Health officials report slight uptick in COVID cases

BERLIN — After a quiet July, local health officials saw a slight uptick in active COVID-19 cases last week but said the numbers are still low. The region’s first monkeypox vaccines are scheduled to arrive this week at Coos County Family Health Services.

The Androscoggin Valley Community COVID-19 group met Thursday for the first time since June 30 to share information and data.

Androscoggin Valley Hospital President Michael Peterson said after a quiet summer, the hospital had 10 positive cases in the emergency department last week. He said four positive of the cases were on Saturday, noting things were busy in the emergency room with the ATV festival that weekend. Peterson said there was one positive COVID-19 patient in the medical-surgical unit but none in the ICU or on a ventilator.

He said one staff member was out with COVID. With relatively low volume, he said the hospital was stable and in a good place.

Coos County Family Health Services COO Valerie Hart said her report was similar to AVH’s.

“We have seen more activity in the past week. It's not tremendous activity, but it's certainly a little bit more than what we have been experiencing,” she said.

Since the group last met, she said CCFHS has performed 42 tests for COVID-19 and 13 came back positive. Eight of the 13 were given oral antiviral treatment. Hart said they have three staff members out with COVID.

She said CCFHS remains a test-to-treat facility and offers respiratory trailer services in Gorham and at Page Hill in Berlin. The Pleasant Street trailer in Berlin is not open to the public because of the building expansion underway there. The agency does testing Monday through Friday for kids and adults and on the weekends for for kids and adults who are symptomatic.

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Hart said CCFHS has done 119 vaccines since the group last met and said the majority have been booster doses. They did a pediatric clinic that gave vaccines to 20 kids. They offer the Moderna vaccine to children 6 months to 4 years old. Only Pfizer is offered to those 5 years old and older.

Hart said CCFHS is scheduled to receive some monkeypox vaccines this week and will be offering the vaccine soon. She said each vial has the potential for five doses so they hope to do mini clinics of at least five people. Hart said they have been told to prioritize groups that are at a higher risk of exposure including health-care workers. Individuals, 18 and older, with potential exposure can call CCFHS to schedule an appointment.

New Hampshire just received an additional 1,140 doses of the Jynneos vaccine to add to the 327 doses it received earlier, so supplies are limited.

Earlier this month, President Biden declared monkeypox a national health emergency. The federal Centers for Disease Control reports the United States now has more than 10,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox.

So far, there has been 15 reported cases of Monkey Pox in New Hampshire. No cases have been reported in the Berlin-Gorham area.

There are no reported deaths from monkeypox in this country but symptoms can last for weeks and can include muscle aches, a painful rash, respiratory symptoms, and chills, among other things. The viral disease is most often spread through direct contact, including personal, skin-to-skin contact.

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