Nashua Officials See Spike In Positive COVID Cases, Expect More

NASHUA, NH — As the reality of colder temperatures settling into the region drew closer, local health officials braced for what they knew would be a rise in the number of positive coronavirus cases that would hit the area.

What they didn’t expect, however, was the fast and furious rate at which the virus would impact local residents. A day after New Hampshire reached 300 daily positive cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Nashua officials announced Friday that the city is currently dealing with 295 active cases this week. The spike in cases is the highest since May and takes the number of confirmed cases in Nashua to 1,484 since the pandemic began, Mayor Jim Donchess said Friday.

The city is currently seeing a 6.6 percent hospitalization rate at a time when both cases and those being hospitalized across the United States continues to rise. Health officials announced 145,000 new cases across the country on Thursday, which continues to concern officials at the state and local levels. In addition, Donchess said there are currently 314 people who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus, which has led to 40 deaths in Nashua since March.

The surge in positive cases comes after a summer when local officials were reporting between 25-30 active cases in a week. Now, with the rate nearly 10 times as high, Donchess expects that positive cases will rise as December and even colder temperatures approach New England.

On Thursday, Gov. Chris Sununu predicted that the state could see up to 1,000 new cases in a day in coming weeks. While tripling the record number of positive cases that was reported in New Hampshire Thursday may seem extreme, Nashua Public Health Director Bobby Bagley said Friday such a leap isn’t out of the realm of possibility at a time she characterized Friday as "tumultuous."

“The prediction of 1,000 cases a day doesn’t mean that has to happen,” Bagley said at a news conference Friday. “But if we don’t change something, it can happen. If we don’t change our behaviors, if we don’t change how we’re social distancing, these things can happen. But we can stop it.”

Bagley and Donchess both referenced Nashua’s mask ordinance, which stresses the need to wear face-coverings in public places. Both also warned local residents to be careful at social gatherings, including those involving families for upcoming holiday celebrations. Sununu said Thursday that public gatherings are among the biggest contributors to the spike in positive cases being seen recently and stressed the need for residents to remain vigilant at gatherings.

A day after Sununu said he understood that COVID fatigue has set in, Donchess encouraged Nashua residents to remain committed to following guidelines put in place to help limit the spread of the virus.

“We’ve made a lot of sacrifices,” Donchess said. “But we’ve done this together and I'm really proud of the Nashua community with the way everyone has pulled together to accomplish this. We've worn our masks, we've limited our travel and in that way have protected ourselves and others in our community from catching COVID-19.

"We knew there would be a lot of cases ... but we know that there would be a lot more, more than the 295 if we have (this week), if, together, we weren't making these sacrifices and working together to protect the community."

New Tax Rate: City officials announced this week that the city tax rate for this year is $22.61. The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration set the tax rate at $22.61, an increase of 3.9 percent over the previous rate of $21.76.

City officials said that two significant factors which contributed to the 3.9% increase are health care costs rising at a rate of $3 million per year and anticipated lost revenues related to COVID-19.The increase means the owner of a home assessed at $250,000 will pay $212.50 more in local property taxes this year.