Nantucket Cottage Hospital & Nantucket Health Department Joint Statement on New COVID-19 Cases
Dec. 5, 2020
For immediate release
On Saturday morning, we reported 64 new cases of COVID-19 among patients who were tested at Nantucket Cottage Hospital. This number includes some test results that were still pending from Wednesday, and nearly all of the testing results from Thursday and Friday. This is obviously a significant number of new cases, and while it is important to know these daily testing results as they are returned from the lab, it is more important to look at the trend, which is also very concerning. A total of 159 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified on Nantucket over the past week, and the seven-day positivity rate, which is the percent of tests that come back positive, has climbed to 10.9%. That is the highest rate we have seen since the start of the pandemic.
Among the individuals who have tested positive this week, we have seen an age range from 9 months up to 60 years old. The majority are people in their 20s and 30s. This is important because we know that COVID-19 has more severe impacts on people who are older, and have underlying health conditions. We are seeing transmission of the virus within households, and at this time we believe that this surge is impacting between 40 to 60 homes across the island.
COVID-19 cases have reached record highs in Massachusetts and across the country, and Nantucket is experiencing a similar surge that requires our vigilance. We are grateful, and lucky, that none of these recent active cases of COVID-19 have required hospitalization yet, but the sheer number of people we have diagnosed over the past week is very troubling.
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Statement from NCH President on New COVID-19 Cases | Dec. 4, 2020
Today we reported 28 new cases of COVID-19 among patients who were tested on Wednesday at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital drive-through evaluation site. This the largest number of new cases we have reported for a single day of testing. A total of 105 new cases have been identified over the past week, and the seven-day positivity rate for the island is now at 7.5 percent.
COVID-19 cases have reached record highs in Massachusetts and across the country, and Nantucket is experiencing a similar surge that urgently demands our vigilance. We are grateful, and lucky, that none of these recent active cases of COVID-19 have required hospitalization yet, but the sheer number of people we have diagnosed through testing over the past week creates a potentially dangerous situation for the island.
I ask everyone on Nantucket to take personal responsibility and do all you can to reduce the potential for transmission in our community. That means wearing masks, staying physically distant, washing your hands, and not hosting or attending gatherings with people outside your immediate households. (more…)