Even a presidential election couldn’t put the pandemic on pause, with Vineyard health officials reporting one new coronavirus case on the Island Tuesday as voters streamed to the polls.
The Vineyard has been experiencing its first surge in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, with health agents reporting 20 new cases in the past 10 days. The new case reported Tuesday is the third case reported this week, and the eighth since Friday.
In a daily demographic update, the Island health agents reported that the new positive individual was tested at TestMV, the free testing site at the regional high school. It is not known if the new case is connected to a cluster of cases that health agents traced back to a Columbus Day weekend wedding on the Island.
The wedding has been responsible for 10 cases since early last week, including eight that remain in isolation on the Vineyard. On Sunday, the boards of health and hospital released a joint statement urging renewed vigilance on the Island. Tisbury health agent Maura Valley said the Island may be experiencing its first instances of community spread, considering that only five of the recent 20 cases have been traced back to the wedding.
According to the demographic report, more than 25,000 tests have been conducted on-Island for the virus since the pandemic began, the vast majority occurring at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital or TestMV. While the hospital is only testing symptomatic or high risk patients and their close contacts, TestMV is testing all asymptomatic patients for the virus.
Overall, the new case on Tuesday brings the number of total coronavirus tests on Island to 109. Of those, 46 are male and 63 are female, with 14 under 20, 24 in their 20s, 21 in their 30s, 9 in their 40s, 21 in their 50s, 13 in their 60s and seven over the age of 70. More than half of the Island’s positive tests have come in patients under the age of 40.
In a daily update earlier Tuesday, the hospital reported no patients are hospitalized with the virus. The hospital has had two patients admitted with the virus in recent weeks, both of whom have been released in good condition.
Statewide, case numbers continued to rise but did not eclipse 1,000 for the first time in more than a week. The DPH reported 923 new cases on Tuesday and 12 new deaths. More than 157,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the state, and 9,809 patients have died.
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