New Hampshire shuts down state-run COVID-19 testing sites

New Hampshire shuts down state-run COVID-19 testing sites New Hampshire's state-run COVID-19 testing sites shut down Tuesday afternoon as cases and hospitalizations continue to fall. Ray Brewer WMUR

CONCORD, N.H. —

New Hampshire's state-run COVID-19 testing sites shut down Tuesday afternoon as cases and hospitalizations continue to fall.

According to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every county in New Hampshire is at a low COVID-19 community level. State health officials said recent gains against the virus have made the testing sites unnecessary.

"As the level of COVID-19 has decreased across the state and in our communities, similarly, the demand for testing has decreased," said Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist.

At-home tests are also now widely available.

"People can pick up at-home tests at state liquor stores," Chan said. "They can order at-home tests from the federal government. They can go to local commercial pharmacies and other stores and pick up at-home tests."

Health officials said COVID-19 is going to continue to circulate in New Hampshire, and people should stay vigilant.

"It's important to continue to test so that we can identify and isolate individuals who are positive and provide additional therapies and treatments to them if they're high-risk," said Martha Wassell, director of infection prevention at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital.

State health officials said they will continue to monitor COVID-19 levels and will stay flexible when it comes to testing and other resources. They said that right now, things are heading in the right direction.

"The trend we're seeing now is the trend that we hoped to see as we entered the spring months, which is the levels are decreasing since the omicron surge," Chan said. ...