The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital reported one new case of Covid-19 on the Island Friday, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases to 26 positive tests and four positive antibody tests over the course of the pandemic.
The Island boards of health on Friday also released expanded demographic information on the positive coronavirus cases on-Island, showing that 19 of the 26 positive test cases are no longer symptomatic and have been released from isolation, and that more than half the cases on-Island can be traced to family groups. All four individuals who have tested positive for viral antibodies have been released from isolation as well.
The new case on Friday is a female in her 40s, according to the update provided by the boards of health. The individual was tested at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
In their daily testing update, the hospital reported that they had tested 650 patients as of 11 a.m. Friday, with 24 of those positives, 621 negatives and five pending. No one is currently hospitalized with the virus.
Of the 26 Island residents who have tested positive for the virus, two have been tested off-Island. The others have all been tested at the hospital, which is now testing all symptomatic individuals and their close contacts.
On Friday, it was announced that Quest Diagnostics would be partnering with Island Health Care to offer comprehensive coronavirus testing for non-symptomatic patients as well.
The Island has had 11 male and 15 female patients test positive for the virus. Patient ages range from two residents under the age of 20 to one resident over the age of 70. All other positive patients are between 20 and 69.
In their expanded demographic update, the Island boards of health provided a timeline for the spread of the virus on the Island.
The first tests for the virus came back positive in the second week of March, beginning March 8, according to the report. Three more tests coming the next week and four more the following week. All those cases have since been completed, the report states, meaning that those patients are no longer symptomatic and have been released from quarantine.
Beginning March 29, the Island then had five positive tests over the course of a week. Of those, three have been completed, one is still in progress, meaning it is being followed by the boards of health, and one was lost to follow-up, meaning that the person was unable to be contacted.
The Island experienced a lull between April 5 and April 11, when no new cases were reported.
A case reported between April 12 and April 18 is still in progress, and one of the four cases reported in the last week of April is still in progress as well.
There have been three cases reported since May 3 - all three of which are still in progress.
The report also said 16 of the 26 positive test cases on the Island, or 62 per cent, were linked to other family or household members. Health agents identified six family or household groups that had tested positive for the case. Three households had two individuals test positive, two households had three individuals test positive and one household had four individuals test positive.
Three of the four antibody tests that have come back positive were linked to one another, the report states, describing the individuals as “friends/acquaintances.”
Statewide, the DPH reported 1,239 new cases on Friday and 110 new deaths. Cases now exceed 83,000 throughout the state, with 5,592 deaths.
In his daily press briefing on Friday, Gov. Charlie Baker extended his order closing non-essential businesses for an additional 24 hours. The order was set to expire at midnight on Sunday. He described the decision as a housekeeping item.
“It doesn’t change anything, it just allows us to move to the next step,” he said.
Governor Baker is set to release a report detailing a four-phase plan to reopen the state’s economy on Monday. On Friday, he struck a generally positive tone as he looked to present a careful way forward.
“We want to do it in a way that is cautious enough that we actually move forward and have the ability to sustain it,” the governor said.
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