2 More Elderly Women Die Of Coronavirus In New Hampshire: Data

CONCORD, NH — Two more elderly women have died due to complications from or because of COVID-19 in New Hampshire, according to health officials.

The two women lived in Hillsborough County and were 60 years of age or older with their deaths bringing the fatality count to 448 or 5 percent of all cases.

Another 71 positive test results were reported by the state including 10 children. Wednesday's positivity rate, after 6,591 specimens were collected Tuesday and 918 tests are pending, was 1.1 percent, the highest rate in a number of weeks. Forty-three positives were tested with polymerase chain reaction tests while 28 were antigen tests. The genders of the cases were split in half.

The state now has 8,800 accumulative cases with 7,845 recovering from the virus.

Twenty-two of the new cases live in Manchester while 13 reside in Rockingham County. Another 12 live in Hillsborough County outside of Manchester and Nashua, nine live in Nashua, and four live in Merrimack County.

Two of the 71 people with positive tests required hospitalizations but only 18 people are still being cared for in hospitals — with overall hospitalizations dropping to 8.4 percent. For many weeks, it had been around 9 percent.

Six of the new cases had no identified risk factors.

The state reported Wednesday that 285,128 people have been tested for COVID-19 — or 18.9 percent of New Hampshire's population. Those residents have received 476,514 PCR tests and another 31,327 antibody tests.

About 2,850 people are in public health monitoring.

School Cases Revised

On Tuesday, the state's school data dashboard reported that Concord High School had its third case.

The report of the third case was news to Kathleen Murphy, the interim superintendent of schools for SAU 8, who was puzzled about the third case. On Wednesday, the state cleared up the matter with the district.

"The information posted was an error — Concord does not have a third case," she said in an email. "The record is being corrected at the state."

The third case though was still listed on the state's chart Wednesday.

Three K-12 schools reported new cases: The Auburn Village School, an elementary school, reported its first case as did the Broad Street Elementary School in Nashua and the South Range Elementary School in Derry.

There are 36 active cases in K-12 schools in New Hampshire while 62 students have recovered.

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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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This article originally appeared on the Concord Patch