Based on the state data at
https://www.covid19.nh.gov/dashboard/overview
In June 2021 there was a 7-day average of 20 new cases per day. Right now the 7-day average is 546 new cases per day---
27 times more than in June! As I recall, there were about 350 active cases in June. Today there are 4,517 active cases.
We are clearly in an intense fourth wave that is increasing dramatically each week. At the height of the 2020 pandemic (May), there were 97 new cases per day in New Hampshire. Thus the current wave is about 6 times worse than the worst part of 2020. The increase is not all due to being indoors in the colder season---the uptick was very steep in July and August.
New Hampshire's Covid situation is currently worse than the former hotspots of Florida, Texas, and California.
Some observations that account for New Hampshire's poor performance in reducing infections:
(1) The vaccination rate is the lowest in New England and below the national average.
(2) Almost no one is wearing a mask in stores here in the Lakes Region.
(3) The NH Executive Council turned down $27 million in federal aid to support vaccination efforts.
(4) People appear convinced that the pandemic is over. They are going about their lives as before the pandemic, indicating a lack of education about where the pandemic really stands in New Hampshire.
Those are the facts. We are clearly headed into a 3rd year of the pandemic. There aren't many signs that people care about that fact, meaning they don't care about dying or people close to them dying, time lost from work if they get sick, or the huge economic impacts of the pandemic. They just don't care enough to use the means easily available to them to stop the pandemic---means that cost very little time or money and that impose no real hardship on people.
This is a sad situation that predicts a very bad outcome for the other huge existential problems we face, especially the climate crisis. In a word, not enough of the human race cares enough to take action to preserve our own species, as seen right here in New Hampshire.