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The most recent update from the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 12:
- 9 new deaths reported.
- 842 new cases reported.
- The state's COVID-19 deaths total 878.
- Active cases total 6,239.
- 287 patients are currently hospitalized.
Click here for NHPR's COVID-19 tracker for case and trend data in N.H.
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LIVE BLOG - CORONAVIRUS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Updated: Tuesday, January 12, 5:15 p.m.
State health officials Tuesday reported nine more Granite Staters have died from the coronavirus, bringing New Hampshire's death toll to 878 since the start of the pandemic.
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The Department of Health and Human Services also announced 842 new positive test results for COVID-19, cases that span all ten of the state's counties. There are currently 287 residents hospitalized with the virus.
- NHPR Staff
Updated: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 4:30 p.m.
287 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Hampshire. That's high compared to the overall span of the pandemic, but a slight decline from last week. Many hospitals remain full and expect to see cases linked to the winter holidays for about another week, but say they're cautiously optimistic about numbers leveling.
Portsmouth Regional Hospital CEO Dean Carucci says 20 surge beds were added recently, and some staff have taken extra shifts to keep other hospital services open.
"What we would be concerned with is if we see another 10 percent rise in our volume, let's say. Then you're talking about making decisions outside of normal operating."
Larger hospitals in the state like Portsmouth are continuing to take transfers from smaller ones, though available space remains limited.
- Jordyn Haime
Updated: Tuesday, Jan 12, 1:30 p.m.
New Hampshire health officials have released new quarantine guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Those who have had both doses of their vaccine and have waited 14 days after getting their second shot no longer need to quarantine or get tested after potential exposure to COVID-19, or after traveling outside of New England.
Some members of the first vaccination group - including front line health workers - have now had their second shot of the vaccine.
People within 90 days of a positive test can also follow the new guidance.
Non-essential travel is still discouraged, and anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 should still isolate and get a test...as vaccines and previous infection do not provide 100 percent protection from the virus.
- Jordyn Haime
(Explore the Data: Tracking COVID-19 in New Hampshire)
Updated: Monday, Jan. 11, 5:23 p.m.
Since late December, the University of New Hampshire has been providing COVID-19 testing for 30 long-term care facilities and homeless shelters in the state.
More than 3,000 tests for those facilities have been processed at the university's testing lab, and UNH says it can process up to 1,000 tests a day for the state.
That testing for the state of New Hampshire will continue once classes are back in session, and is supported through CARES Act money.
UNH also processes the test results for its own community. Students, faculty and staff are required to get tested at least once a week.
- Daniela Allee
Updated: Monday, Jan. 11, 5:10 p.m.
State health officials Monday announced 711 new positive tests for COVID-19 in New Hampshire. No new deaths were reported.
Since the start of the pandemic, 52,307 residents have contracted the virus, and 869 people have died.
- NHPR Staff
Updated: Sunday, Jan. 10, 4:58 p.m.
The N.H. Department of Health & Human Services announced another 797 new cases of COVID-19 today. Nearly 20% - 138 - of these new cases involve children and teenagers under 18 years of age.
7 additional deaths were also announced, spanning Belknap, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Coos counties. There are currently 6,454 confirmed active cases statewide, 262 hospitalized, and the virus has taken the lives of at least 869 Granite Staters.
- NHPR Staff
Update: Saturday, Jan. 9, 6:09 p.m.
Another 16 deaths from COVID-19 were announced Saturday night.
New Hampshire has now had 862 coronavirus deaths - with more than 100 of the fatalities recorded in 2021. The latest deaths were from six counties: Belknap County, five; Hillsborough County, four; Strafford County, three; Merrimack County, two; and Coos and Rockingham counties, one each.
State health officials also reported 817 new cases, with 109 of the individuals younger than 18. There are 268 residents hospitalized and there are 6,635 current cases statewide.
- NHPR Staff
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Update: Saturday, Jan. 9, 7:51 a.m.
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.
Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut said Thursday that the funds will provide additional resources to close the gaps that this pandemic has widened.
"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."
- AP
Update: Saturday, Jan. 9, 7:30 a.m.
