Oct. 20 NH DHHS COVID-19 update: 85 new positive results with 8 in Manchester; no deaths reported

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COVID Overview 37


CONCORD, NH – On Tuesday, October 20, 2020, DHHS announced 85 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a daily PCR test positivity rate of 0.9 percent. Today’s results include 68 people who tested positive by PCR test and 17 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 824 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 eleven individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 56 percent being female and 44 percent being male. The new cases reside in Rockingham (22), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (20), Merrimack (12), Strafford (8), Belknap (2), Cheshire (2), Grafton (2), and Carroll (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (8) and Nashua (5). The county of residence is being determined for three new cases.

Two new hospitalized cases were reported. There are currently ­16 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. Three 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 are associated with an outbreak setting.

In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 9,828 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 763 (8%) of those having been hospitalized.

Current Situation in New Hampshire 

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report (data updated October 20, 2020, 9 a.m.)

NH Persons with COVID-19 (see 1 below) 9,828
Recovered 8,536 (87%)
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 468 (5%)
Total Current COVID-19 Cases 824
Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 763 (8%)
Current Hospitalizations 16
Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (see 2 below) 316,091
Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody Laboratory Tests (see 2 below) 31,802
Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL 49,812
Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL (see 3 below) 310
Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 4,050

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.

Summary 32


Number of Tests Conducted by Date of Report to NH DHHS

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Tests
Testing Laboratory 10/13 10/14 10/15 10/16 10/17 10/18 10/19 Daily Average
NH Public Health Laboratories 718 362 777 1,043 693 846 61 643
LabCorp 1,009 1,074 940 1,047 987 872 238 881
Quest Diagnostics 1,355 1,832 1,219 1,308 1,574 1,934 2,393 1,659
Mako Medical 0 0 73 13 14 0 0 14
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center 760 1,057 867 701 957 215 157 673
Other NH Hospital Laboratory 399 374 424 358 326 138 230 321
Other Laboratory* 1,568 1,450 1,629 1,819 1,367 390 634 1,265
University of New Hampshire** 3,893 3,828 4,402 3,992 1,951 768 3,773 3,230
Total 9,702 9,977 10,331 10,281 7,869 5,163 7,486 8,687
Antibody Laboratory Tests
Testing Laboratory 10/13 10/14 10/15 10/16 10/17 10/18 10/19 Daily Average
LabCorp 8 5 6 6 6 0 2 5
Quest Diagnostics 24 23 20 29 18 2 15 19
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center 11 7 6 12 3 1 4 6
Other Laboratory* 7 2 1 6 3 0 8 4
Total 50 37 33 53 30 3 29 34

* 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.

About this Author

NH Department of Health and Human Services