After five new Covid-19 cases were reported last week, Island boards of health have reported no new coronavirus cases over the weekend, Monday or on Tuesday, marking five straight days without a Covid-19 case on the Island even as asymptomatic testing numbers near 10,000.
In a daily demographic update, the Island boards of health reported that TestMV — the comprehensive coronavirus testing facility at the high school — had administered 9,894 tests for the virus since the pandemic began, approximately 100 short of the facility’s goal for the summer when it opened in late May. TestMV is focused on testing asymptomatic patients for the virus.
The facility has had 19 people test positive for the virus since opening to the public.
Speaking to the Gazette by phone Tuesday, Tisbury health agent Maura Valley said the testing facility has received approval from the high school to continue operations at the site until Sept. 12. She said the hope was to continue conducting tests after that date, although a new location, the extent of the testing and its availability, had not yet been determined.
The site is a unique public-private partnership between the testing company Quest Diagnostics, Island Health Care and the boards of health. Quest donated the physical tests for the site, and is reimbursed by insurance or through a philanthropic fund established by MV Bank to pay for the test processing.
The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, which is testing mainly symptomatic patients for the virus, has tested 3,603 patients as of Tuesday afternoon. Forty-two patients have tested positive for the virus at the hospital.
Overall, the Island’s total coronavirus caseload sits at 81, with 61 patients testing positive for the virus through a laboratory diagnostic test, 17 patients testing positive for viral antibodies and three patients who have been symptomatically diagnosed with the virus.
There were five active coronavirus cases on the Island as of last Friday, according to the Island boards of health. The three cases reported in the first week of August have all been completed, two of which were referred to off-Island boards of health, according to the report.
Ms. Valley said the two cases referred off-Island were part-time residents who left the Island. She said she knew of one patient who had been tested in a different location and referred to the Island boards of health.
The town of Aquinnah has also tested 99 patients for the virus through its board of health. None of the tests have come back positive.
Statewide, testing numbers remained low Tuesday, with the state reporting 175 new cases and six deaths. The state has now reported nearly 115,000 cases of the virus, and 8,617 people have died.
Only one hospital in the state is currently using surge capacity, according to metrics from the state Department of Public Health.
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