Another Elderly Death Related To New Coronavirus In New Hampshire

CONCORD, NH — Another elderly woman has died due to or from complications connected to the new coronavirus, according to New Hampshire health officials.

The woman, who was between 70 and 79 years of age and connected to a long-term care setting, lived in Hillsborough County.

"We offer our sympathies to the family and friends," the State Joint Information Center said Saturday.

The woman was the 439th death during the pandemic. About 5 percent of all people contracting COVID-19 have died mostly due to underlying health conditions the patients already had before becoming infected like diabetes, heart disease, or lung conditions, or due to age.

The state announced another 38 new positive test results, too, bringing the accumulative case count to 8,121 in New Hampshire with 91 percent, 7,379, recovering from the virus.

Four of the new cases were children and 53 percent were female. Thirteen of the new cases lived in Hillsborough County outside of Manchester and Nashua while seven reside in Rockingham County, four live in Merrimack County, and two live in Nashua. Of the four new cases in Merrimack County, one lives in Concord.

The state reported no new hospitalizations with 18 currently still in the hospital and 9 percent of all cases in New Hampshire requiring more extensive care.

On Friday, 4,112 polymerase chain reaction tests were collected by the state with Thursday's numbers revised up to 9,890 tests. The state reported 1,242 tests pending, 265,378 Granite Staters being tested, and 422,591 tests being performed. This means that 98.1 percent of all tests offered a negative result.

The state has around 2,450 people under public health monitoring.

State Reports More New School Infections

Health officials also reported a number of new COVID-19 cases connected to K-12 schools.

Schools reporting new cases include the Beech Street School in Manchester; a second new case at the Griffin Memorial School in Litchfield; one new case at Manchester Memorial High School; two new cases at Merrimack High School; one new case at Oyster River Middle School in Durham; and a single new cases at Sunapee Middle School.

There are now 22 active cases in K-12 schools and 28 recovered patients connected to schools.

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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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