Confirmed cases of Covid-19 remained at 12 on Martha’s Vineyard on Thursday, a full month into the coronavirus outbreak, while statewide the pandemic continued to take its grim toll in patients and lives lost.
As of Thursday morning the hospital had tested 227 patients for the virus. There have been 212 negative test results, with three tests still pending. The number of positives is still 12.
Statewide, the number of cases is surging. There were 2,263 new cases reported Thursday with 137 new deaths. A total of 1,245 people have died in the commonwealth from the disease.
The statewide figures are released by the Department of Public Health each day around 4 p.m. In a reversal of previous policy, state health officials began releasing the towns of residence for every confirmed case of Covid-19 on Wednesday. There are five cases in West Tisbury, an unspecified number less than five in Tisbury, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, and none in Aquinnah or Chilmark, according to the state report.
At a press briefing Tuesday, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital officials reiterated that they are preparing for a surge on the Vineyard within the upcoming weeks as the virus continues its spread statewide.
“We’re not as remote as everybody thinks we are,” Ms. Schepici said at the briefing. “There are shipments coming in and out of Boston every day. There is still travel here.”
The press briefing was hosted by Ms. Schepici, head of operations and nursing Claire Seguin and hospital spokesman Katrina Delgadillo.
They said three positive Covid-19 patients had been transferred off-Island for medical reasons over the past three weeks. All three were transferred to hospitals in Boston.
Two of the patients were transported via Boston Medflight helicopters, while the third, a maternity patient, was transported by ground.
The hospital uses Boston Medflight helicopters to transport patients off-Island for critical care not available on Island. In bad weather, Coast Guard make the transports.
Ms. Seguin described the circumstances under which a coronavirus patient would be transferred off-Island. Although the hospital has three ICU beds and six ventilation systems, she said they intend to transfer as many intensive care patients as possible to preserve their limited capacity.
“As you can imagine, we have to prepare for a surge. We do have three staffed ICU beds here, but it is better to keep them empty in case we were to get more patients in,” Ms. Seguin said.
She said there is no threshold of care that automatically triggers a transfer, but that the hospital is using guiding principles to determine transfers on a case-by-case basis.
“It’s complicated, each case is a bit different,” Ms. Seguin said. “I think the general principle is that ICU-level care patients will get transferred whenever possible.”
The hospital follows the condition of the patient once they leave the Vineyard. Ms. Seguin said the three patients who had been transferred had not yet recovered.
“We do keep track [of the patients],” Ms. Seguin said. “I will say, they were quite sick, the folks that went off-Island. They are not out of the weeds yet. Let’s put it that way.”
Ms. Schepici also discussed the status of Windemere, the long-term care nursing facility that is owned by the hospital and shares the same campus. Windemere currently has 46 residents, Ms. Schepici said, all of whom have been moved into their own rooms. Many residents normally share rooms, with up to three residents per room.
No residents have yet tested positive for the virus, she said, and the hospital has segregated staff working at Windemere, and has banned all visitors and discontinued much of the social programming for residents. Ms. Schepici said some social programming continues on Zoom, and she acknowledged it has been a difficult and lonely time for the residents.
Windemere is the Island’s only long-term care nursing facility.
“It’s tough because the staff has to keep residents in their rooms . . . they are not allowed family visits. But our staff is creative,” Ms. Schepici said. “We are doing a lot of virtual visits with family and keeping them socially connected.”
Meanwhile, hospital officials continued to press the message Ms. Schepici disseminated in an open letter to the Island community Monday, urging residents to stay at home and to not let the seemingly small case numbers lull them into complacency.
Ms. Schepici said Boston case numbers are increasing and expected to spike within the next two weeks, and only after that could a discussion begin about re-opening the Island.
“I worry that people are falsely lulled by the number staying at twelve,” Ms. Schepici said. “As the surge increases in Boston, we become highly susceptible to it here. So I think the window is still now until the end of April, like we’ve been projecting.”
She said when warmer weather arrives, bringing more visitors, the Island will face new threats.
“The exposure — as the weather gets better and people start coming here more — the exposure is increasing, there is no doubt about it,” Ms. Schepici said.
She also expressed concern about members of the seasonal workforce coming to the Island, and urged anyone arriving to quarantine for 14 days.
“We urge caution about opening our businesses too quickly,” Ms. Schepici said. “When we invite more workers to the Island, they tend to congregate in housing. Six or eight or ten. So social distancing becomes impossible. We are really concerned about that.”
She reiterated that the virus is already on the Vineyard, potentially spreading through asymptomatic carriers. She urged people to stay home — now more than ever.
“The truth is, Covid-19 is here on the Island,” Ms. Schepici said. “Now is not a time to leave your home.”
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