For the third day in a row, Island boards of health reported two new coronavirus cases Friday — marking six new cases in the past three days and seven in the past week
For the third day in a row, Island boards of health reported two new coronavirus cases Friday — marking six new cases in the past three days and seven in the past week.
The two new cases Friday — both males — were tested at TestMV, the comprehensive coronavirus testing facility at the regional high school. One is in his 50s and one in his 40s, according to a daily case demographic report provided by the boards of health.
Eighteen males and 24 females have tested positive for the virus through a PCR (polymerase chain reaction test), bringing the number of people who have tested positive for the virus on the Island to 42. The total coronavirus caseload on the Island, including people who have been symptomatically diagnosed or tested positive for antibodies, has climbed to 60.
According to an expanded demographic report released by the boards of health on Friday, there are now seven active cases on-Island, all occurring since the Fourth of July weekend. The six positive Covid-19 tests reported this week are the most positive tests reported in a single week since the pandemic began in mid-March. The report also states that 23 cases, or 56 per cent, are linked to another case in a family or household group.
The high school testing site — which is focusing on testing asymptomatic patients for the virus — has now tested just shy of 4,000 people since opening to the public on May 28. Eleven patients have tested positive, 3,519 have tested negative and 430 tests are pending, according to the report.
The most recent 11 patients to test positive for the virus have all come from the high school testing site, suggesting that they are likely asymptomatic, according to town health agents.
The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital continues to test symptomatic patients and their close contacts for the virus, but has not reported a unique positive test in over a month. In their daily web update, the hospital reported that it had tested 1,946 patients for the virus, with 30 positives, 1,869 negatives and 47 pending.
No one is currently hospitalized with the virus, according to the online 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, three in their 40s, 12 in their 50s, seven in their 60s and two over 70.
The small spike in cases on the Island comes even as cases throughout the state remained flat on Friday. The DPH reported 152 new patients and 28 new deaths. Over 105,000 people have tested positive throughout the state and 8,081 have died since the pandemic began.
No patients on Martha’s Vineyard have died from the disease.

Comments
I fear we may be too late and
voter with an opinion Oak BluffsI fear we may be too late and we should’ve been more cautious last weekend. My guess is they wanted to wait until after the 4th to give the businesses a strong weekend when instead they should’ve gotten ahead of it for the health of the community AND longer-term health of our businesses. We all knew the 4th was going to be a disaster given the already existing lack of compliance and enforcement. I hope they don’t wait too long to lock things down again if needed before we become the next FL, TX, AZ, CA.
What happens when an
Dan West TisburyWhat happens when an asymptomatic person gets a positive COVID-19 result? Is there contact tracing, monitoring, and for how long? Is the person re-tested after a period of time to see if the virus is cleared from their system?
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