The Island has now gone a full week without recording any new positive laboratory coronavirus tests, according to a demographic report from the Island boards of health that came out Friday.
The Island has now gone a full week without recording any new positive laboratory coronavirus tests, according to a demographic report from the Island boards of health that came out Friday.
There are also no currently active cases on the Island — a first since mid-June, when the Island went nearly two weeks without recording a case of Covid-19.
The current seven-day case lull, the longest since June, has transpired just as an unprecedented summer season on the Island comes to a close. Labor Day — the traditional change of season — falls on Monday.
Although both July and August reported the Island’s highest new positive test totals of any two months since the pandemic began, case numbers have largely held steady over the summer, even as the Island’s population and testing capacity has increased dramatically since the spring.
There have also been no Covid-19 hospitalizations since late spring, and the Vineyard has avoided the more dramatic case spikes seen in other summer communities, like Nantucket and parts of the Cape.
Sixty-seven individuals have tested positive for the virus through a laboratory test, and another 24 are considered probable cases, either testing positive for antibodies or receiving a symptomatic case diagnosis, putting the Island’s total coronavirus case count at 91.
Of the 67 positive laboratory cases, 24 are male and 43 are female. The age breakdown for cases is as follows: nine under 20; 14 in their 20’s; 11 in their 30’s; 4 in their 40’s; 17 in their 50’s; nine in their 60’s; and three over the age of 70. Twenty-five, or 40 per cent of the cases, are linked to another case through a household or family group.
The four most recent cases on the Island, which occurred between August 23 and August 29, have been completed, meaning the individuals are no longer in isolation and have been released from monitoring.
At a Chilmark selectman’s meeting on Thursday, public health agent Marina Lent said in an update to selectmen that the Island’s two-week case average has consistently been sitting at about seven for much of the summer. The state DPH uses the two-week positive test rate as one of its main metrics for determining virus incidence.
Ms. Lent said that seven was a low number, considering the Island’s demographics.
“All the indicators point to a very slow transmission,” Ms. Lent said. “We are at a steady rate. It’s not nothing, but it is low-ish.”
Ms. Lent said it was important on the Island to stay vigilant, despite the low count.
“If we maintain good practices, it might remain low-ish. That’s as good as we could hope for, and I had not expected to find us in as good a condition as this, this time of year,” Ms. Lent said. “But I don’t trust the virus for a second.”
Statewide, the DPH reported 219 new coronavirus cases Friday and 22 new deaths. There are now over 120,000 residents in the state who have tested positive for the virus, and 8,892 who have died.

Comments
Tell me again why we are not
CG Oak BluffsTell me again why we are not going back to school? The cases in Florida? The cases at colleges? The cases on Nantucket? The fear that we have generated without local data to back it up? That it’s Labor Day? At some point we have to accept the real data. We can not always say “we have to wait two weeks”. Are any contacts currently quarantined? The Mass.gov site reports 56 cases in Dukes County. Where does the 67 number originate from? Does it count single individuals tested twice? People that do not live here? No other county reports cases in this way! The island did not skip a beat when the Governor gave the go ahead for restaurants to reopen. We had no issue with people sitting INSIDE and out with no masks. There were no demands to keep those doors shut. Many of the same voices with strong feelings about going back to school did not voluntarily stay closed out of “an abundance of caution” or “to protect our community at large”. Where is the balance? Going back to school hybrid on September 17 still qualifies as slow, phased reopening. October 27 for kids to set foot in a school is only asking for a shutdown if, as we saw yesterday with the high school, the threshold will be so low as an individual in the building showed symptoms. Take a breath, protect the at risk and vulnerable, use the recommend precautions and move forward.
Why are Dukes County and
AT ChappyWhy are Dukes County and Nantucket County numbers listed together in the Commonwealth data? If any one understands why, I would appreciate an explanation. Because there has been an increase in positive tests on Nantucket, the state data (and Hopkins tracker) shows Dukes County cases as increasing. Thank you.
good news,, quite amazing
fact checker edggood news,, quite amazing judging by the lack of 'mask use' compliance in downtown Edg this weekend.
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