With two weeks to go, December is already N.H.’s third-deadliest month for COVID-19

December already ranks as New Hampshire’s third-deadliest month for COVID-19 fatalities, with 103 deaths in the first 17 days of the month, a 140% increase over the prior month. 

The state has averaged six COVID-19 deaths per day so far this month. If deaths continue at that pace, December would pass June’s total of 126 deaths by Christmas and pass May’s total of 176 by the end of the month. 

May and June are the state’s top two months so far for COVID-19 fatalities. 

This month’s largest single-day count came on Dec. 16, when the state announced 21 new deaths. That day alone represented nearly half of November’s total, which was 43 deaths. 

All of the state’s COVID-19 deaths this month have been among people age 60 or older. 

The rapidly rising death toll indicates continued community transmission as well as COVID-19 lethality among vulnerable older adults.