(Domingo, 27 de setembro) Desde sexta-feira, 25 de setembro, o Nantucket Cottage Hospital relatou 19 novos casos de COVID-19 entre pacientes que foram testados no posto de avaliação do hospital feitos pelas janelas dos carros. O índice positivo por sete dias na ilha saltou para 4,3%.

O rastreamento de contatos e a investigação dos casos estão em andamento, cujos contatos próximos sendo encaminhados para teste. Entre esses novos casos refere-se a um grupo ligado a um culto numa igreja na ilha.

Este incidente deve servir como um lembrete à comunidade para evitar grandes aglomerações e sempre usar máscara quando estiver em público, quando o distanciamento físico não for possível. (more…)

(Domingo 28 de septiembre) Desde el viernes 25 de septiembre, el Hospital Nantucket Cottage ha informado de 19 nuevos casos de COVID-19 entre los pacientes que fueron evaluados en el sitio de evaluación del hospital. La tasa positiva de siete días para la isla ha aumentado al 4,3 por ciento.

La búsqueda de contactos y la investigación de casos están en marcha, y los contactos cercanos de estas personas son remitidos para pruebas. Entre estos nuevos casos se encuentra un grupo relacionado con una reunión de la iglesia en la isla.

Este incidente debe servir como un recordatorio a la comunidad para evitar grandes reuniones y siempre use un cubre bocas cuando esté en público cuando no sea posible el distanciamiento físico. (more…)

Since Friday, September 25, Nantucket Cottage Hospital has reported 19 new cases of COVID-19 among patients who were tested at the hospital’s drive-through evaluation site. The seven-day positive rate for the island has increased to 4.3 percent.

Contact tracing and case investigation are underway, with close contacts of these individuals being referred for testing. The Nantucket Health Department reported that among these new cases is a cluster connected to a church gathering on the island.

This incident should serve as a reminder to the community to avoid large gatherings, and always wear a mask when out in public when physical distancing is not possible. (more…)

Among the 14 new cases of COVID-19 reported on Nantucket over the past two days was an employee of Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Below is an outline of the steps we are taking to protect our patients, visitors and staff.

As soon as the testing result was known, the employee was isolated while NCH Infection Control and Occupational Health began working immediately to identify any potential exposures and directing them to take the appropriate next steps as required by our infection control policies.

At this time, we are not aware of any other individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 as a result of exposure to this staff member.

The NCH Environmental Services team regularly conducts deep cleans of all hospital areas as part of our routine cleaning protocols, including the use of the hospital’s Moonbeam UVC disinfection robot which uses powerful short wavelength ultraviolet-C lights to destroy any microorganisms exposed to it.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital continues to screen all staff, patients, and visitors for symptoms, and requires hospital-issued masks at all times for those entering the facility.

We wish our colleague a safe and speedy recovery.

(more…)

As of 5 p.m. yesterday we reported just one new case of COVID-19 on Nantucket. We interpreted this as a good sign that the surge of cases we have experienced over the past two weeks may be slowing. But time will tell, and we will continue to monitor this situation closely.

Of course any number of new cases is concerning, but we were encouraged to see just this single case reported on Thursday. That being said, we are advocating for continued vigilance and adherence to all the precautions we should be taking as a community to bring this surge under control.

As you probably have heard, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has moved Nantucket into the “red” category on its weekly community-level COVID data report, indicating Nantucket is considered to be among the highest risk communities in the state for transmission. High-risk communities are defined as those having more than 8 cases per 100,000 people over the previous two weeks.

Along with officials from the Town of Nantucket, we will be meeting with representatives from the state today to discuss the situation on the island as it relates to COVID-19 and our response effort. One point we will be emphasizing is that the state is utilizing the outdated year-round population figure for Nantucket from the 2010 Census to determine the island’s case rate. We would like to see our true, larger year-round population figure considered. This could reduce the severity of our classification by the state, which impacts the timeline for school reopening and interscholastic sports.

As we head into the weekend, let’s acknowledge the fact that our community is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases by taking appropriate and reasonable precautions. Remember to wash your hands, stay physically distant, refrain from large gatherings, and wear a mask when you go out in public. If a contact tracer calls you, please be respectful and cooperate fully with the case investigation. This will help our community get through this safely and quickly, as it remains one of our best tools to stop the spread. (more…)