COVID by the Numbers, December 7 edition.

Hello, everyone.  Reporting on COVID numbers is still tricky, as I keep waiting for DHHS to get caught up with their numbers, and they keep not getting caught up.  This means that the numbers for past days keep getting revised, so I am just using the numbers on the day they were reported, not on the day they were reassigned to.  My head hurts. 

Walpole has gone from 11 total cases to 18 total cases.  The good news is that active cases here have dropped from 8 to below 5.  How is it that we had 7 new cases reported this week, but do not still have at least 7 active cases by the end of the week?  I’m thinking this is due to the lag times in reporting the active cases initially—by the time they are reported to DHHS, they are well on their way to recovery.  This is just a guess on my part, though.

In Cheshire County, there were 143 new cases reported last week, up from 127 the week before.  The county 7 day moving average of cases per 100,000 is at 36.6, up from 34.6 last week.

Statewide, the average daily number of cases per 100,000 is now up to 56.9. so we are now right at the average for the entire country.  Just six days ago, we were at 31.1.  Up until now, New Hampshire has always been well below the national average, so this figure is troubling.

Nationally, the average daily number of cases per 100,000 is at 57, up from 52 last week.

Current hospitalizations in NH are at 169, up from 146 as of my last report.

And sadly, 38 New Hampshire lives were lost last week, up from 18 the week before.

The bottom line is that there are more COVID positive cases than at any time up to now, and the indications are that the numbers will continue to rise until a significant portion of the population is vaccinated.  Bear in mind that even when the vaccine arrives, which it will do slowly, you need to receive two doses, and then it will be up to 28 days after the second dose for those vaccinated to develop full immunity.

Wear your mask, keep your distance, wash your hands, and be careful out there.

Keep well,

~ Representative Lucy Weber lwmcv@comcast.net 603-499-0282.