CONCORD – The state Department of Health and Human Services announced 205 new positive test results for COVID-19 and one new death of an elderly woman in Hillsborough County on Saturday, numbers so high that Gov. Chris Sununu issued a news release reminding people to take precautions.

“The situation here in New Hampshire remains very serious, the data shows that community transmission is increasing, and we expect cases to rise,” Sununu said.

“We must all remain vigilant in our daily lives. As we enter these winter months, it will be more important than ever to wear your mask, practice social distancing, and maintain proper hand hygiene.”

Check number of COVID-19 cases by school every day. Under the “show” pull down and click “schools with cases.” https://www.nh.gov/covid19/dashboard/schools.htm. You can also download the community transmission level map there.

Manchester (144), Nashua (86), and Concord (60) had the most active cases of COVID-19 Saturday.

On Thursday, Coos County joined Rockingham, Hillsborough and Merrimack Counties, Manchester and Nashua as being in the red for having “substantial” community transmission and remained there Saturday, according to state data.

Strafford, Belknap, Sullivan and Grafton Counties were labeled yellow “moderate” and Carroll and Cheshire were the only two counties in the green “minimal” category for overall community transmission of the virus Saturday.

The overall level of community transmission is defined using three metrics: new cases per 100,000 over 14 days; new hospitalizations per 100,000 over 14 days; and 7-day PCR test positivity rate.

The state said the daily PCR test positivity rate of 1.6%. Today’s results include 145 people who tested positive by PCR test and 60 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 1,338 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire.

Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates. Of those with complete information, there are thirty-one individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 53% being female and 47% being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (50), Strafford (28), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (27), Coos (15), Merrimack (13), Belknap (10), Grafton (9), Cheshire (6), Sullivan (5), and Carroll (2) counties, and in the cities of Nashua (19) and Manchester (13). The county of residence is being determined for eight new cases.

Two new hospitalized cases were reported. There are currently 42 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. This census may include out of state residents hospitalized in NH and/or individuals readmitted to the hospital, therefore increases in the daily hospital census may not always equal the number of new hospitalizations reported in a given day. One of the new cases had no identified risk factors. Community-based transmission continues to occur in the State and has been identified in all counties. Of those with complete risk information, most of the cases had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

DHHS has announced one additional death related to COVID-19. We offer our sympathies to the family and friends.

·       1 female resident of Hillsborough County, 60 years of age and older

In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 11,084 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 779 (7%) of those having been hospitalized.

Current Situation in New Hampshire

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report
(data updated October 31, 2020, 9:00 AM)

1Includes specimens positive at any laboratory and those confirmed by CDC confirmatory testing.

2Includes specimens tested at the NH Public Health Laboratories (PHL), LabCorp, Quest, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Mako, certain hospital laboratories, the University of New Hampshire and their contracted laboratory, and those sent to CDC prior to NH PHL testing capacity.

3Includes specimens received and awaiting testing at NH PHL. Does not include tests pending at commercial laboratories.

Number of Tests Conducted by Date of Report to NH DHHS