Crisis sometimes brings out the worst in people

There are two really disturbing things you should be aware. Someone put petal or perhaps razor blades in frozen pizza dough, and a new fake IRS scam that is disturbingly personal. If you ever receive a call allegedly from the IRS, Social Security, or another government agency demanding immediate payment for something, call the police. You would receive letters, not calls. In the event that there were actual papers to serve, the Sheriff’s Dept. would do it or know about it. There is simply no scenario where they arrive ad demand payment for something. When in doubt, call the police.

~ Steve

Dangerous pizza dough

In the last few weeks, razor blades or blade fragments were found in pizza dough made by It’ll Be Pizza (branded as Portland Pie Co.) in Hannaford stores in Saco and Dover. Read more at https://www.eagletimes.com/opinion/facts-too-hard-to-come-by-in-pizza-dough-case/article_441ce024-fc6f-5987-91d9-446808ccadaa.html

‘It was very scary’: IRS scammer shows up at woman’s home, demands $15,000

Lia Michaels, of Lebanon, said she received a call Thursday afternoon from some claiming to be from the IRS.

She said she was expecting a call so she picked up the phone.

“Probably shouldn’t have because it was this person saying that they were from the IRS and that I owed the money and that they were going to come get me because I owed them money.”

She hung up the phone, but minutes later, a white SUV pulled into her Guyer Street driveway. More at https://www.wmur.com/article/it-was-very-scary-irs-scammer-shows-up-at-womans-home-demands-dollar15000/34407075

Grafton County placed on Vermont quarantine list

People living in the Upper Valley region found themselves sorting out a new quarantine order from Vermont this week that restricts travel to and from the New Hampshire side of the Connecticut River.

“It certainly caught us off guard,” said Hanover Town Manager Juli Griffin.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced this week that New Hampshire’s Grafton County is considered an elevated COVID-19 risk, and people traveling to or from that county for recreation or extended visits will be required to quarantine for 14 days when entering Vermont. More at https://www.unionleader.com/news/health/coronavirus/grafton-county-placed-on-vermont-quarantine-list/article_3a341e08-0627-5e30-9890-6eda1a327433.html

COVID Metrics

Goal 1: No sustained increase in number of new hospitalizations related to COVID-19. Have we met this goal? Yes.

The two-week average of new hospitalizations has hovered between one-half and one per day all summer. It isn’t going down but it doesn’t seem to be rising, either.

Goal 2: A two-week drop in new cases. Have we met this goal? No.

As mentioned above, the two-week average in daily new cases is rising at a rate not seen since the start of the pandemic, having doubled in less than a month. The average was 35 on Sept. 25 and had risen to 76 by Saturday.

Goal 3: Fewer than four new cases per 100,000 people each day, or 54 new cases a day. Have we met this goal? No.

The average number of new cases was below the per-capita level commonly used as a sign of widespread infection for four months, from mid-June to early October, but is much higher now.

Goal 4: Conducting at least 150 PCR tests per 100,000 people each day, or 2,000 tests per day. Have we met this goal? Yes, easily.

The addition of rapid antigen tests brought the average number of tests over 6,000 for the week.

Goal 5: A positive rate of PCR tests below 5%, indicating that we’re doing enough testing to get a good handle on how widespread the virus is. Have we met this goal? Yes, easily.

As measured by the Department of Health and Human Services, the positive rate for PCR tests has been about 1% recently. Antigen tests have a higher positive rate, sometimes rising above 5%, but fewer exist so the rate fluctuates greatly.

(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)

COVID tracker: Sharp rise in cases is alarmingly similar to the Spanish Flu epidemic

Everybody expected a resurgence of COVID-19 when autumn arrived but that doesn’t make it any less alarming that New Hampshire, like much of the Northern Hemisphere, is seeing a rise in cases and deaths. More at https://www.concordmonitor.com/covid-coronavirus-nh-new-hampshrie-36827688

NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – October 18, 2020

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has issued the following update on the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

On Sunday, October 18, 2020, DHHS announced 70 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a daily PCR test positivity rate of 0.7%. Today’s results include 58 people who tested positive by PCR test and 12 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 971 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire.

Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates. Of those with complete information, there are twelve individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 47% being female and 53% being male. The new cases reside in Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (15), Rockingham (14), Merrimack (9), Belknap (3), Strafford (3), Coos (2), Cheshire (1), Grafton (1), and Sullivan (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (12) and Nashua (6). The county of residence is being determined for three new cases.

No new hospitalized cases were reported. There are currently 17 individuals hospitalized with COVID-

1. None of the new cases had no identified risk factors. Community-based transmission continues to occur in the State and has been identified in all counties. Of those with complete risk information, most of the cases have either had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis or are associated with an outbreak setting.

DHHS has also announced one additional death related to COVID-19. We offer our sympathies to the family and friends.

• 1 male resident of Merrimack County, 60 years of age and older

In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 9,694 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 761 (8%) of those having been hospitalized.

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report

(data updated as of October 18, 2020 – 9:00 AM)

¹ Includes specimens positive at any laboratory and those confirmed by CDC confirmatory testing.
² Includes specimens tested at the NH Public Health Laboratories (PHL), LabCorp, Quest, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Mako, certain hospital laboratories, the University of New Hampshire and their contracted laboratory, and those sent to CDC prior to NH PHL testing capacity.
³ Includes specimens received and awaiting testing at NH PHL. Does not include tests pending at commercial laboratories.