COVID-19 Recoveries Back At 87%; 85 New Positive Test Results

CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that another 85 new positive test results for COVID-19 were discovered during the latest round of testing.

On Monday, nearly 7,500 tests were issued while numbers from previous days increased slightly and 310 people have tests pending. The positivity rate for Tuesday is 0.9 percent. Most of the new positive tests came from polymerase chain reaction tests.

Of the new cases, 11 were children and 48 were male. Twenty-two of the new positive test results reside in Rockingham County, 20 live in Hillsborough County outside of Manchester and Nashua, 12 live in Merrimack, and five live in Nashua.

The state announced two new hospitalizations but only 16 are currently receiving extra care. Only three of the new cases had no identified risk factors.

More than 9,800 residents in New Hampshire have contracted the coronavirus since March with 8 percent requiring hospitalization and 5 percent dying. Recoveries, that slipped down to 85 percent a few weeks ago, are back up to 87 percent, after health officials caught up with interviews with active positive infections to see if they have recovered from the virus. As of Tuesday, more than 8,500 residents who contracted the virus have recovered from it.

Slightly more than 316,000 people or about 21.1 percent of the state's residents have been tested for COVID-19 with 543,562 tests administered.

Merrimack County Moves Into 'Substantial' Category

State health officials have moved Merrimack County into the "substantial" category on the state's Community Level Transmission Metrics due to 110.5 cases per 100,000 residents during the past two weeks.

The increases in the cases are due mostly to a long-term care outbreak in Warner. But the city of Concord has also seen an increase in positive test results to 36 as of Tuesday. Two weeks ago, there were less than nine cases in the capital city. It is unknown at post time why positive test results in Concord have more than quadrupled in 14 days.

Merrimack County joins Manchester and Nashua being in the substantial category while the entire state remains in the moderate level of transmission category.

New School Cases In New Hampshire

Several K-12 schools reported new cases in the Granite State Tuesday.

Campton Elementary School reported its first positive test result; the New London Elementary School reported its first case; the first case Kearsarge Regional High School was also reported; the Merrimack Middle School has its third active case; the New Market Junior-Senior High School has its first case; Salem High School has another new cases with it also has two recovered cases; South Merrimack Christian Academy has its first positive test result; and the Beech Hill School has its second positive case.

There are 78 active cases in schools in New Hampshire.

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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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