All 10 participants in the first round of coronavirus testing at the high school have tested negative for the virus, public health officials announced in a press conference Saturday.
Officials also said the light rollout of the new, comprehensive testing facility for asymptomatic patients on Thursday and Friday went smoothly, as they pointed ahead to a much larger opening June 1.
The site already has 70 people scheduled to be tested on Monday, and 300 in the queue for the upcoming week.
“The purpose of the soft launch was accomplished,” Edgartown health agent Matt Poole said at the briefing.
The briefing was hosted by Mr. Poole, Tisbury health agent Maura Valley, director of Island Health Care Cynthia Mitchell, and spokesman Mary Breslauer.
The 10 people tested Thursday as part of the facility’s soft launch included five volunteers, three public safety officials and two essential workers, Ms. Mitchell said. Twelve more people were tested on Friday. Those results were not available at the time of the briefing.
The 300 people scheduled for the upcoming week are part of what is being described as a high priority testing group, and include public safety officials, site volunteers, health care workers, grocery store workers and other essential business employees who have direct interaction with the public.
Beginning Monday at 9 a.m., a telephone number (877-336-9855) will go live that any Vineyarder can call to schedule a test. Tests are only available via appointment. Priority will be given to individuals described as high risk, including the aforementioned groups as well as the elderly, transportation workers, municipal employees and people with pre-existing conditions. Everyone who calls, however, will be scheduled for a test.
The testing facility has been set up in the parking lot at the high school Performing Arts Center, which has been transformed over the past week into a three-lane, drive-through coronavirus testing site. Officials at the briefing said the logistics went smoothly for the first round of testing, and that capacity would expand accordingly over the coming week.
“We are absolutely looking forward to serving Islanders in the community and exercising what our capacity is,” Mr. Poole said.
The self-administered tests take approximately five to 10 minutes, officials said Saturday. Tests can be scheduled in pairs, with two people per car allowed for testing.
The comprehensive testing site was made possible by a unique partnership between Quest Diagnostics and Island health officials.
Island Health Care, a federally qualified health center on the Vineyard, is administering the tests. Expanded contact tracing will be done through public health nurses and the boards of health.
“To get this testing site up and running in under two weeks, it’s challenged our capacity and our wits definitely,” Ms. Mitchell said. “But the strong partnership between the health center nurses and the guidance from the Quest project team has meant that really quickly we can offer widespread testing to anyone on the Vineyard.”
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