Today’s coronavirus update

State health officials announced three additional COVID-19 deaths and 547 new infections on Friday, Nov. 27.

The three fatalities were residents of Belknap, Merrimack and Rockingham counties. Since the pandemic began, the state has recorded 517 deaths from coronavirus and confirmed 19,313 positive test results.

The 547 new cases reported Friday — which is the highest single-day case count to date in New Hampshire — is data for cases and test results received through Wednesday, Nov. 25, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The state says it will report the Nov. 26-27 results in its Saturday update. 

The latest report says there are 4,570 current cases statewide and 131 residents in the hospital due to the virus.

Portsmouth Company Seeking More Participants in COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

Trials for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate are currently being held in Portsmouth.

ActivMed Research in Portsmouth currently has 500 volunteers who will get the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is being developed at Oxford University and was recently found to be 90 percent effective in late-stage trials. READ MORE

COVID and Mass. Travel Restrictions Are Not Stopping Holiday Shoppers

While many retailers are doing Black Friday a little differently this year, that didn’t stop many from doing their holiday shopping in person.

At the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, it looked like almost any other Black Friday, with some parking lots nearly filled, and plenty of out-of-state license plates. READ MORE

How a Daily Zoom Call Became a Lifeline for COVID Response in the North Country

The coronavirus pandemic has isolated a lot of us, but it’s also brought community institutions together in a new way. In New Hampshire’s North Country, a daily zoom call has become essential for leaders managing the fallout of the pandemic.

When the coronavirus shut down just about everything in March, including schools, Gorham Superintendent David Backler got on a call with his counterpart in Berlin, and staff from the hospital and local health centers.

“We realized that we had so many different stakeholders and different perspectives in our community, and we needed to find a way to get everybody together to be on the same page,” Backler said. “At first, it was a symbiotic relationship where we were just looking for resources.”

READ MORE

A COVID Vaccine for Children May Still Be Many Months Away

It may only be weeks until a COVID-19 vaccine is approved for use in the U.S. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration to grant an emergency use authorization for their vaccine a week ago, and Moderna is expected to follow suit in coming days.

But even when those vaccines hit the market, they will not be available to children. That’s because very few children have been part of the clinical trials to date. Pfizer only recently began enrolling children as young as 12.

Earlier this month, the American Academy of Pediatrics called on researchers to broaden their trials to include more children, warning of a significant delay in access to a vaccine should they not act quickly. READ this NPR story

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report

(data updated as of November 27, 2020 – 9:00 AM)

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.