Island health agents reported 31 new cases of coronavirus over the weekend, including 20 on Saturday, adding to an already record case load on the Vineyard.
In a daily case update that went out Wednesday afternoon, health agents reported 20 new cases on Saturday, four on Sunday and seven on Monday.
Of the 31 new cases, 15 were tested at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, 13 at TestMV and three at other providers. The hospital is testing symptomatic and high risk patients, as well as their close contacts, for the virus, while TestMV is focused on asymptomatic testing.
One patient remains hospitalized with the virus, according to a daily website update from the hospital. The patient was readmitted to the hospital last Tuesday in fair condition. Due to privacy concerns, the hospital did not disclose the date of the patient’s original admission or discharge.
The patient is the first Covid-19 readmission since the pandemic began.
Health agents also reported three probable cases of the virus over the weekend, including two patients who were symptomatically diagnosed with the virus and one patient who tested positive for viral antibodies.
There have now been 662 Island patients to test positive through a laboratory confirmed PCR test, as well as 26 individuals who have tested positive for viral antibodies and 18 patients who have been symptomatically diagnosed with the virus. The Island’s total coronavirus caseload now sits at 706 patients since mid-March.
Both Tisbury and Oak Bluffs remain high risk communities for Covid-19 spread, according to the state, with each reporting more than 25 cases in the past two weeks. Edgartown is a moderate-risk community for Covid-19 spread.
The Island has reported 151 cases in the past 14 days.
Meanwhile, Island health officials are pushing ahead with the state and federal government’s slow vaccine rollout on the Vineyard. Hospital spokesman Marissa Lefebvre confirmed that vaccinations for residents and staff at Windemere, a long-term care facility and nursing home owned by the hospital, would occur on Tuesday, Jan. 12, after a month-long delay.
In the interim, three administrative employees of Windemere tested positive for the virus late last month. No residents at the facility have tested positive.
Under a federal program, the Windemere vaccines will be administered by a team from CVS Pharmacy that is scheduled to come to the Island Tuesday. The entire facility will be vaccinated, according to hospital officials.
Ms. Lefebvre said in an email Monday that vaccinations for Island first responders would begin on Friday. First responders are next in a growing pyramid of priority groups set to receive the vaccine, following frontline health care workers and nursing home residents and staff.
Statewide, case numbers continued to climb over the weekend after Gov. Charlie Baker extended gathering and capacity limits at restaurants and most other public businesses and spaces. The Department of Public Health reported 5,396 new cases on Sunday and 77 new deaths. There are currently 2,225 patients hospitalized with the virus across the commonwealth, and 12,875 have died.
