CONCORD, NH – On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, DHHS announced 327 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a current PCR test positivity rate of 1.6%. Today’s results include 166 people who tested positive by PCR test and 161 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 2,212 current COVID-19 cases diagnosed in New Hampshire. Of the results reported today:
- 3/16: 327 new cases
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-two individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 48% being female and 52% being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (97), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (46), Strafford (38), Merrimack (24), Cheshire (16), Grafton (10), Carroll (8), Belknap (8), Coos (8), and Sullivan (5) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (27) and Nashua (18). The county of residence is being determined for twenty-two 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 had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis or are associated with an outbreak setting.
There are currently 79 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 79,367 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed.
Current Situation in New Hampshire
New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report (updated March 17, 2021, 9 a.m.)
| NH Persons with COVID-19 | 79,367 |
| Recovered | 75,953 (96%) |
| Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 | 1,202 (2%) |
| Total Current COVID-19 Cases | 2,212 |
| Current Hospitalizations | 79 |
| Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)2 | 643,601 |
| Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody Laboratory Tests2 | 38,255 |
| Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL | 69,742 |
| Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL3 | 1,023 |
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 | 3/10 | 3/11 | 3/12 | 3/13 | 3/14 | 3/15 | 3/16 | Daily Average |
| NH Public Health Laboratories | 363 | 363 | 545 | 362 | 0 | 53 | 269 | 279 |
| LabCorp | 577 | 488 | 541 | 470 | 216 | 358 | 486 | 448 |
| Quest Diagnostics | 754 | 584 | 458 | 442 | 350 | 261 | 273 | 446 |
| Mako Medical | 441 | 4 | 859 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 627 | 279 |
| Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center | 442 | 444 | 572 | 379 | 167 | 204 | 40 | 321 |
| NorDX Laboratory | 471 | 408 | 246 | 166 | 39 | 66 | 515 | 273 |
| Broad Institute | 4,961 | 2,593 | 5,963 | 3,932 | 736 | 890 | 4,382 | 3,351 |
| Other NH Hospital Laboratory | 688 | 430 | 410 | 230 | 260 | 343 | 374 | 391 |
| Other Laboratory* | 828 | 570 | 415 | 239 | 228 | 271 | 247 | 400 |
| University of New Hampshire** | 3,761 | 4,008 | 4,042 | 2,046 | 63 | 3,742 | 4,495 | 3,165 |
| Total | 13,286 | 9,892 | 14,051 | 8,270 | 2,076 | 6,188 | 11,708 | 9,353 |
| Antibody Laboratory Tests | ||||||||
| Testing Laboratory | 3/10 | 3/11 | 3/12 | 3/13 | 3/14 | 3/15 | 3/16 | Daily Average |
| LabCorp | 15 | 7 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| Quest Diagnostics | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 10 |
| Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center | 13 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| NorDX Laboratory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Laboratory* | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 60 | 24 | 37 | 22 | 4 | 20 | 27 | 28 |
* Includes out-of-state public health laboratories, out-of-state hospital laboratories, and other commercial laboratories not already listed in the table.
Note: Patients who had both antibody and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are accounted for in both tables.
** Includes tests conducted at the UNH laboratory and their contracted lab Veritas.
