A Sad Milestone
With little notice, New Hampshire passed a very unfortunate milestone last week as our state hit and then surpassed 3,000 deaths from COVID-19. Some additional numbers:
More than 3/4 of NH’s COVID deaths have been in the 70+ age group.
1,324 deaths (44%) occurred in long-term care settings
More men (1605) have died than women (1395)
COVID has also claimed 15 of our healthcare heroes
Unlike previous pandemics, thankfully children have so far proven to be the most resilient age group to COVID and its variants. Although kids age-19-and-under comprise 24% of Granite State cases, the death count in this age group (1) hasn’t changed since 2021.
But the numbers don’t even begin to tell the stories of the people we’ve lost. From a New Hampshire House Speaker to the grandmothers and grandfathers who put their trust in an elder care system that struggled mightily to protect them and ultimately couldn’t, COVID has broken our hearts.
The numbers also don’t tell the stories of those lost to misinformation and the politicization of a healthcare crisis who otherwise might have been saved. Older, unvaccinated Granite Staters continue to be the most vulnerable. To this day, 14% of New Hampshire residents have never been vaccinated. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced 6 additional deaths.
So what have more than 3,000 pandemic-related deaths taught us in New Hampshire? Unfortunately for some, the answer is “not much.” On Monday, HB539, a bill that would ban school vaccination clinics during school hours will be voted on by the House Education Committee. It’s one of many bills proposed in the legislature since 2021 that would impede future public health responses to future pandemic threats.
On the brighter side, COVID taught other Granite Staters far different lessons. We learned to be grateful for the sacrifices of health care workers, teachers, and other essential workers who put themselves on the front lines for us; to be skeptical of both conspiracy theories and miracle cures; to better appreciate the minor miracle of “normalcy”; and to be grateful we live in a time when science can not only give us hope, but quickly respond with treatments that can save lives .
But perhaps the greatest lesson of COVID is that when we open our hearts, refuse to close off our minds, come together as a community, and stick together in the worst of times; we can find the strength to endure and get through them together.