New Hampshire's U.S. senators have received their initial doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan were vaccinated Thursday.
They said the attending physician of the U.S. Congress urged senators to get vaccinated after the violence at the Capitol on Wednesday, when many senators were in a confined space for an extended period.
The senators, both Democrats, said they want constituents to know that they have full faith in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
- Associated Press
Update: Friday, Jan. 8, 7 p.m.
Over 80,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been allocated in New Hampshire so far, as of Thursday.
The state is still in the first phase of vaccination, targeting front-line health care workers, first responders, and long term care facility residents and staff first. A majority of the vaccines so far have been administered to hospitals.
Of the doses available, about 45 percent have been given to patients, as some begin to get their second shots.
The state plans to begin the next vaccination phase, which includes people over 75 and people with medical conditions that put them at high risk, by the middle or end of January.
- Jordyn Haime
Update: Friday, Jan. 8, 6:30 p.m.
With 19 additional deaths reported Friday, New Hampshire has recorded 87 deaths from the coronavirus since New Year's Day. It's been the deadliest week since the pandemic began.
State health officials announced nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 infections, 6,811 current cases statewide, and 297 residents hospitalized due to the virus.
The geographic breakdown of the latest fatalities: Hillsborough County, eight; Belknap County, five; Merrimack County, three; and Rockingham County, three.
Since the pandemic began, there have now been 846 deaths and 50,152 confirmed coronavirus cases.
- NHPR Staff
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Update: Thursday, Jan. 7, 5:31 p.m.
The state reported 11 additional coronavirus deaths and 515 new infections today.
Belknap, Hillsborough, and Merrimack counties each had three fatalities. The other two deaths were from Coos and Rockingham counties.
New Hampshire has recorded 827 deaths and confirmed nearly 50,000 positive cases since the coronavirus pandemic began.
There are currently 6,630 cases statewide and 314 residents hospitalized due to the virus.
- NHPR Staff
Update: Thursday, Jan. 7, 3:21 p.m.
Some health care workers in New Hampshire say they haven't been able to schedule an appointment for their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Both doses of the vaccine are necessary for it to be effective, either 21 or 28 days apart.
Health care workers use the state's Vaccine Administration Management System to register to get vaccinated, but appointments past the end of January haven't been made available yet. The system was established in December, just before the vaccine became available.
In a call with providers Thursday, New Hampshire health officials said second vaccine doses have been reserved for health care workers. The state is working on shifting to a new registration system, where more appointments will be available soon.
- Jordyn Haime
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Update: Wednesday, Jan. 6, 4:31 p.m.
State health officials announced 24 additional COVID-19 deaths and 912 new infections on Wednesday.
With the latest fatalities, New Hampshire now has recorded 816 residents who have died from the coronavirus.
Of the 24 deaths, only one was younger than 60, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS does not provide much more demographic data on those who die from the virus.
Of the new cases, 134 are residents under 18 years old.
There are 6,785 current cases statewide and 301 people hospitalized. Since March, the state has confirmed nearly 50,000 coronavirus cases.
- NHPR Staff
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Update: Tuesday, Jan. 5, 5:40 p.m.
The effort to vaccinate New Hampshire's long-term care population against COVID-19 is off to a somewhat rocky start, according to the statewide association representing these facilities.
“The pace has been slow,” New Hampshire Healthcare Association President Brendan Williams said Tuesday afternoon. “I think Operation Warp Speed has sort of devolved into Operation Pony Express when it comes to the actual vaccinations.”
Most of New Hampshire’s long-term care facilities are relying on a program called the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care, which is run by the federal government and administered by large pharmacy chains, for their COVID-19 vaccines. At a Tuesday press conference, Governor Sununu said the program has nonetheless “required a lot of oversight by our teams, even though it's supposed to be a direct federal contract.”
In the initial weeks of the program, New Hampshire facilities have run into scheduling problems or other roadblocks to getting those doses to the residents who need them as efficiently as possible.
Williams said some problems have also come up at facilities that house both nursing home and assisted living beds. One of the participating pharmacy chains, which he declined to identify, restricted some of its clinics in such facilities only to nursing home residents, until the state stepped in to correct the issue.
