Two years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic began, the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital reported its first on-Island death from the coronavirus Tuesday.

Albert Hutchinson, 78, of Chilmark, died Tuesday morning, hospital spokesman Marissa Lefebvre said in an email that went out to the Island press.

“Our thoughts are with Mr. Hutchinson’s family,” Ms. Lefebvre wrote.

The news comes as Covid cases on the Vineyard continued to decline for a fourth straight week, after an upward spike that broke records after the holidays. The large number of cases were believed to be due to the highly contagious Omicron variant which has fueled similar spikes around the country and the world, straining hospitals and their exhausted staff.

For the week ending Feb. 4, Island boards of health reported 97 cases, marking the first week with fewer than 100 cases since late December. An additional 39 cases were reported through Tuesday, for a 10-day total of 136 cases.

On Monday, Ms. Lefebvre reported the hospital was treating three patients for Covid; all were in fair condition, she said in an email.

On Tuesday Ms. Lefebvre confirmed that one person was hospitalized. She confirmed that Mr. Hutchinson had been one of the three patients; the other patient had recovered, she said.

Of the cases reported last week, 48 were in vaccinated people, one was in a partially vaccinated person and 22 were in unvaccinated people. The vaccination status of 12 patients was unknown. The vaccination status of individuals whose cases were reported Friday were not included in the boards’ report, as the report was released a day early last Thursday.

As cases continue to fall, Covid testing on Martha’s Vineyard has undergone significant change, with many people testing using at-home rapid tests instead of PCR tests. The shift follows a concerted effort by Island boards of health and Island Health Care to bring frequent shipments of free rapid tests to the Vineyard from the federal government.

According to the boards’ report, more than half the positive results recorded last week were confirmed with rapid tests.