A brief update on the current state of Covid-19 on Nantucket via Roberto Santamaría, Town of Nantucket Health Director; and Gary Shaw, Nantucket Cottage Hospital President & CEO.

NCTV Immediate Release is brought to you by the Community Foundation for Nantucket’s Nantucket Fund for Emergency Relief.

If you anticipate needing a non-medically necessary (asymptomatic) COVID-19 test for travel, school or other purposes in the coming weeks and months, Nantucket Cottage Hospital urges you to plan ahead by applying for a testing appointment as soon as possible.

Governor Charlie Baker’s new travel order is now in effect, which requires all visitors and returning residents entering Massachusetts from out of state who do not meet an exemption to complete a Travel Form and quarantine for 14 days unless they can demonstrate proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to arrival. You may obtain a test at your own expense after your arrival in Massachusetts, but you must quarantine until you obtain a negative result.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital is able to schedule asymptomatic COVID-19 tests ahead of time, and is urging those who may need to be tested to request a testing appointment at NCH as far in advance as possible by clicking here. Non-medically necessary COVID-19 tests are available at NCH for $150 per test by appointment only. (more…)

Tyler Roethke & Grant Wentworth to Attempt Swim Across Vineyard Sound to Benefit Nantucket Cottage Hospital

Two accomplished swimmers will attempt to swim across Vineyard Sound this weekend to raise critical funds for cancer care on Nantucket with proceeds benefiting the Swim Across America-Nantucket charity.

Tyler Roethke, who graduated from Nantucket High School this year as an All-American swimmer and 8-time state champion, will join long-distance swimmer and island summer resident Grant Wentworth in the swim from Cape Cod to Martha’s Vineyard.

Roethke and Wentworth have both pledged to attempt the 10k open water swim as a personal challenge while at the same time aiming to raise $50,000 for Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Palliative & Support Care of Nantucket (PASCON) through Swim Across America Nantucket. On August 1, a matching grant in the amount of $10,000 was received to support the two swimmers’ fundraising efforts.

“This is an opportunity to continue to raise awareness for a cause that does not simply disappear because there is no Swim Across America Nantucket event this year,” Roethke said. “The cause doesn’t go away and neither does our fight, so, for me this opportunity was impossible to pass up and I believe it will be an experience of a lifetime out there.” (more…)

Learn more about how contact tracing works to contain the spread of coronavirus on Nantucket.

Among the best tools we have to contain the spread of the coronavirus on Nantucket are case investigation and contact tracing. These are proven methods used by health departments across the world to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Contact tracing works by identifying confirmed cases of COVID-19 and interviewing the patient to help them recall everyone with whom they have had close contact during the timeframe while they may have been infectious. These close contacts are then warned of their potential exposure, provided education, information and support to understand their risk, encouraged to get tested for COVID-19, and given instructions to prevent further spread.

Contact tracing is initiated for every confirmed case of COVID-19 on Nantucket. This work is spearheaded by the Town of Nantucket Health Department, which contracts with Nantucket Cottage Hospital to conduct case investigation and contact tracing. Elizabeth Harris, the infection prevention manager at NCH, has been the lead case investigator and contact tracer for the island’s COVID-19 cases.

Below are some core principles of contact tracing and frequently asked questions to help the community better understand this process: (more…)