One tough hombre: City Councilor Lachance recovers after battle with coronavirus

City Councilor Doug Lachance, seen in this selfie he took of himself back home in Rochester on Wednesday. Right, New Hampshire COVID-19 case map.

Editor's note: We continue to run city updates on the coronavirus in this space every day. If you have a local COVID-19 story you want us to know about email therochestervoice@aol.com.

ROCHESTER - Let's start with the good news.

Rochester City Councilor and former mayor Douglas Albert Dewey Lachance is fine and back in Rochester after spending five days in a Boston hospital with COVID-19.

"I feel fine," Lachance told The Rochester Voice today in a phone interview.

Lachance said he first noticed he had a persistent cough and as much as a 102-degree fever about a week ago, but wasn't sure whether it was from chemo treatments he receives for his two-year battle with skin cancer or not.

Wanting to find out, he traveled to Boston where a test for the coronavirus came back positive.

He was then admitted to Brigham and Women's Hospital where he was kept in isolation for five days, but was never administered any COVID-19 medications. When he was discharged on Tuesday he said he was told by doctors he was no longer contagious, but told to stay isolated another five days.

Lachance, 55, said he believes it's likely he caught the virus while visiting Boston on March 9 following a Paris vacation where he traveled with nine other friends. He said none of the nine who accompanied him on the trip have shown symptoms.

"I think I may have gotten it on the subway, but there's really no way of knowing," he said.

The Rochester City Council will hold its Tuesday meeting remotely like Dover and Somersworth, a move by city officials Lachance applauded. He urged all other surrounding cities and towns to be considering the same thing.

Meanwhile, the Executive Council was told at its regular meeting on Wednesday that the state could see a peak of the COVID-19 virus by late April or early May.

Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette briefed the council saying it is far from over and likely going to get worse in New Hampshire.

There are 2,500 people who have been tested and approximately 800 results pending, she added.

"So we expect to have a fairly high escalation in our positives," Shibinette said.

With about 1,000 ventilators in the state for 1.3 million people and some on order, Shibinette said a focus is to ramp up and source necessary protective equipment and health-care supplies to prepare for surge capacity.

On Wednesday the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services reported 29 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a total of 137 cases diagnosed in the state.

The new cases are 12 adult males, 16 adult females, and one female under age 18. The new cases reside in Rockingham (14), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (8), Strafford (2), Belknap (1), Grafton (1), and Merrimack (1) counties, and in the City of Manchester (2).

The total of those confirmed with COVID-19 in Strafford County is now seven. Lachance is the only Rochester resident to have tested positive as of today.

Thirteen of the new cases have no identified risk factors, meaning they are likely community spread.

Community-based transmission continues to increase in the State and has been identified in the majority of counties. The remaining cases have either had travel to domestic or international locations or have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

Six of the new cases are currently hospitalized; thus far, 19 patients of the 137 positive cases (14%) have been hospitalized.

This story may be updated throughout the day.