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, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Department of Education has received an additional $156 million through the latest round of federal coronavirus relief funds.

The funding is intended to help school districts with safely reopening, assessing student learning, and other actions.

The department is developing school-level allocations for the second Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.

“COVID-19 has been the most disruptive event in the history of New Hampshire education, forcing us to adopt new methods of instruction and work even harder to meet the needs of our most vulnerable students,” Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut said in a statement Thursday. “These funds will provide additional resources to close the gaps that this pandemic has widened.”

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THE NUMBERS

Over 49,000 people have tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, including 515 confirmed cases announced Thursday that include numbers for several days. Eleven additional death were announced, bringing the total to 827.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire has risen over the past two weeks from 726 new cases per day on Dec. 23 to 799 new cases per day on Wednesday.

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