One new coronavirus case reported on Nantucket Thursday – The Inquirer and Mirror

(May 13, 2021) Nantucket Cottage Hospital reported one new coronavirus case Thursday morning. There have been 11 cases in the past week, lowering the seven-day positivity rate to 3.3 percent, the lowest it's been in more than six months.

Thursday's results also included 34 negatives, and no tests are pending.

As of Monday, the hospital has administered 8,956 first-dose vaccinations, and 6,772 second-dose vaccinations at its New South Road VFW clinic. It plans to close the clinic by the end of the month as vaccine demand has declined, and instead offer vaccinations at the hospital and through a mobile clinic.

The town received 1,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and is planning to target job sites and other areas where workers might have trouble getting time off during business hours to be vaccinated.

Little by little we are getting through this, but whats important to understand with the numbers were seeing on Nantucket as well as across the state is that COVID is one of those illnesses thats going to be here to stay like the flu and the common cold," Nantucket health director Roberto Santamaria said.

The Board of Health on April 20lifted its outdoor mask mandate, a move Gov. Charlie Baker made statewide earlier in the week. Masks are still required indoors and where social distancing is not possible.

In addition to lifting the outdoor mask mandate, Baker's plan also includes raising gathering limits to 200 people indoors and 250 outdoors beginning May 29, which could have a major impact on the local wedding industry.

There have been five COVID-19 Nantucket deaths since the start of the pandemic, the most recent on April 7 a woman in her mid-50s.

Hospital staff have collected 32,323 nasal swabs for testing since last March. In addition to the 1,558 positive tests since the beginning of the pandemic 4.83 percent of the total number returned 30,765 have come back negative.

All COVID-19 testing is being conducted at the hospital's 57 Prospect St. drive-through portico to free up additional vaccination space at the New South Road VFW. Testing for those with symptoms and close contacts is held from 7-10 a.m. Monday-Friday.

COVID-19elective testing for asymptomatic patientsis by appointment only. Since drive-up testing ended April 28, the number of tests administered by the hospital has dropped by about 50 percent.

There have been 1,495 coronavirus cases confirmed on Nantucket in the past seven months, beginning Sept. 9, 2020 with a spike linked to workers in the trades, followed by a second surge in late September tied to a church function in which a communal meal was shared.

A third spike in early November was again tied to workers in the trades, followed by significant surges related to holiday gatherings and travel at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. A moderate surge in early March was tied to school-break-related travel, followed by the most recent rise in cases, which is believed to be linked to the arrival of additional COVID-19 variants on the island.

Prior to Sept. 9, Nantucket had one of the lowest COVID-19 rates in the state per 100,000 population, and the fewest confirmed cases of any county in Massachusetts.

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One new coronavirus case reported on Nantucket Thursday - The Inquirer and Mirror