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 123 new positive test results for COVID-19 and five new deaths Saturday.

The five deaths included two men and two women from Hillsborough County and one man from Belknap County, all 60 years of age and older.

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 transmission level map there.

Manchester (96), Nashua (109), Bedford (59) and Warner (35) had the most cases of COVID-19, Nashua and Manchester were both still listed Saturday with community transmission levels labeled “substantial.”

On Saturday, Merrimack County joined Strafford County and the rest of Hillsborough County except Nashua and Manchester as labeled “moderate” and the rest of the state “minimal” for overall community transmission of the virus.

The testing Saturday showed a daily PCR test positivity rate of 1.2%. Today’s results include 102 people who tested positive by PCR test and 21 who tested positive by antigen test. Thirty-five of the new cases are associated with an outbreak at a long-term care facility. There are now 692 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 twenty individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 53% being female and 47% being male. The new cases reside in Merrimack (40), Rockingham (22), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (21), Grafton (5), Strafford (5), Belknap (1), and Sullivan (1) counties, and in the cities of Nashua (16) and Manchester (8). The county of residence is being determined for four new cases.

Two new hospitalized cases were identified. There are currently 21­­ individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. Seven 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 either were associated with an outbreak setting or have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 9,092 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 750 (8%) of those having been hospitalized.