Another 9 New Hampshire Residents Die Related To COVID-19

CONCORD, NH — Nine more New Hampshire residents have died due to or due to complications from COVID-19, according to state health officials.

Five of the fatalities were connected to long-term care settings while six were 80 years of age or older and three were between 70 and 79. One man lived in Cheshire County, one man lived in Grafton County, four women and two men lived in Hillsborough County, and one woman lived in Merrimack County.

The state has 638 fatalities or 2 percent of all patients.

Another 697 positive test results were also announced by the state including 71 children for a positivity rate of 4.6 percent for polymerase chain reaction tests.

The infections were found from specimens collected during the past four days — including 163 tests from Monday, 26 on Tuesday, 58 from Wednesday, and 450 on Thursday.

About 51 percent of the cases were female while the residency of 43 cases is still under investigation. State officials said 163 of the new patients live in Rockingham County, 144 reside in Hillsborough County outside of Nashua, 90 live in Merrimack County, and 32 live in Nashua. Most of the cases with completed investigations caught the virus from other people who were infected or outbreak settings, health officials said.

There are close to 35,000 accumulative cases of coronavirus in New Hampshire with 79 percent of them recovering from the virus. Nearly 480,000 Granite Staters have been tested via PCR tests. Nearly 989,000 tests have been administered in the state.

More Vaccinations

A nurse practitioner was the first employee at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine.

Hillary Way, who has been caring for coronavirus patients at the hospital's ICU throughout the pandemic, received the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday.

About 60 high-risk healthcare staffers received the shots this week as part of the 885 doses of the Pfizer vaccine the medical group received in this first phase of vaccine distribution by the state of New Hampshire.

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"All the social distancing and efforts to contain this virus that everyone has been doing have been efforts to protect each other, and this is how I can do my part to protect my patients, my colleagues, my family, and myself as well," she said. "I've seen what the virus can do and I don't want to infect myself or anyone else."

Vaccination clinics for those high-risk prioritized care providers will run through next week, the hospital said.

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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.

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