COVID by the Numbers—March 14 Edition

Writing this column is always something of a roller coaster.  On Saturday, there were only 7 new cases of COVID in Cheshire County, the first time in single digits in a long time.  Whew! We must be turning the corner.  Not so fast…on Sunday, Cheshire County had 24 new cases…DARN!  In some respects, we seem to be making no progress at all, or even losing a little ground, but overall, we are making slow progress.

Last week the state as a whole did quite well.  You  may remember that statewide, the seven-day average of reported cases per 100,000 went down from 21.1 to 16.1.  This week, it’s back up a little, to 17.1.  Still, the longer term trend is in the right direction.

Over the same two week period, active cases have gone from 2,532 down to 2,062, and now stand at 2,190.  Hospitalizations have gone from 89 to 88 to 71 this week.  We lost 16 citizens statewide two weeks ago; last week the number was 14; this week the number was 15.   As of this writing, 78,615 cases of COVID have been confirmed in the state.

In Cheshire County, our seven day average of reported cases per 100,000 is better. The county went from an average of 23.1 cases per 100,000 two weeks ago, then up to an average of 24.8 last week. This week, we are down to 17.5. The infection rate for