Four more Granite Staters, all connected to long-term care facilities, have died of COVID-19, health officials said Thursday.>> Download the FREE WMUR appThere have now been 415 deaths related to COVID-19 in New Hampshire. Most of the deaths have been residents of long-term care facilities.>> Latest coronavirus coverage from WMURHealth Commissioner Lori Shibinette said there were 33 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed, bringing the state's total over the course of the pandemic to 6,544.>> COVID-19 in New Hampshire: Important informationShibinette said two more people have been hospitalized for the coronavirus. There have been 692 hospitalizations over the course of the pandemic.Shibinette said Birch Hill, a long-term care facility in Manchester, is no longer experience an outbreak of COVID-19. The facility had been in an outbreak since April 27.There were no new outbreaks of coronavirus to report Thursday, Shibinette said.As COVID-19 cases have spiked in parts of the country, the ability for national labs to turn test results around quickly has been an issue. Shibinette said Quest Labs, which conducts many of New Hampshire's tests, has started doing pool testing to ease the backlog.In pool testing, several samples are tested at once. If the result comes back negative, every sample involved in the test is also negative. If it comes pack positive, each individual sample would then need to be tested, but being able to clear a lot of tests makes the overall process faster.Shibinette said the use of pool testing has allowed Quest to begin clearing its backlog, and she expected test turnarounds to be three to five days by next week.As new cases of COVID-19 continued to be reported in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu said several funds that have been made available to help businesses, health care providers and individuals are taking new applications again."I don't know if anyone really knows what's going to happen over the next couple of weeks with the numbers," Sununu said. "We know there are 65,000 people receiving unemployment benefits, we don't have 65,000 jobs available."One key fund, the New Hampshire Housing Relief Program, has no deadline to apply, Sununu said. The $35 million fund is targeted at individuals and families and is intended to cover costs such as rent or utilities for people who have been hurt financially during the pandemic.As moratoriums on evictions expire and the $600 federal unemployment benefit lapses, housing advocates have said more people will be vulnerable to losing their homes. Sununu said the fund, which is implemented by the state's CAP agencies, is intended to help people stay in their homes.Other programs, such as the Empowering Youth Fund, the Health Care Provider Program and funds aimed at helping veterans organizations are continuing to take applications, with deadlines set for early to mid-August.Applications can be made at the Governor's Officer for Emergency Relief and Recovery website.** Town-by-town COVID-19 case data: Interactive map | Text-only list **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
CONCORD, N.H. — Four more Granite Staters, all connected to long-term care facilities, have died of COVID-19, health officials said Thursday.
>> Download the FREE WMUR app
There have now been 415 deaths related to COVID-19 in New Hampshire. Most of the deaths have been residents of long-term care facilities.
>> Latest coronavirus coverage from WMUR
Health Commissioner Lori Shibinette said there were 33 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed, bringing the state's total over the course of the pandemic to 6,544.
>> COVID-19 in New Hampshire: Important information
Shibinette said two more people have been hospitalized for the coronavirus. There have been 692 hospitalizations over the course of the pandemic.
Shibinette said Birch Hill, a long-term care facility in Manchester, is no longer experience an outbreak of COVID-19. The facility had been in an outbreak since April 27.
There were no new outbreaks of coronavirus to report Thursday, Shibinette said.
As COVID-19 cases have spiked in parts of the country, the ability for national labs to turn test results around quickly has been an issue. Shibinette said Quest Labs, which conducts many of New Hampshire's tests, has started doing pool testing to ease the backlog.
In pool testing, several samples are tested at once. If the result comes back negative, every sample involved in the test is also negative. If it comes pack positive, each individual sample would then need to be tested, but being able to clear a lot of tests makes the overall process faster.
Shibinette said the use of pool testing has allowed Quest to begin clearing its backlog, and she expected test turnarounds to be three to five days by next week.
As new cases of COVID-19 continued to be reported in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu said several funds that have been made available to help businesses, health care providers and individuals are taking new applications again.
"I don't know if anyone really knows what's going to happen over the next couple of weeks with the numbers," Sununu said. "We know there are 65,000 people receiving unemployment benefits, we don't have 65,000 jobs available."
One key fund, the New Hampshire Housing Relief Program, has no deadline to apply, Sununu said. The $35 million fund is targeted at individuals and families and is intended to cover costs such as rent or utilities for people who have been hurt financially during the pandemic.
As moratoriums on evictions expire and the $600 federal unemployment benefit lapses, housing advocates have said more people will be vulnerable to losing their homes. Sununu said the fund, which is implemented by the state's CAP agencies, is intended to help people stay in their homes.
Other programs, such as the Empowering Youth Fund, the Health Care Provider Program and funds aimed at helping veterans organizations are continuing to take applications, with deadlines set for early to mid-August.
Applications can be made at the Governor's Officer for Emergency Relief and Recovery website.
** Town-by-town COVID-19 case data: Interactive map | Text-only list **