48 Hours Of COVID-19 In New Hampshire: 252 New Cases; 1 Death

CONCORD, NH — During the past 48 hours, more than 250 New Hampshire residents have been diagnosed with COVID-19 with another elderly woman dying, too, according to state health officials.

The woman, who was 80 years of age or older, lived in Merrimack County. She was the 484th fatality in the state.

Most of the new positive tests were discovered by polymerase chain reaction tests, about 160, while the rest were antigen tests.

State health officials are still investigating nine of the cases but 30 were children and evenly split between genders. Sixty of the new positive test results live in Rockingham County, 33 live in Hillsborough County outside of Manchester and Nashua, 21 reside in Merrimack County, and 15 live in Nashua.

Six more people have been hospitalized while 42 residents currently were receiving more extensive care.

"Of those with complete risk information, most of the cases have either had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis or are associated with an outbreak setting," the State Joint Information Center said.

According to the latest data, 11,563 accumulatively have been diagnosed with COVID-19, 9,625 or about 83 percent have recovered, and 351,136 people, about 24 percent of the state, have been tested. The state has collected 635,270 specimens and 4,750 are under public health monitoring.

The state collected 6,311 PCR specimens on Tuesday and 7,411 on Wednesday.

ALSO READ:

• NH COVID-19 Update: 105 New Positive Cases; 2.4% Positivity Rate
• Another 133 Positive Test Results In New Hampshire: Update
• New Hampshire Reports Record High Positive COVID-19 Test Results
• COVID-19 Cases Reported At Concord High, Rundlett
• 4 More Elderly COVID-19 Deaths In New Hampshire; 131 New Cases

Stop The Spread Of COVID-19

The COVID-19 virus is spread through respiratory droplets, usually through coughing and sneezing, and exposure to others who are sick or might be showing symptoms.

Health officials emphasize residents should follow these recommendations:

• Avoid any domestic and international travel, especially on public transportation such as buses, trains, and airplanes.
• Practice social distancing. Stay at least 6 feet from other people, including distancing while in waiting areas or lines.
• When you can't practice 6 feet of social distancing, wear a face covering.
• Anyone who is told to self-quarantine and stay at home due to exposure to a person with confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 needs to stay home and not go out into public places.
• If you are 60 years or older or have chronic and underlying health conditions, you need to stay home and not go out.
• Avoid gatherings of 10 people or more.
• Employers should work from home as much as possible.
• There is increasing evidence that the virus can survive for hours or possibly days on surfaces. People should clean frequently touched surfaces, including door handles, grocery carts and grocery basket handles, etc.

Take the same precautions as you would if you were sick:

• Stay home and avoid public places.
• Wear a face covering.
• Cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
• Wash hands frequently.
• Disinfect frequently touched surfaces.

More information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services about coronavirus can be found here on the department's website.

• Guidance to schools can be found can be found here.
• Instructions for returning travelers to self-observe for symptoms of COVID-19 are available are available here.
• For more information on COVID-19 in NH, visit its site here.
• For the latest information from the CDC, visit its site here.
• To access the state's COVID-19 data dashboard, click on this link here.
• To access the state's COVID-19 Interactive Map Dashboard, click on this link here.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube channel.