NH Coronavirus Update: 13 New COVID-19 Cases; 889 Tests Pending

CONCORD, NH — Another 13 residents in the state of New Hampshire have contracted the new coronavirus, according to health officials, bringing the number of patients in the state to 78. The new cases are all adults — nine men and four women. The new cases are spread across the state.

"Eight of the new cases have either had travel to domestic or international locations or have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis," said Jake Leon, a public information officer with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. "Five of the cases have no identified risk factors."

Leon said community-based transmission — something state health officials have been concerned about and were trying to prevent for weeks — has been identified in the majority of the counties in New Hampshire.

Nine new cases are isolating at home, two of the new cases are currently hospitalized, and one was hospitalized and released, Leon said. Six patients out of the 78 positive cases, about 8 percent, have been hospitalized.

Currently, Rockingham County has the most cases at 28. Grafton has 15. Seven patients are in Manchester.

According to the state, 889 are waiting for test results while 2,341 have been tested — meaning that 1,374 have tested negative. Right now, 850 people are under public health monitoring.

Health officials also updated the location of a case announced March 20.

"DHHS has since determined that the county of residence was Grafton County rather than Coos County," Leon said.

The map issued Sunday reflects this revised information.

More Learning Resources

The NH Learns Remotely Alliance, which is made up of a number of professional learning organizations, has a new website to assist administrators and educators with the process of remote learning.

According to Cyndi Dunlap, a professional learning leader within the organization, the goal of the alliance is to "identify immediate priorities for providing webinars and resources on critical remote learning topics." The team discussed a number of options and has focused on creating a new, central website, NHLearnsRemotely.org, which can be used to find strategic information like webinar topics, free online learning events, and other resources.

"Using existing listservs for NHSAA, NHASP, NHSTE, NHSLMA, NHCTO Council, and the NHDoE, we have the ability to reach nearly every school administrative office and school in the state and thousands of individual educators," she said.

There are around 35 webinars listed currently with updates coming every day.

What You Can Do To Stop The Spread

COVID-19, not unlike the flu and other respiratory illnesses, is spread through respiratory droplets, usually through coughing and sneezing, and exposure to others who are sick or might be showing symptoms. Take the same precautions as you would if you were sick:

• Stay home and avoid public places when sick (i.e. social distancing).
• 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.

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