Spread Of Coronavirus Slowed Inside NH Long-Term Care Facilities

CONCORD, NH — Thirty-eight new positive test results of COVID-19 have been reported by officials in New Hampshire.

Three-fourths of the new cases were female while two were children. Twelve live in Rockingham County, three reside in Hillsborough County outside of Manchester and Nashua, two live in Merrimack County, and Manchester and Nashua each have a single new case.

The number of accumulative cases in New Hampshire is 7,990 — with 7,259 or 91 percent recovering from the virus.

One of the new cases required more extensive case with 11 remaining hospitalized. About a third of the new cases have no identified risk factors.

"Community-based transmission continues to occur in the State and has been identified in all counties," the state said. "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 have recently traveled."

Another 1,685 polymerase chain reaction specimens were collected Monday while 410,466 tests have been performed in New Hampshire on 243,527 Granite Staters. A little less than 1,000 tests are pending.

Currently, around 2,225 people are under public health monitoring.

One of the success stories in recent weeks of the new coronavirus has been the state containing the spread inside long-term care facilities.

While long-term care settings account for nearly 27 percent of infections and 81.5 percent of the COVID-19 deaths, only about 10 infections have been reported in long-term care settings since the beginning of August.

2 Schools Report First Cases

A couple of schools reported new cases of COVID-19, according to the state's data dashboard.

Amherst Middle School reported its first case and Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow also reported its first case. Both schools were the only schools reporting new cases Tuesday.

Currently, there are 15 active cases in K-12 schools in New Hampshire.

Contact Tracing Determines State Employee Quarantine

A health official said Tuesday that guidelines for state employees who may become infected by COVID-19 and the buildings they work in feature similar guidance and protocols to the general public.

Education department employees, as reported on Patch Monday, were surprised to learn of an employee who was infected when they arrived at work Monday. A notice was sent out to employees Friday night — when most if not all had already left for the weekend. The single case was quarantined and the building cleaned and disinfected.

Laura Montenegro, a public information officer for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said the contact tracing investigation then determines whether or not a floor of the building or the building itself is closed.

"When there is a positive case in any New Hampshire community, including state office buildings, the contact-tracing program will notify anyone with whom the person with COVID-19 had prolonged, close contact (we identify this as within 6 feet from the infected person for more than 10 minutes)," she said. "If all close contacts cannot be identified, DHHS will issue public notification to help identify all who may have been potentially exposed."

According to Grant Bosse, the public information officer for the New Hampshire Department of Education, the infected employee had been practicing social distancing and using other mitigation tactics in order to reduce close contact with other employees.

Editor's note: Bosse was unable to return questions via email about the infection in the NH DOE building Monday due to Patch's email getting caught in his spam bin.

ALSO READ:

• New Hampshire Coronavirus Update: 3,620 Test Results; 7 Positives
• Handful Of New Hampshire Schools Report New Coronavirus Cases
• NH Posts Highest Number Of New COVID-19 Cases Since Mid-June
• Social Isolation Is Significant Problem At Long-Term Care Facilities
• Concord Code Division Employee Contracts COVID-19

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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