Out of the 7082 people tested at University of New Hampshire (UNH) testing sites, 19 of them (.27%) were positive, according to the data released by the University on Aug. 24. Eight out of the 19 positive cases are students.  

These results can be found on the UNH Coronavirus Website and were attached in an email that UNH Police Chief Paul Dean sent to the UNH Community. In his email Dean wrote “we are committed to test data transparency, while still protecting employee and student confidentiality and privacy. No personal identifiable data will be shared.”  

On July 27 UNH started testing students, faculty, staff, and contractors at a testing center located behind the Wildcat Stadium. The data released is primarily from faculty, staff, and contractors who were already on campus and had to get tested weekly starting at the end of July. The data represents the cumulative number of tests and includes results from people who have been tested multiple times.  

UNH is providing the testing services through a partnership with ConvenientMD. The results are typically available within 3-5 days via a Veritas Genetics portal, but some members of the UNH community have reported that it took more than 5 days for them to receive their results back.  

The majority of the student pre-arrival testing has not been reported “because students were instructed to be tested no earlier than 8 days before arriving to campus.” Prearrival testing for students began the week of Aug. 24 at the Whittemore Center, where students are tested and taught how to use and deliver their own self-testing kits. Students will be tested regularly throughout the school year and need to provide a negative test in order to remain on campus in-person.  

According to Dean’s email, “All data will be presented in aggregate in a dashboard that will be updated on a regular basis (likely twice a week).”  The university plans to closely monitor the results from these tests and move campus into different phases accordingly based on guidance from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.