“I think the state's done a good job of running interference,” Williams said. “So when when facilities have issues and they have had issues with CVS or Walgreens, the state's done a good job of reaching out to those pharmacies and making our case for us.”
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, New Hampshire’s Infectious Disease Control Chief Beth Daly said 62 vaccination clinics have been completed at long-term care facilities to date, and 66 more clinics are scheduled in the coming weeks.
- Casey McDermott
Update: Tuesday, Jan. 5, 3:20 p.m.
Dr. Benjamin Chan today announced 11 additional COVID-19 deaths and 305 residents hospitalized due to the virus. The state epidemiologist said nine of the 11 deaths were associated with long-term care facilities. Chan says about two-thirds of the coronavirus deaths in the state over the past week were linked to long-term care facilities.
New Hampshire is averaging 750 to 800 new infections a day. There are 6,480 active cases statewide.
Lori Shibinette, commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Services, announced 15 new outbreaks at long-term care facilities or other congregate living facilities. The state has also closed out three of the outbreaks it was previously monitoring, Shibinette said.
Governor Sununu provided an update on the phased vaccination plan for Granite Staters. (View his slideshow here on the phases.) The state is currently in the first phase, which focuses on high risk individuals, first responders and long-term care facilities. Dr. Beth Daly, chief of the state's Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, said the state has received 17,175 vaccine doses this week.
The governor's news conference on the state's COVID-19 response is continuing. This post will be further updated.
- NHPR Staff
Update: Monday, Jan. 4, 5:02 p.m.
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 remain high. The state reports tonight that 319 residents are in the hospital due to the virus.
There was one additional death and 879 new infections announced. The fatality was a woman from Hillsborough County, who was older than 60, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Statewide, there are 6,200 active coronavirus cases. Since the pandemic began, the state has recorded 781 deaths and 47,328 total cases.
- NHPR Staff
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A bipartisan Senate bill would allow New Hampshire towns and school districts to postpone their March elections to the second Tuesday of April, May, June or July if they are concerned about coronavirus.
Towns also would be allowed to postpone the business or deliberative session of the annual Town Meeting when budgets are adopted to later dates. In the event of postponement, elected officials whose terms would have expired would continue.
The arrival of the pandemic last spring created confusion and raised questions about the legality of postponing such meetings. Some towns conducted parts of their meeting online and offered drive-up voting instead of the traditional in-person gatherings.
- The Associated Press
Update: Sunday, Jan. 3, 5:14 p.m.
State health officials announced 11 additional deaths and 1,317 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.
New Hampshire has had 780 deaths since the pandemic began.
The latest fatalities were from Belknap, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham and Strafford counties.
There are 6,096 active cases statewide and 325 residents are hospitalized due to the virus.
- NHPR staff
Update: Saturday, Jan. 2, 5:12 p.m.
Another 10 Granite Staters have died from COVID-19, the state announced Saturday.
Six were from Hillsborough County, two from Belknap County, and one each from Merrimack and Rockingham counties. All the deceased were older than 60, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
New Hampshire has had 769 coronavirus fatalities -- and confirmed 45,184 positive cases -- since the pandemic began.
There are 6,468 active cases statewide and 335 residents are currently hospitalized -- the highest count since March.
The new case numbers are from test results over the past handful of days, with 378 new infections from Thursday, and 712 from Wednesday. Of the new cases, 150 are under the age of 18.
The geographic location of the new cases: Hillsborough County, 234; Rockingham County, 212; Strafford County, 131; Merrimack County, 115; Cheshire County, 56; Grafton County, 50; Belknap County, 47; Coos County, 32; Sullivan County, 21; and Carroll County, 16. Nashua had 121 cases, and Manchester 101. The state on Saturday was continuing to determine the residence of 42 cases.
- NHPR Staff
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Update: Friday, Jan. 1, 6:30 p.m.
Gov. Chris Sununu issued an executive order today that extends the state of emergency he first issued March 13 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the 14th extension of the emergency order. The extension, which was anticipated given the rising COVID-19 case numbers and the national emergency declaration, is for another 21 days.
- NHPR Staff
