Restaurants and other businesses will be allowed to stay open past 9:30 p.m. starting Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker said in an announcement Thursday that also lifted an advisory urging residents to remain home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Capacity limits for most businesses will remain at 25 percent for at least two more weeks.
And in a second announcement, the governor said all residents who fall into the Phase 1 priority category are now eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The category includes all health care workers, including those doing in-home care, first responders, and people in long-term care facilities and other congregate housing, including shelters and prisons. Eligible individuals can now make appointments at one of 150 sites around the state, the governor said.
Though there was no Martha's Vineyard location among the 150 sites, a spokeswoman for the hospital said in an email Thursday that 389 hospital employees and 280 first responders, including harbor masters, have already received their first dose of the vaccination, and plans are in the works for others.
In a separate email, special sheriff James Neville said the Dukes County Sheriff’s office had received doses of the Moderna vaccine for staff and the six inmates at the jail, in keeping with state-mandated priorities. After vaccines were administered to all accepting inmates and staff, he said, the sheriff’s office was able to offer several unused doses vaccine employees of the Edgartown district court to avoid waste. The vaccine spoils if not used quickly after it is thawed.
News about vaccinations came as the Island boards of health on Thursday reported 11 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, 10 from PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests conducted at the hospital and one at TestMV. The new cases bring to 772 the total number on the Island since the pandemic began, and 170 in just the last 14 days. Two patients remain hospitalized.
In their daily report, the boards of health also reported one new probable case, bringing to 50 the number of cases that have been diagnosed to date based either on the presence of antibodies or symptoms of the virus.
Statewide, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 4,821 Thursday, bringing the total to 462,910 since the pandemic began. Seventy-five more deaths were reported, bringing the total to date to 13,622, according to the DPH. There have been no reported deaths on Martha's Vineyard.
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