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 566 new positive test results for COVID-19 Wednesday and nine new deaths.

That’s a daily PCR test positivity rate of 6.1%. Today’s results include 472 people who tested positive by PCR test and 94 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 4,694 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire.

The state also announced nine new deaths: a man and a woman from Belknap County; three women and three men from Hillsborough County and a woman from Rockingham County, all over 60.

There are currently 162 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 22,332 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 842 (4%) of those having been hospitalized.

Test results received Tuesday are still being processed and the total number of new positives for that day is not yet complete. Updated case counts for prior days will be reflected on the COVID-19 interactive dashboard.

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 sixty-six individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 51% being female and 49% being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (139), Merrimack (82), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (64), Belknap (40), Grafton (36), Strafford (33), Carroll (22), Cheshire (10), Sullivan (3), and Coos (2) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (64) and Nashua (33). The county of residence is being determined for thirty-eight 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 have either had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis or are associated with an outbreak setting.

Newsletter