Updated 4:45 pm
COVID-19 vaccinations are underway at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. As of Monday, 56 individuals received the vaccine. Numbers were not yet available for Wednesday. The hospital is in phase two of the vaccine rollout. Phase two, which began on Feb. 1, includes individuals 75 years and older. Hospital patients can sign up through Patient Gateway. Non-hospital patients can fill out an attestation form from the state’s website. Visit mass.gov/lists/covid-19-vaccine-attestation-form-translations to access the form. After outrage over the complicated online sign-ups, Gov. Charlie Baker has promised to add a call center, but as of Wednesday he said it was coming “this week.”
The hospital expects to vaccinate 570 individuals by Friday.
The Island boards of health reported four new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday — three from Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and one from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
The hospital has conducted 12,669 tests for COVID-19 since March. Of those, 597 have tested positive, 12,003 negative, and 69 are pending results.
There are currently three patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Two are in “good condition,” and one who was admitted on Tuesday is in “fair condition.”
As of Tuesday, TestMV has conducted 31,864 tests since June. Of those, 243 have tested positive, 30,520 negative, and 1,101 are pending results.
One new probable case over the weekend brought the Island’s total to 50 since March.
The town of Aquinnah has conducted 409 tests, of which one has come back positive, 405 negative and three pending results.
The Martha’s Vineyard public schools have tested 2,808 individuals. As of Feb. 1, there have been three positive cases. The public school data is updated once a week.
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) reported a new case Wednesday, for a total of seven positive cases of COVID-19.
On the state level Tuesday, there were 1,963 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state’s seven-day average of percent positivity has dropped to 3.44 percent — a steep decline from 8 percent high in early January. There are an estimated 67,650 active cases statewide. There were 45 new deaths, for a total of 14,362 COVID-19 deaths since March.
Due to how tests are conducted, there can be a discrepancy between the number of positive individuals and the number of positive tests reported.
In an expanded report Friday, the Martha’s Vineyard boards of health reported that there were 79 active cases of COVID-19 on the Island. Two active cases tested positive between Jan. 3 and Jan. 16, the rest tested positive between Jan. 17 and Jan. 22.
Of the positive cases, 325 or 40 percent are connected to at least one other case. Most connections are within family/household groups, according to the boards of health. There have been 48 instances of two-person groups testing positive for COVID-19.
According to Tisbury health agent and boards of health spokesperson Maura Valley, getting an immediate repeat test is not recommended, but she said it can be done at the discretion of a healthcare provider. Per Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines, if an individual tests positive for COVID-19, they should quarantine and take precautions.
Since March, there have been 898 cases of COVID-19 reported on Martha’s Vineyard. Of the Island’s 898 total cases, 430 are female and 418 are male, with the majority of the cases being in individuals under the age of 40. Only 36 cases have been reported in individuals over 70 years old.
The vast majority of COVID-19 cases have been reported since the end of October, when the Island’s first cluster of cases was linked to a wedding in October. Since then, the Island has seen 759 cases of COVID-19 — several times the 89 cases reported on the Island between when testing began in March.
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.
On the state level Tuesday, there were 1,963 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state’s seven-day average of percent positivity has dropped to 3.44 percent — a steep decline from 8 percent high in early January. There are an estimated 67,650 active cases statewide. There were 45 new deaths, for a total of 14,362 COVID-19 deaths since March.
Updated with Wednesday COVID data — Ed.
