Rochester's map count of COVID-19 cases carried faulty numbers since early June

ROCHESTER - The chief of the state's Bureau of Infectious Disease Control confirmed on Wednesday that Rochester's numbers for current COVID-19 cases have not been updated since early June resulting in faulty reporting for almost seven weeks.

Rochester's Emergency Operations Center Chief Mark Klose told The Rochester Voice today that Elizabeth Daly, who also serves as the director of Public Health Preparedness, wrote on Wednesday that "in looking at the 'current' cases in Rochester, I have determined that the cases that are included in the map were from the end of May and early June and should have been removed from our map."

As a result of the revelations, state DHHS maps today show Rochester with no current COVID-19 cases for the first time in several months. For more than a month the state DHHS map had shown eight cases, while Klose was consistently citing one or no cases, according to his numbers.

Klose said he also learned on Wednesday that the E911 lists he receives every day that show city addresses where COVID-19 cases reside has been correct all along.

Klose, who also serves as Rochester's Fire Chief, said he first contacted the director of the Department of Homeland Security about the discrepancy in numbers on Tuesday. He said that call bore fruit on Wednesday when Daly sent him an email regarding DHHS's failure to update the Rochester's case numbers.

The Rochester Voice had been reporting on the disparity between local and state numbers in Rochester for several weeks, which also caught the eye of Klose who had concerns about the safety of first responders.

Klose's concerns were for the safety of Rochester's first responders, since he supplies them with a list every day of addresses where current COVID-19 cases reside. The information ensures that Rochester Police and Fire personnel are sure to wear appropriate PPE when visiting those addresses for service calls. Klose said that in the event of a straight fire call, firefighters don't necessarily wear PPE since when fighting a fire there is often little need for social distancing.

Klose said today he was happy that the issue had been resolved.

"I am happy and I am sure they will be vigilant in the future so this never happens again," Klose said.

State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said on Tuesday that he was not surprised that state and Rochester case numbers showed different numbers. He said it wasn't uncommon for DHHS not to report all cases to local officials due to privacy concerns, however he did note that EMS responders did have access to all addresses of COVID-19 cases.

In her email to Klose, Daly did not indicate whether other city or town numbers could be misstated on DHHS maps.

Meanwhile, state officials announced 36 new positive test results for COVID-19 on Wednesday, including three from Strafford County and six under the age of 18.

Three new hospitalized cases were identified for a total of 24 currently being treated at health care facilities.

DHHS also announced two additional deaths related to COVID-19, a male resident of Carroll County under 60 and a male resident of Rockingham County 60 or older.

More NH COVID numbers

NH Persons with COVID-19 6,295

Recovered 5,341 (85%)

Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 402 (6%)

Total Current COVID-19 Cases 552

Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 680 (11%)

Current Hospitalizations 24

Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 3,400