Substantial spread of COVID-19 now seen in Nashua, health officials say

One of New Hampshire’s largest cities is now considered a “red” community because of rising transmission levels of COVID-19.>> Download the free WMUR appThe spread of the coronavirus in Nashua is now considered substantial, up from moderate, according to Nashua public health officials. They said they have been following the trend of rising cases in the city and surrounding towns for the past month.”Our new cases per 100,000 is at about 100.7, which is what pushed us from moderate community level transmission to substantial community level transmission,” said Nashua epidemiologist Angela Consentino.Consentino said the COVID-19 numbers in Nashua and the rest of the state have been trending up for the past month as schools reopen and the weather turns colder. She said each individual case is also having more of an impact.”That means each case is exposing more than they did in the spring, which, in the long run, leads to more cases,” she said.Nashua’s public health director Bobbie Bagley said slowing the spread depends on people following good practices, including washing hands, wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.”And that decisions that I make personally are going to have an impact on those that are around me,” Bagley said.Nashua has an ordinance in place requiring the wearing of a mask when social distancing is not possible. Bagley said she believes it’s making a difference.”We could have more cases if we didn’t have the mask ordinance, although that’s hard to measure,” she said.Nashua health officials are urging the public to do one other thing: Get a flu shot.”To reduce the burden of the additional flu into our hospitals and our community and everything,” said Flavia Martin, coordinator of the communicable disease program.Nashua officials said that a few weeks ago, they were seeing spikes in COVID-19 cases among 19- to 29-year-olds, but that has now slowed, and the majority of cases are in people 65 and older, those who are most at risk of developing serious symptoms

One of New Hampshire’s largest cities is now considered a “red” community because of rising transmission levels of COVID-19.

>> Download the free WMUR app

The spread of the coronavirus in Nashua is now considered substantial, up from moderate, according to Nashua public health officials. They said they have been following the trend of rising cases in the city and surrounding towns for the past month.

“Our new cases per 100,000 is at about 100.7, which is what pushed us from moderate community level transmission to substantial community level transmission,” said Nashua epidemiologist Angela Consentino.

Consentino said the COVID-19 numbers in Nashua and the rest of the state have been trending up for the past month as schools reopen and the weather turns colder. She said each individual case is also having more of an impact.

“That means each case is exposing more than they did in the spring, which, in the long run, leads to more cases,” she said.

Nashua’s public health director Bobbie Bagley said slowing the spread depends on people following good practices, including washing hands, wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.

“And that decisions that I make personally are going to have an impact on those that are around me,” Bagley said.

Nashua has an ordinance in place requiring the wearing of a mask when social distancing is not possible. Bagley said she believes it’s making a difference.

“We could have more cases if we didn’t have the mask ordinance, although that’s hard to measure,” she said.

Nashua health officials are urging the public to do one other thing: Get a flu shot.

“To reduce the burden of the additional flu into our hospitals and our community and everything,” said Flavia Martin, coordinator of the communicable disease program.

Nashua officials said that a few weeks ago, they were seeing spikes in COVID-19 cases among 19- to 29-year-olds, but that has now slowed, and the majority of cases are in people 65 and older, those who are most at risk of developing serious symptoms

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