A second Grafton County resident has tested “presumptive positive” for COVID-19, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The man was in “close contact” with a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center employee who tested positive on Monday for the coronavirus and “is currently isolated at home,” DHHS said in a news release on Tuesday.
Health officials also said they “expect additional cases may be identified that are related to this investigation” and that the DHMC worker had attended an invitation-only private event on Friday night “despite having been directed to self-isolate.”
He has now been issued “an official order of isolation” by the state, and DHHS is contacting attendees who had close contact with him during the event and notifying them to follow the recommended 14-day self-isolation, the news release said.
Earlier in the day, Dartmouth College officials had alerted members of the college community in an email on Tuesday that the DHMC worker had attended a private event related to the Tuck School of Business at The Engine Room in White River Junction on Friday evening.
Read more: What you need to know about COVID-19 infections
“An investigation of those who were in close contact with that individual is underway and all close contacts have been notified; at this time, there are no Dartmouth students considered to be close contacts,” said Dr. Lisa Adams and Joshua Keniston, the co-chairs of Dartmouth’s COVID-19 Task Force, in the email to the community. Adams and Keniston directed Dartmouth community members with symptoms associated with COVID-19 — such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing — to seek medical care. Dartmouth students should contact Dick’s House at 603-646-9400, and faculty and staff should contact their primary care provider.
The Tuck students who attended the party have been informed of the possible contact, but are deemed to be “low risk” of developing coronavirus because officials think they had no direct contact with the man who tested positive, Tuck spokeswoman Lindsey Walter said in an email.
“No limits were placed on their activities, but out of an abundance of caution, they were asked to follow (New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’) guidelines for self-observation,” Walter said.
Brandon Fox, the Engine Room’s general manager and owner, said he spoke with health officials in both states on Tuesday, and also alerted members of his staff who worked at the Tuck event on Friday to let them know to contact their health care provider if they begin having symptoms.
Though Fox said health officials told him that there is a “very low risk” of anyone contracting the virus from the event space, he said cleaning crews were at work on Tuesday and will be returning on Wednesday. Though they had cleaned the space after Friday’s event, Fox said the extra effort was a “precautionary” step.
Meanwhile, River Valley Community College canceled day and evening classes on Tuesday as a precautionary measure because a Claremont-based instructor’s husband is being tested for the virus, according to an email from Claremont City Manager Ed Morris.
The school, which has campuses in Claremont, Lebanon and Keene, N.H., is working with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and plans to reopen on Wednesday, Morris wrote in an email to the City Council that was forwarded to the Valley News.
“We closed as a matter of caution to allow us an opportunity to assess the situation and consult with the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health Services,” River Valley said in a statement posted to its website and Facebook page.
The virus is primarily believed to be transmitted through person-to-person contact. “Close contact” is defined as being within six feet of a person with the disease, who by coughing or sneezing can transmit droplets that can land in the mouths or noses of those nearby, according to the D-H educational webpage: https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/patient-education/coronavirus.html. People not exhibiting symptoms are thought to be less contagious.
In addition, it’s possible that the virus may also spread through surfaces if a person that has the virus touches something and then a person without the virus touches the same object and then touches their mouth, nose or eyes, the D-H webpage said.
New Hampshire health officials announced the presumptive positive test of the DHMC employee on Monday.
He is the first confirmed case in New Hampshire of the strain of coronavirus that was first identified in December in Wuhan city, China. He has a mild form of the illness — which he is believed to have contracted in Italy — and is self-quarantining at home in Grafton County. There have not yet been any known cases reported in Vermont. Seven Days reported Tuesday afternoon that the Vermont Health Department Laboratory in Colchester was testing specimens from three patients who may have been exposed to the virus, marking the first tests in the state; those tests came back negative, the state epidemiologist told the Valley News Tuesday evening.
D-H announced on Tuesday night that any staff members who had been in contact with the employee had been contacted and were self-quarantining at home. The hospital is posting updates at https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/stories/article/1834.
Roughly 2% of reported coronavirus cases have proven deadly, though some experts say the death rate could be even lower. There are more than 90,000 cases worldwide and the global death toll as of Tuesday afternoon had passed 3,100 people, according to the World Health Organization. The United States has reported six deaths in Washington state.
