Oct. 26 NH DHHS COVID-19 update: 77 new positive results with 8 in Manchester; 2 deaths reported

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COVID Overview 43


CONCORD, NH – On Monday, October 26, 2020, DHHS announced 77 new positive test results for COVID-19, for a daily PCR test positivity rate of 1.6 percent. Today’s results include 56 people who tested positive by PCR test and 20 who tested positive by antigen test. There are now 1,002 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 eight 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 (18), Merrimack (15), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (10), Cheshire (6), Belknap (3), Carroll (3), Grafton (3), and Sullivan (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (8) and Nashua (7). The county of residence is being determined for three new cases.

Two new hospitalized cases were reported. There are currently ­25 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. Community-based transmission continues to occur in the State and has been identified in all counties.

DHHS has also announced two additional deaths related to COVID-19.

  • 2 male residents of Hillsborough County, 60 years of age and older

In New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 10,397 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed with 768 (7 percent) of those having been hospitalized.


Current Situation in New Hampshire

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report (data updated October 26, 2020, 9 a.m.)

NH Persons with COVID-19 (see 1 below) 10,397
Recovered 8,920 (86%)
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 475 (5%)
Total Current COVID-19 Cases 1,002
Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 768 (7%)
Current Hospitalizations 25
Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (see 2 below) 333,115
Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody Laboratory Tests (see 2 below) 32,015
Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL 51,292
Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL (see 3 below) 796
Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 4,450

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 38


Number of Tests Conducted by Date of Report to NH DHHS

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Tests
Testing Laboratory 10/19 10/20 10/21 10/22 10/23 10/24 10/25 Daily Average
NH Public Health Laboratories 888 687 850 656 519 838 858 757
LabCorp 239 996 1,018 1,095 1,240 1,210 991 970
Quest Diagnostics 2,404 1,050 1,384 1,244 961 717 2,539 1,471
Mako Medical 0 0 23 141 91 18 59 47
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center 157 513 870 659 932 585 217 562
Other NH Hospital Laboratory 304 427 442 450 474 268 197 366
Other Laboratory* 948 1,674 1,688 1,955 2,296 1,179 303 1,435
University of New Hampshire** 4,285 3,532 4,486 4,217 3,156 3,268 50 3,285
Total 9,225 8,879 10,761 10,417 9,669 8,083 5,214 8,893
Antibody Laboratory Tests
Testing Laboratory 10/19 10/20 10/21 10/22 10/23 10/24 10/25 Daily Average
LabCorp 2 7 9 9 11 11 1 7
Quest Diagnostics 16 34 14 20 21 27 6 20
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center 4 9 2 8 4 2 0 4
Other Laboratory* 13 7 3 6 4 5 2 6
Total 35 57 28 43 40 45 9 37

* 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