A recent jump in Island coronavirus cases continued on Thursday, with health agents reporting two more positive tests — marking four new cases in the last two days and five since the Fourth of July.
A recent jump in Island coronavirus cases continued on Thursday, with health agents reporting two more positive tests — marking four new cases in the last two days and five since the Fourth of July.
The Island has now had 40 individuals test positive for the virus with a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test since the pandemic began. The total coronavirus caseload on Island — including individuals who have tested positive for antibodies and who have been symptomatically diagnosed — has climbed to 58.
The new cases come after an approximately six-week lull in case numbers, with over half of the cases reported in the past month occurring since Monday.
The two new cases reported on Thursday include one male and one female, according to a daily demographic report released by the Island boards of health. One person is under the age of 20 and one person is in their fifties, the report states. Sixteen men and 24 women have tested positive on the Island.
Both individuals reported on Thursday tested positive at TestMV, the comprehensive coronavirus testing site located in the regional high school parking lot. The site is focused on testing asymptomatic patients for the virus.
The past nine patients to test positive from the virus have come from the TestMV site. Although the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital — which continues to test patients who are symptomatic and their close contacts for the virus — has reported two new cases as well, both individuals also tested positive at the high school site, making the cases redundant.
The hospital has not reported a unique case since late May, signaling that most if not all of the nine most recent cases are asymptomatic, according to health agents.
No one is currently hospitalized with the virus, according to a daily web update from the hospital.
Nantucket has also seen a marked increase in Covid-19 cases over the past two weeks, with cases nearly doubling after remaining flat for a month and a half.
The small spike in Island cases does come with a continued increase in testing numbers. In their daily update, the boards of health reported that 3,763 patients had been tested for the virus at TestMV since the site opened to the public on May 28. Nine of those tests have come back positive, 3,339 negative and 415 still pending.
The hospital reported on Thursday that it had tested 1,907 patients for the virus, with 30 tests coming back positive, 1,829 negative and 48 pending.
And the Aquinnah board of health has supplied 34 town residents with self-administered saliva test kits. Thirty tests have come back negative and four are still pending, according to the board of health report.
The demographic breakdown of positive test cases by age is as follows: four people under 20, nine in their 20s, five in their 30s, two in their 40s, 11 in their 50s, seven in their 60s and two over 70.
Statewide, cases remained relatively flat even as they continue to surge across the country. Massachusetts reported 177 new cases on Thursday and 25 new deaths, down dramatically from highs in mid-April.
Comments
Time to shut it down,
Doc West TisburyTime to shut it down,
It would be interesting to
Quitsa ChilmarkIt would be interesting to know if the positive tests were people who arrived recently or had been off island within the prior 14 days. I am somewhat sympathetic to the secrecy about this data especially in the March-May period when there was concern about inflaming hostility towards people who had fled here from New York or other cities. Now that the tourist season is in full swing, I don't see any reason for the public not to know whether the cases are local community transmission or likely contracted elsewhere.
These are nothing just wait
Paul Oak BluffsThese are nothing just wait and get ready for the spike. The out of control holiday will be paid for soon. Shame on the Towns for not enforcing the governors orders.
Pleased to read there have
John Gault Oak BluffsPleased to read there have been no deaths reported, with the additional people on the island this should not be a surprise to anyone. The surprise is lack of deaths with all the predictions being made of mass deaths.
Are public health officials
Wondering EdgartownAre public health officials doing contact tracing with these new cases?
I was tested a week ago
Debbie B EdgartownI was tested a week ago Thursday and still have not gotten results. Anyone else ?
I was parked on Circuit
Robert Sarno EdgartownI was parked on Circuit Avenue today while my wife picked up my daughter’s mail at the OB post office. My bride waited, as number 10 in line, to access the mail box. Good system! I was shocked to see the number of people on the street in OB wearing no mask! I then went to get my mail at the Edgartown post office. There were probably 40 people in the Post Office standing in line to retrieve their packages. I thought the occupancy number at the Post Office with the COVID challenge is 10. Our island is at risk on multiple levels. We are allowing ourselves to kill ourselves.
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