Nov. 17 DHHS COVID-19 update: 279 new positive results with 39 in Manchester; 2 deaths reported

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CONCORD, NH – On Tuesday, November 17, 2020, DHHS announced 279 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a daily PCR test positivity rate of 2.0%. Today’s results include 198 people who tested positive by PCR test and 81 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 3,551 current COVID-19 cases 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 eighteen individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 55% being female and 45% being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (69), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (36), Merrimack (26), Strafford (23), Belknap (16), Cheshire (16), Grafton (12), Carroll (10), Sullivan (4), and Coos (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (39) and Nashua (20). The county of residence is being determined for seven 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.

DHHS has also announced two additional deaths related to COVID-19. We offer our sympathies to the family and friends.

  • 1 female resident of Hillsborough County, 60 years of age and older
  • 1 female resident of Merrimack County, 60 years of age and older

There are currently 77 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 15,303 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 817 (5%) of those having been hospitalized.


Current Situation in New Hampshire

 New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report (data updated November 17, 2020, 9 a.m.)

NH Persons with COVID-19 (see 1 below) 15,303
Recovered 11,250 (74%)
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 502 (3%)
Total Current COVID-19 Cases 3,551
Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 817 (5%)
Current Hospitalizations 77
Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (see 2 below) 388,900
Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody Laboratory Tests (see 2 below) 32,676
Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL 54,685
Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL (see 3 below) 667
Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 6,175

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, Mako, certain hospital laboratories, the University of New Hampshire and their contracted laboratory, 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 11/10 11/11 11/12 11/13 11/14 11/15 11/16 Daily Average
NH Public Health Laboratories 368 1,051 869 969 907 958 388 787
LabCorp 1,573 1,745 1,290 685 1,055 1,368 158 1,125
Quest Diagnostics 2,246 1,959 2,647 750 1,150 1,999 2,375 1,875
Mako Medical 2 13 279 76 44 1 18 62
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center 462 648 613 847 576 253 281 526
Other NH Hospital Laboratory 569 739 566 504 307 253 298 462
Other Laboratory* 1,501 2,251 2,021 2,391 2,305 511 1,040 1,717
University of New Hampshire** 3,569 3,416 4,491 3,692 3,068 14 3,526 3,111
Total 10,290 11,822 12,776 9,914 9,412 5,357 8,084 9,665
Antibody Laboratory Tests
Testing Laboratory 11/10 11/11 11/12 11/13 11/14 11/15 11/16 Daily Average
LabCorp 7 5 7 13 8 0 0 6
Quest Diagnostics 27 13 26 23 20 6 9 18
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center 8 9 11 2 0 0 4 5
Other Laboratory* 4 5 13 2 3 0 4 4
Total 46 32 57 40 31 6 17 33

* Includes out-of-state public health laboratories, out-of-state hospital laboratories, and other commercial laboratories not listed in the above table.

** Includes tests conducted at the UNH laboratory and their contracted lab Veritas.

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NH Department of Health and Human Services