Handful Of New Hampshire Schools Report New Coronavirus Cases

CONCORD, NH — Another 29 people have become infected with the new coronavirus in New Hampshire including two children, state health officials reported Sunday.

More than half of the cases were female and investigations are still open on three cases.

The state has 7,947 accumulative COVID-19 cases since March 1 while 7,201 or 91 percent of all patients have recovered.

Five of the new cases reside in Rockingham County while one lives in Merrimack County and one lives in Hillsborough County outside of Nashua and Manchester.

No new hospitalizations were reported by the state but the current hospitalizations number was revised up to 10. According to the latest data, 9 percent or 725 of all new coronavirus cases have required hospitalizations.

Eight of the new infections reported no identified risk factors.

"Community-based transmission continues to occur in the State and has been identified in all counties," the State Joint Information Center said. "Of those with complete risk information, most of the cases are either associated with an outbreak setting, have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, or have recently traveled."

On Saturday, 2,991 polymerase chain reaction specimens were taken while Friday's testing numbers were revised up to 4,664. The state averaged around 4,000 tests during the past week.

The state said 240,401 Granite Staters have been tested for polymerase chain reaction tests with 401,689 tests administered. Another 30,737 Granite Staters have taken antibody laboratory tests.

About 2,000 people are under public health monitoring.

More School Infections, Data

A handful of schools reported new COVID-19 cases with some of the data included with the latest data dashboard information which was not updated Saturday.

The Merrimack Valley School District Sunday reported two positive cases at the Penacook Elementary School. According to Mark MacLean, the superintendent of SAU 46, state officials were "immediately notified" and school officials were working with the health department on contact tracing. Monday is a remote day for the school, "custodial and maintenance crews will organize to perform a thorough cleaning of PES," he said.

"Please know that typical daily cleaning processes are very comprehensive," MacLean said. "Monday's cleaning will go above and beyond established COVID-19 cleaning and disinfecting protocols."

Not counting the Penacook Elementary School infections, which were not listed on the state data Sunday, there are 17 current infections at K-12 schools in New Hampshire: Four cases at Barrington Elementary School; two at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua; one at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, a high school; one at Griffin Memorial School, an elementary school in Litchfield; one at Henry Wilson Memorial School in Farmington, a middle school; one at the New Hampton School, a preparatory high school; one at Nottingham Elementary School; one at Salem High School; one at Spaulding High School in Rochester; and four at Windham High School.

Schools with recovered cases include: Three cases at Windham High School one case at West Running Brook Middle School in Derry; on case at the Tilton School, a preparatory high school; on at St. Paul's School, a prep high school in Concord; one at Seabrook Elementary School; one case at the Riddle Brook Elementary School in Bedford; one at the New Hampton School; one at the Mountain Village Middle School in Goffstown; one at McKelvie Intermediate School in Bedford; one case at Kimball Union Academy, a private boarding school in Meriden; one at Concord High School; and one case at the Bartlett Elementary School.

College Data Update

According to the latest college and university data, the University of New Hampshire in Durham has 33 active cases and 73 recovered cases. The Manchester campus has three recovered cases while UNH School of Law in Concord reported its first case Saturday.

Rivier University in Nashua has two recovered cases while Plymouth State University has four.

New England College in Henniker has two active cases and four recovered cases while its Manchester campus has three recovered cases.

Keene State College has one active case and five recovered cases while Franklin Pierce University in Rindge has 10 recovered cases.

Dartmouth College in Hanover has two active cases and three recovered cases.

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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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