COVID-19 illustration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HYANNIS – Local health officials say the latest COVID-19 health data is beginning to show a plateau in new cases, but caution the fight against the virus is far from over.
On Cape Cod, new cases have trended lower this week, with 272 average cases over the past 7 days versus the near 400 average seen the previous week.
“Nearly all towns on Cape Cod as well as on the islands remain near or well above 15% test positivity average over 14 days which is indicative of an outbreak status,” Cape and Islands State Senator Julian Cyr said.
“But thanks to Cape Cod’s high vaccination rate and ongoing adherence to common sense public health precautions, we continue to remain well prepared and resilient through this, though this is pretty tough.”
A survey continues to gauge the need of each town to purchase COVID-19 rapid test kits through the fixed rate previously negotiated by the state, though in the meantime Cyr highlighted the federal effort to get free tests to households.
Through this website, each household in the U.S. is now eligible to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests that ship in 7-12 days.
The community leaders also emphasized the strength of N95 and other similarly-rated masks over the cloth variety in mitigating the spread of the more-contagious Omicron variant.
Cape Cod Healthcare CEO Michael Lauf said that local testing resources, including those at Falmouth and Cape Cod Hospital, remain vital to fighting the variant.
Lauf added that they are in communication with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reduce elective services as the surge continues region-wide.
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