The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases tied to a cluster in Provincetown has nearly doubled in a span of three days.On Saturday, Town Manager Alex Morse shared that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is reporting that at least 430 confirmed COVID-19 cases are associated with the Provincetown cluster. Of these cases, 342 are Massachusetts residents and 153 of those people reside in Provincetown. The remainder of those who tested positive reside in other states.In his last update on Wednesday, Morse said at least 256 confirmed coronavirus cases were associated with the cluster.Morse did note on Saturday, however, that Provincetown is starting to see a decline in its daily positivity rate and the town has resumed wastewater surveillance efforts.“Provincetown continues to work closely with county and state health officials to track and respond to the evolving COVID-19 cluster,” Morse wrote on Facebook. “Expanded testing and vaccination will continue through July 30 and have thus far proved to be vital tools in the response effort as participation numbers increase daily.”Morse’s latest update comes a day after the DPH confirmed that the delta COVID-19 variant was detected in the Provincetown cluster.According to Morse, cases associated to the cluster among Massachusetts residents are found to be predominantly symptomatic (71%) with 69% of affected individuals reporting that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.“The unvaccinated, they were probably much rarer, actually, than the vaccinated and yet, they make up a third of the infections,” said Dr. Shira Doron, the hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.Doron says that unvaccinated people likely caused the delta COVID-19 variant to spread among the thousands of people who have visited Provincetown.“If it was ever going to happen, it was going to happen there with crowded nightclubs, a rainy weekend with a lot of indoor time and, apparently, quite a lot of unvaccinated people showing up,” Doron said.Morse said apart from three hospitalizations, two in-state and one out-of-state, associated with the Provincetown cluster, symptoms are known to be mild and without complication.The cluster comes as discussions continue about whether COVID-19 booster shots are necessary for fully-vaccinated people in the United States. Since the vast majority of breakthrough cases are mild and since data has not suggested immunity is waning over time, Doron says boosters are not needed at this time.“If it’s a mild infection, if it’s a common cold or a flu, does that justify going around and giving everybody another round of shots when the rest of the world hasn’t had their first shot?” Doron said.Doron says it is important to get people around the world vaccinated against COVID-19 to help put an end to mutating variants.Massachusetts COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and fatalitiesMassachusetts vaccination progress
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. —
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases tied to a cluster in Provincetown has nearly doubled in a span of three days.
On Saturday, Town Manager Alex Morse shared that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is reporting that at least 430 confirmed COVID-19 cases are associated with the Provincetown cluster. Of these cases, 342 are Massachusetts residents and 153 of those people reside in Provincetown. The remainder of those who tested positive reside in other states.
In his last update on Wednesday, Morse said at least 256 confirmed coronavirus cases were associated with the cluster.
Morse did note on Saturday, however, that Provincetown is starting to see a decline in its daily positivity rate and the town has resumed wastewater surveillance efforts.
“Provincetown continues to work closely with county and state health officials to track and respond to the evolving COVID-19 cluster,” Morse wrote on Facebook. “Expanded testing and vaccination will continue through July 30 and have thus far proved to be vital tools in the response effort as participation numbers increase daily.”
Morse’s latest update comes a day after the DPH confirmed that the delta COVID-19 variant was detected in the Provincetown cluster.
According to Morse, cases associated to the cluster among Massachusetts residents are found to be predominantly symptomatic (71%) with 69% of affected individuals reporting that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“The unvaccinated, they were probably much rarer, actually, than the vaccinated and yet, they make up a third of the infections,” said Dr. Shira Doron, the hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
Doron says that unvaccinated people likely caused the delta COVID-19 variant to spread among the thousands of people who have visited Provincetown.
“If it was ever going to happen, it was going to happen there with crowded nightclubs, a rainy weekend with a lot of indoor time and, apparently, quite a lot of unvaccinated people showing up,” Doron said.
Morse said apart from three hospitalizations, two in-state and one out-of-state, associated with the Provincetown cluster, symptoms are known to be mild and without complication.
The cluster comes as discussions continue about whether COVID-19 booster shots are necessary for fully-vaccinated people in the United States. Since the vast majority of breakthrough cases are mild and since data has not suggested immunity is waning over time, Doron says boosters are not needed at this time.
“If it’s a mild infection, if it’s a common cold or a flu, does that justify going around and giving everybody another round of shots when the rest of the world hasn’t had their first shot?” Doron said.
Doron says it is important to get people around the world vaccinated against COVID-19 to help put an end to mutating variants.