later federal public health funds, the state data would be “limited in its understanding of vaccine breakthrough cases” and health care providers would have incomplete information. This, the letter said, would require state policymakers and health officials to rely on the CDC data but would not be able to verify the information to the New Hampshire data.

When asked why the data was available previously without the extra funds but not now, Remillard did not respond.

In Vermont, a state with similar demographics, economics, and size to New Hampshire, which has been held up by some as a model nationally due to higher vaccination rates, breakthrough data is published. While slow to be released, it is published more frequently and thoroughly than in New Hampshire.

The latest data for the state was published on Nov. 19 as part of a summary updated every other week.

A photo of the Vermont Department of Health breakthrough case slide

According to the data, since summer, breakthrough cases have increased exponentially in the state. The last available reporting period showed 902 fully vaccinated residents tested positive (the week ending Nov. 7). During that same week, around 2,400 residents tested positive meaning that more than 37 percent of the positive test results for that week were vaccinated. During the week ending Oct. 31, breakthrough cases were more than 56 percent of all new infections in Vermont.

The percentage is similar to data published in late July and early August in Vermont which showed as many as 40 percent of the new infections being breakthrough cases.

The latest data from Vermont challenges the continued presumption that the current state of coronavirus is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. It actually appears to be a pandemic of both the unvaccinated and vaccinated.

The key now is to see if the data is similar in New Hampshire.

ALSO READ:

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• Covid Conversations: Dr. Christine Arsnow On Vaccinations For Kids
• Mask-Less Sununu Raises Concerns Shaking Kids' Hands As COVID-19 Sets New Records
• New Hampshire Coronavirus: 40 COVID-19 Deaths Reported In 7 Days
• Despite Attack Ads And COVID-19 Fatigue, Sununu Still Near Top Of Gov Rankings

COVID-19 Info For NH

COVID-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which was first discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The virus is spread through the transfer of microscopic respiratory droplets, usually by coughing, sneezing, or exposure to others who are sick, whether they show symptoms or not.

Since the discovery of the first case in New Hampshire in March 2020, there have been a number of recommendations and changes to recommendations on how to prevent the virus and disease. The latest New Hampshire Universal Best Practices for the public, businesses, and schools can be found linked here, in PDF format. For resources in NH, including vaccine, testing, and treatment information, visit the state's resources and guidance page, linked here.

Basic health concepts to reduce the risk of infection include ensuring social distancing (staying 3 to 6 feet away from other people); washing hands with soap and water (for at least 20 seconds) or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol; wearing a facemask in indoor public spaces or outdoor spaces with large crowds; avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth, and sneezing into a sleeve or tissue that is disposed of later; avoid sharing dishes, glasses, bedding, and other household items when sick; clean or disinfect high-touch surfaces; avoid public transportation when sick; and work remotely, if possible.

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