There were 18 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday — eight from Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, seven from TestMV, two from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and one from another healthcare provider.
In an expanded report Friday, the Martha’s Vineyard boards of health reported that there are 91 active cases of COVID-19 on the Island. Each of those active cases was an individual that tested positive between Jan. 3 and Jan. 15.
The hospital has conducted 11,325 tests for COVID-19 since March. Of those, 492 have tested positive, 10,715 negative, and 118 are pending results.
There are currently two patients hospitalized with COVID-19. One patient has been admitted to the hospital since Jan. 6, the other was admitted on Tuesday. Both admitted patients were reported in “fair condition” on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the hospital sent a patient in “serious condition” off-Island by MedFlight. There have been four total COVID-19-related transfers since the pandemic began.
TestMV has conducted 30,209 tests since June. Of those, 209 have tested positive, 29,009 negative, and 991 are pending results.
The town of Aquinnah has conducted 388 tests, of which one has come back positive, 375 negative, and 12 pending results.
With Friday’s two new positive cases, the tribe has now reported four total positive cases.
Of the new cases, 14 are men and four are women, three younger than 20, two in their 20s, three in their 30s, three in their 50s, four in their 60s, and three are older than 70.
Of the total 706 confirmed cases since March, 356 are male and 350 are female. Of those, 120 are younger than 20, 124 are in their 20s, 176 are in their 30s, 100 are in their 40s, 96 are in their 50s, 56 are in their 60s, and 31 are older than 70.
There were no new probable cases Friday, totaling 45 probable cases that have been reported since March — 23 females and 22 males.
Individuals may be tested more than once to confirm illness or to be released from isolation. This can result in a discrepancy between the number of positive individuals and the number of positive tests reported.
Of those, 26 received positive antibody tests, and 19 have been symptomatically diagnosed. There are eight in their 60s, 11 in their 20s, six in their 50s, eight in their 40s, four younger than 20, three older than 70, and five in their 30s.
Test positivity rates are also on the rise on the Island. In the past two weeks, the positivity rate went from 4.1 percent to 9.2 percent.
Since March, there have been 706 cases of COVID-19 reported on Martha’s Vineyard. The vast majority of those cases were reported in the past two months, when the Island’s first cluster of cases was linked to a wedding in October. Since then, the Island has seen 617 cases of COVID-19 — almost seven times 89 cases reported on the Island between when testing began in March and Oct. 25.
In addition to the wedding cluster, which reported eight cases, clusters at Cronig’s Market with 19 cases and a Bible study group with 11 cases have also been reported. Only 40 of the Island’s 505 confirmed cases are still being followed by public health officials. Each of those active cases were reported between Dec. 6 and Dec. 26.
On Friday, the state reported 5,074 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, with a 6.45 percent seven-day positivity rate, and an estimated 93,597 active cases statewide. There were 75 new deaths, for a total of 13,231 COVID-19 deaths since March.
