CONCORD, NH – On Friday, August 21, 2020, DHHS announced 24 new positive test results for COVID-19. There have now been 7,071 cases of COVID-19 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 two individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults, with 46 percent being female and 54 percent being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (5), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (3), Merrimack (3), Strafford (3), Carroll (1), and Cheshire (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (5) and Nashua (3).
No new hospitalized cases were identified for a total of 709 (10 percent) of 7,071 cases. Two 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 have either had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis or have recently traveled.
Current Situation in New Hampshire
New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report (data updated August 21, 2020, 9 a.m.)
| NH Persons with COVID-19 (see 1 below) | 7,071 |
| Recovered | 6,385 (90%) |
| Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 | 428 (6%) |
| Total Current COVID-19 Cases | 258 |
| Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 | 709 (10%) |
| Current Hospitalizations | 14 |
| Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (see 2 below) | 192,777 |
| Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody Laboratory Tests (see 2 below) | 29,064 |
| Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL | 40,934 |
| Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL (see 3 below) | 239 |
| Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) | 2,225 |
1 Includes specimens positive at any laboratory and those confirmed by CDC confirmatory testing.
2 Includes specimens tested at the NH Public Health Laboratories (PHL), LabCorp, Quest, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and those sent to CDC prior to NH PHL testing capacity.
3 Includes specimens received and awaiting testing at NH PHL. Does not include tests pending at commercial laboratories.
Number of Tests Conducted by Date of Report to NH DHHS
| Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Tests | ||||||||
| Testing Laboratory | 8/14 | 8/15 | 8/16 | 8/17 | 8/18 | 8/19 | 8/20 | Daily Average |
| NH Public Health Laboratories | 767 | 1 | 563 | 272 | 587 | 644 | 931 | 538 |
| LabCorp | 878 | 450 | 509 | 473 | 895 | 966 | 246 | 631 |
| Quest Diagnostics | 958 | 912 | 396 | 226 | 237 | 859 | 1,569 | 737 |
| Mako Medical | 9 | 35 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 17 | 12 |
| Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center | 544 | 522 | 345 | 224 | 586 | 734 | 750 | 529 |
| Other NH Hospital Laboratory | 179 | 124 | 142 | 199 | 211 | 195 | 110 | 166 |
| Other Laboratory* | 31 | 25 | 165 | 177 | 331 | 34 | 83 | 121 |
| Total | 3,366 | 2,069 | 2,123 | 1,577 | 2,847 | 3,448 | 3,706 | 2,734 |
| Antibody Laboratory Tests | ||||||||
| Testing Laboratory | 8/14 | 8/15 | 8/16 | 8/17 | 8/18 | 8/19 | 8/20 | Daily Average |
| LabCorp | 11 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| Quest Diagnostics | 76 | 67 | 13 | 74 | 31 | 91 | 89 | 63 |
| Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center | 21 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 21 | 21 | 2 | 11 |
| Other Laboratory* | 4 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 7 |
| Total | 112 | 96 | 16 | 96 | 70 | 124 | 102 | 88 |
* Includes out-of-state public health laboratories, out-of-state hospital laboratories, and other commercial laboratories not listed in the above table.
ABOVE – Moving Averages: Moving averages show the average daily value for the rolling 7 or 14 day period ending with the date displayed. Shorter periods may be used in cases where the full 7 or 14 previous days are not available. [Click here for more maps and interactive data.]
Why are some data points not shown?
There are several circumstances where specific data cannot be shown on the dashboards. In each case, the reason is explained on the dashboard. New Hampshire’s general suppression principles are described below.
- “Data Suppressed”: The dashboards contain extremely detailed and granular information. In some circumstances, data becomes so granular that data is suppressed when numbers are small to protect the privacy of the underlying individuals.
- “Data Not Reported”: In addition to data suppression, certain sub-divisions of the data are simply not reported as a matter of policy (for example, data for towns with populations of less than 100) to further protect the privacy of individuals.
- “Rate Not Reliable”: When calculating rates (for example, the percentage of the population tested) there are circumstances where the data become so small that they are likely to lack statistical significance when making comparisons. Data may be suppressed in these circumstances to avoid misrepresenting population-level trends.
Why don’t all metrics match exactly between dashboards and between days when the dashboard is viewed?
New Hampshire’s goal is to provide accurate and up-to-date information as quickly as possible. This can lead to circumstances where information is available in some contexts, but not others. For example, only partial demographic information may be available for some cases at a particular point in time. However, this type of information is continuously being updated as new information becomes available through ongoing public health case investigation and outreach. Explanations are provided within the dashboards when these circumstances arise. Additionally, data fixes and improvements may lead to certain previously displayed data to be updated with more accurate or complete information.
