Island health agents reported the highest weekly Covid-19 case since the pandemic began Monday, and 101 islanders have tested positive for the virus since last Sunday as a recent surge continues.
Health officials also identified two new case groups, traced back to Shirley’s Hardware and The Barn, Bowl and Bistro.
The 101 new cases come after a month-long case, in which positive numbers have declined since early January, prompting health agents to stop updating daily.
Last week, agents reported 47 new positive Covid-19 tests – a number doubled in an extensive weekly report released Monday.
And because of the recent high scores, Island health agents announced last Friday that they would reverse their rate, and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday reported the case number three times a week. Health agents stopped delivering daily updates as cases declined in February.
The Monday update reported 101 new positive tests between Sunday, March 28 and Saturday, April 2. Of these positive tests, 71 come from Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, 24 from TestMV, one from public school tests and four from off-Island providers.
According to the report, 63 of the patients are symptomatic, 17 are asymptomatic and 21 are unknown. According to the report, there are currently 104 active cases on the island.
Tisbury health agent Maura Valley also said two new bunches have been returned to island businesses, with six cases related to Shirley’s Hardware in Tisbury and nine cases related to the Barn, Bowl and Bistro in Oak Bluffs.
In a follow-up email with the Gazette, Ms. Valley said all six cases at Shirley’s Hardware count among staff members. She did not have an outline of matters at the bowling alley.
The 101 new cases since last Sunday are the highest weekly total of health agents since the pandemic began in March. Cases on the island peaked earlier in the first week of January when 99 positive tests were reported. The numbers have been declining since last week.
The island has reported 1,097 total PCR-positive tests since the onset of the pandemic, with 669 or 61 percent in patients under the age of 40.
The 14-day case is now more than 150 cases.
Meanwhile, the first dose of vaccine appointments at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital remained in short supply, even as vaccine admissions extended to state residents aged 55 and over and those with one illness.
The hospital, which opens its only vaccination center on the island every two months at 8 a.m. on Saturday and 5 p.m. Monday, has been offering about 100 new appointments per application over the past three weeks due to federal and state supply issues. .
Marissa Lefebvre, a hospital spokeswoman, said the hospital opened 130 appointments on Saturday. She did not immediately respond to a query about the number of reports available Monday afternoon.
According to public health department numbers made available Thursday, about 40 percent of Dukes County received their first dose of vaccine shots, and 28 percent received a second shot. Barnstable County gave the highest percentage of residents a chance at 44 percent. Nantucket County is at 41 percent.
The hospital performed 6,853 shots with the first dose and 5,524 shots with a second dose.
Across the country, rates have risen but recently leveled, with the state averaging 2,000 cases daily. There were now 16,938 patients who died of the virus in the Commonwealth.