The last day of 2020 brought 21 new positive coronavirus tests on the Island — likely the highest number of Covid-19 cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began. State numbers reported Thursday afternoon mirrored a similar trend.
The Island had seen a small letup in the daily positive case count over the past week, with fewer than 10 cases reported Saturday through Wednesday. But in a daily case update that came out Thursday afternoon, health agents reported 21 new positive tests, 19 from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and two from TestMV.
A daily website update from the hospital also reported that there is one patient currently hospitalized with Covid-19. The patient’s condition was not immediately available Thursday afternoon.
There have now been 533 laboratory confirmed positive cases on the Island. Another 37 individuals have either tested positive for coronavirus antibodies or been symptomatically diagnosed with the virus, for a total case count of 570 individuals.
The Island’s 14-day case count stands at 58.
The 21 new cases reported Thursday come on the last day of a year that has seen transformative change on the Vineyard, with the daily drumbeat of case tallies a persistent reminder of a pandemic that refuses to relent. The tally Thursday likely marks the largest single-day total reported over the course of the pandemic. Health agents previously reported 19 new cases on two separate days in November.
Statewide, the Department of Public Health reported 6,887 new coronavirus cases on Thursday. Although unconfirmed, the number is likely the highest single-day statewide total reported since March, and represents nearly 3,000 more cases than the state’s seven-day average. The DPH also reported 81 new deaths from the virus, and 2,271 patients in the hospital.
