FILE - This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, the top U.S. public health agency said that coronavirus can spread greater distances through the air than 6 feet, particularly in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials continued to say such spread is uncommon, and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. (NIAID-RML via AP)

CONCORD – The state Department of Health and Human Services announced 447 new positive test results for COVID-19 on Wednesday, and two new deaths.

The deaths included a man from Belknap County and a woman from Merrimack County, both over age 60.

The highest number of active cases were in Manchester (446), Nashua, (396), and Durham (137) on Wednesday.

The PCR test positivity rate was 2.4%. Today’s results include 326 people who tested positive by PCR test and 121 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 3,767 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 forty-five individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 50% being female and 50% being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (117), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (53), Strafford (34), Coos (26), Belknap (24), Merrimack (21), Cheshire (15), Grafton (11), Carroll (4), and Sullivan (3) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (50) and Nashua (43). The county of residence is being determined for forty-six new cases.

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 are either associated with an outbreak setting or have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

There are currently 91 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 15,749 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 822 (5%) of those having been hospitalized.

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