CONCORD, NH — Another elderly woman in New Hampshire has died due to the coronavirus, according to state officials.
The woman, who was 80 years of age or older, lived in Hillsborough County. She was the 450th COVID-19 fatality in the state.
Officials reported 97 new positive test results Friday including 27 children while 53 of the cases were male. Seventy-seven of the tests were performed via polymerase chain reaction tests while 20 were antigen tests.
New Hampshire has 585 active COVID-19 cases with 8,970 accumulative cases and 7,935 recoveries or 88 percent.
Twenty-nine of the new cases live in Hillsborough County outside of Manchester and Nashua with many of the cases deriving from an outbreak in Bedford. On Tuesday, Bedford had 46 active cases and Friday, the state reported the town had 90 cases. Rockingham County reported 17 new cases spread throughout the county. Salem has 13 cases while Exeter has 12 infections and Derry has 10, according to the data. Merrimack County has 14 new cases also spread around the county — with Hooksett reporting 15 active cases, Pembroke with nine, and Concord with seven. Nashua also reported 11 new cases and the city has more active cases than any other with 92.
Only one of the 97 cases required hospitalization with 13 still receiving care. Only nine of the new cases had no identified risk factors — meaning 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, the state said Friday.
The state reported collecting 9,730 specimens Thursday with 972 tests pending and a 0.9 percent positivity rate on the daily PCR tests. The state has performed 487,369 tests while testing more than 19 percent of the population of New Hampshire — 290,038.
More Infections Connected To K-12 Schools
Fifteen schools in New Hampshire reported new cases during the past couple of days.
The Derryfield School, the Swasey Central School, and the Sunapee Central all reported their first cases Thursday. The Pollard Elementary School in Plaistow and the Plymouth Regional High School also reported their first cases as did Milford High School. The Litchfield Middle School and the Lebanon Middle School also reported their first cases while Kennett High School in North Conway reported its first case. Wilton’s High Mowing School reported its first case as did the Greenland Central School. The Griffin Memorial School in Litchfield now has three active cases. The Fred C. Underhill School and David R. Cawley Middle School, both in Hooksett, reported their two first cases each. Chester Academy also reported its first case while the Bicentennial Elementary School in Nashua did, too.
There are currently 45 active cases in New Hampshire in K-12 schools.
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Stop The Spread Of COVID-19
The COVID-19 virus is spread through respiratory droplets, usually through coughing and sneezing, and exposure to others who are sick or might be showing symptoms.
Health officials emphasize residents should follow these recommendations:
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Avoid any domestic and international travel, especially on public transportation such as buses, trains, and airplanes.
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Practice social distancing. Stay at least 6 feet from other people, including distancing while in waiting areas or lines.
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When you can’t practice 6 feet of social distancing, wear a face covering.
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Anyone who is told to self-quarantine and stay at home due to exposure to a person with confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 needs to stay home and not go out into public places.
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If you are 60 years or older or have chronic and underlying health conditions, you need to stay home and not go out.
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Avoid gatherings of 10 people or more.
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Employers should work from home as much as possible.
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There is increasing evidence that the virus can survive for hours or possibly days on surfaces. People should clean frequently touched surfaces, including door handles, grocery carts and grocery basket handles, etc.
Take the same precautions as you would if you were sick:
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Stay home and avoid public places.
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Wear a face covering.
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Cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
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Wash hands frequently.
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Disinfect frequently touched surfaces.
More information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services about coronavirus can be found here on the department’s website.
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This article originally appeared on the Concord Patch