Nantucket officials say COVID-19 numbers are ‘trending in the right direction’ after Labor Day spike

Nantucket reported just one new coronavirus case on Thursday, which officials say is a hopeful sign that the spike in cases that emerged on the island related to Labor Day is slowing.

Town officials jumped into action a week ago after the island saw what they called a “minor surge” with the diagnosis of 14 new coronavirus cases in two days, evidence of what experts said was community spread of the virus among tradespeople working in landscaping, construction, and cleaning. 

By Monday, the number of new cases related to the outbreak had risen to 30. As of Friday morning, the number of new cases in the last 11 days had risen to 41, according to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. After finding six new cases on Wednesday, just one new case was confirmed Thursday.

“Of course any number of new cases is concerning, but we are pleased that we are not experiencing exponential growth in community spread,” hospital president Gary Shaw wrote Thursday. 

The surge in cases resulted in the state designating Nantucket as a community considered to be at “high risk” for transmission of COVID-19. Communities are designated high risk if they have an average daily case rate of more than 8 per 100,000 people in the previous two weeks.  Seventeen towns and cities in Massachusetts were coded as red this week, including Nantucket, where the average daily case rate shot up to 18.9 per 100,000 residents because of the surge. 

Officials have said they anticipated the island would see an uptick in cases related to the holiday weekend, but the surge in cases exceeded the expected increase.

Roberto Santamaria, the town’s health and human services director, said in a statement late Thursday, following a meeting of the island’s Board of Health, that no shutdowns or lockdowns are planned related to the spike. 

“Our seven-day average is going to go down and we’re trending in the right direction,” he said. “So as a result, all we’re going to be doing is stepping up enforcement over the course of the next week. If you see someone within the core districts without wearing masks, please let us know, please take a picture. And if you can get any information on the location and the company you saw working, get that to us as well.” 

https://www.facebook.com/TownofNantucketOfficial/videos/633873457563354/

According to Santamaria, the new cases so far have all been due to possible exposures over Labor Day weekend. He said he expects to see new cases “pop here and there,” potentially into next week, related to the same exposure. 

“We still have yet to see if any spread has happened in the community from exposures in the last four to five days,” he said on Tuesday. “But please continue what you’re doing and help us work together to keep this curve nice and flat. The flatter the curve, the better we can respond to this.” 

Hospital and town officials stressed they are continuing to monitor the outbreak closely and urged everyone to practice “vigilance” and follow guidance for social distancing, hand washing, and wearing face coverings to bring the surge under control.

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