COVID cases keep rising in NH, topping 400 per day

Apr. 10—Editor's note: The Sentinel is switching from daily updates on COVID-19 statistics in New Hampshire to weekly updates examining trends in the data, with the aim of providing a clearer picture of the state of the pandemic. If you have questions or suggestions for what you'd like to see covered in one of these updates, email the writer at pbooth@keenesentinel.com.

New Hampshire is now averaging more than 400 new COVID-19 cases per day, as the upward trend of the past few weeks continues.

The rate of daily cases is now approximately the same as it was in late November, as the winter surge picked up, or early February, as that surge receded.

It's a 79 percent increase from a month ago, when cases were at their lowest point in 2021 — averaging 239 new cases per day for the week ending March 6. That reflects a national trend of rising cases.

New Hampshire, like the rest of the country, experienced a devastating winter surge of coronavirus infections that peaked at more than 800 per day for parts of December and January. Cases began to drop rapidly later in January, but health experts warned that relaxed social-distancing practices and the spread of more contagious variants could spark a new wave of cases. Cases have now been rising for about a month.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in New Hampshire has also started to drift up, after fluctuating between 60 and 80 through most of March. As of Friday, 100 people were hospitalized with confirmed cases of the disease.

Deaths, however, have continued to decline, according to state data.

That may be due to high rates of vaccination among seniors, who are more vulnerable to the virus. Nationally, more than 55 percent of seniors are fully vaccinated, and more than three-quarters have had at least one dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Federal health officials said this week that there has been a decline in hospitalizations among seniors, but the country is now seeing more cases among younger adults, including outbreaks linked to youth sports. Hospitals are reporting more adults in their 30s and 40s being treated for "severe disease," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press briefing Wednesday.

Walensky also said that B.1.1.7, a more contagious variant first identified in Britain, has now become the most common strain of the virus in the U.S., according to CDC estimates.

At the same time, Walensky said, the increasing number of vaccinations is a piece of good news, and will ultimately be the way out of the pandemic.

"These trends are pointing to two clear truths. One, the virus still has hold on us — infecting people and putting them in harm's way — and we need to remain vigilant," she said. "And, two, we need to continue to accelerate our vaccination efforts and to take the individual responsibility to get vaccinated when we can."

In New Hampshire, nearly 500,000 people — 36 percent of the population — had been at least partially vaccinated as of Thursday, Beth Daly, chief of the state's infectious disease bureau, said at a news conference that day. About 276,000 people had been fully vaccinated.

About 60 percent of state residents 16 and older had either been vaccinated or registered for an appointment, Daly said.

Here's a look at some of the latest data for New Hampshire and Cheshire County

What's happening locally?

Cheshire County has seen 164 new cases over the past two weeks — something of a decline after a spike in February and March. The county added 249 cases in the two weeks ending March 11.

Cheshire County's test positivity rate for the past seven days was 1.5 percent — significantly lower than the state as a whole, at 5.2 percent.

The following communities in The Sentinel's coverage area had known active cases as of Friday, according to the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services: Keene (38), Rindge (13), Peterborough (12), Hinsdale (10), Jaffrey (9), and Antrim, Charlestown, Chesterfield, Dublin, Greenfield, Hancock, Langdon, Nelson, Stoddard, Swanzey, Troy, Walpole, Westmoreland and Winchester, all with one to four cases each.

Statewide data

New Hampshire averaged 429 new cases per day over the week ending Friday. That includes the 552 new cases announced Friday, at least 11 of which were in Cheshire County.

The state announced eight deaths over the past week, one of which occurred in December but was only recently confirmed as related to COVID-19. One of the other seven deaths was of a Cheshire County resident.

As of Friday, the state had about 3,500 known active cases, and 100 people in hospitals with confirmed COVID-19.

There have been more than 87,000 total cases and 1,251 total COVID-related deaths in New Hampshire since the pandemic began.

Paul Cuno-Booth can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or pbooth@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @PCunoBoothKS.