The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital reported two more positive cases of Covid-19 on Friday, ending a nine-day caseless streak and bringing the islandwide total to 14.

 

In their daily media update, the hospital reported that they had collected samples for 238 tests for the coronavirus since the outbreak began nearly one month ago, with 223 of those tests coming back negative and one test result still pending. 

 

Fourteen of those tests have now come back positive, two more than had been previously reported.

 

Island boards of health corroborated the same numbers in their report issued later in the day. The two new cases were a male and a female, one under the age of 20, and one over the age of 60.

 

The hospital also announced that it currently had no patients hospitalized with the virus. The hospital previously confirmed that three Island coronavirus patients have been transported to Boston for critical care, including one maternity ward patient.

 

The two new cases on the Island come as the number of coronavirus patients statewide continues to surge. Numbers from the state DPH Friday showed that the state reported 2,221 new cases, bringing the total to 34,402. The state also reported 159 new deaths, for a total of 1,404. The state has conducted over 130,000 tests for the virus.

 

When asked about the surge at his daily press briefing on Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker said, “We are in the surge, yes.”

 

Martha’s Vineyard Hospital president and CEO Denise Schepici has said that the state expects their surge to peak around April 20. The Vineyard has not reported a death from Covid-19.

 

Since the Island reported its first suspected positive case back in mid-March, the Island had seen case numbers steadily grow until early April, when they appeared to level-off at 12. Before the two new cases Friday morning, no new cases had been reported in the last nine days.

 

In a phone conversation earlier this week, Tisbury health agent Maura Valley said that many of the early coronavirus patients on the Island had officially recovered. 

 

When a resident tests positive for the virus, they are told to go into confinement in their home and monitored by their town health agent, unless their condition becomes more serious. After a patient in confinement has gone at least seven days since they started being symptomatic - and gone 72 hours without any symptoms - health agents can assess their condition and release them from confinement, according to Ms. Valley.

 

“The shortest period of time that you are going to be under quarantine is seven days, because you need to go seven days from onset of symptoms and at least 72 hours of being symptom free,” Ms. Valley explained.

 

The majority of the 14 positive cases on the Island were reported over ten days ago.

 

“We have had people released,” Ms. Valley said. “I would assume most of them.” 

 

Ms. Valley was not immediately available to comment on the two new cases Friday morning. The Island boards of health have been sending out Island-wide case number updates daily at approximately 4 p.m. The updates include age and gender breakdowns of the cases.

 

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.

 

The state’s town-by-town report will be updated every Wednesday, so it does not include the two most recent cases on-Island.