Restaurants and other businesses will be allowed to stay open past 9:30 p.m. starting Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday.
Restaurants and other businesses will be allowed to stay open past 9:30 p.m. starting Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker said in an announcement Thursday that also lifted an advisory urging residents to remain home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Capacity limits for most businesses will remain at 25 percent for at least two more weeks.
And in a second announcement, the governor said all residents who fall into the Phase 1 priority category are now eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The category includes all health care workers, including those doing in-home care, first responders, and people in long-term care facilities and other congregate housing, including shelters and prisons. Eligible individuals can now make appointments at one of 150 sites around the state, the governor said.
Though there was no Martha's Vineyard location among the 150 sites, a spokeswoman for the hospital said in an email Thursday that 389 hospital employees and 280 first responders, including harbor masters, have already received their first dose of the vaccination, and plans are in the works for others.
In a separate email, special sheriff James Neville said the Dukes County Sheriff’s office had received doses of the Moderna vaccine for staff and the six inmates at the jail, in keeping with state-mandated priorities. After vaccines were administered to all accepting inmates and staff, he said, the sheriff’s office was able to offer several unused doses vaccine employees of the Edgartown district court to avoid waste. The vaccine spoils if not used quickly after it is thawed.
News about vaccinations came as the Island boards of health on Thursday reported 11 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, 10 from PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests conducted at the hospital and one at TestMV. The new cases bring to 772 the total number on the Island since the pandemic began, and 170 in just the last 14 days. Two patients remain hospitalized.
In their daily report, the boards of health also reported one new probable case, bringing to 50 the number of cases that have been diagnosed to date based either on the presence of antibodies or symptoms of the virus.
Statewide, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 4,821 Thursday, bringing the total to 462,910 since the pandemic began. Seventy-five more deaths were reported, bringing the total to date to 13,622, according to the DPH. There have been no reported deaths on Martha's Vineyard.
Comments
In the last 14 days there
Ronald Monterosso EdgartownIn the last 14 days there have been 170 new cases of COVID on the Island and yet out of those 170 cases there have been only two hospitalizations. So only a minuscule 1.17% of COVID cases resulted in hospitalization and 0% resulted in death. Last week we read in this paper about all of the horrible psychological, emotional and physical costs --to say nothing of the horrible economic costs --caused by the isolation necessitated by the COVID lock down regulations. While every hospitalization is a matter for concern, it would seem that the wide-spread psychological, emotional and physical damage resulting from the isolation that is required by the COVID lock down rules presents a much greater cause for concern. Based on these hospitalization and morbidity numbers, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that, after balancing the costs and the benefits of these lock down rules, they are doing far more harm than good to the population they are supposedly designed to protect.
So no notice of a vaccine
Ed EdgartownSo no notice of a vaccine site for the island. Are people being trained as in other states to help in administering the vaccine here? Can we at least all know of the basic plan of giving the vaccine? Where? How?I have been to the state site. It’s pretty vague. How will we be notified personally? We should have an overall update at least each week. It’s pretty much peace meal so far on the overall plan for the island.
My friend on Nantucket has
Judy ChilmarkMy friend on Nantucket has been registered to receive her vaccine two weeks ago through Cottage Hospital. What is the delay here?
Where is our Dukes County
Ana de Sousa Oak BluffsWhere is our Dukes County Emergency Manager in all of this? I know the All Island Boards of Health meet often on protecting us and are doing the best they can with frequently changing Governor orders, but they have no direct access to vaccine supply. FEMA does, and could then funnel vaccine supply to MEMA, which should then be coordinating with the counties. If the MV Hospital is now the de facto sole source, then I agree with Judy, and have to wonder why the same outfit that owns MVH and NCH does not have the same registration plan at both facilities. Once again the Vineyard, which due to its critical care access status, and thus allows Partners (now Mass General Brigham) to charge the federal government 2-3 x the medicare rates, and thus allows Partners to make a boatload of money, gives the Vineyarders just glad handing. Or is it the hospital administration that, once again, has shown its inability to allow for a simple system to be established (note that Test MV had to be set up to take over the bulk of testing for the island).
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