Record-high COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations on Cape Cod — omicron likely the cause

The current wave of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts and on Cape Cod is more like a tsunami, smashing previous records for daily cases and hospitalizations.

But health and local officials say this surge is breaking on a shoreline fortified against severe illness and deaths by vaccination and public health campaigns.

“We continue to be in the midst of a COVID-19 surge in Barnstable County,” state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, said during a Thursday morning press call to announce new free testing sites and a plan to distribute at-home test kits on the Outer Cape.

Record number of COVID cases

Barnstable County recently saw a record 411 new daily cases, and the number of patients at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis and Falmouth Hospital reached an all-time high with 83 patients last week, Cape Cod Healthcare President and CEO Michael K. Lauf said in a separate interview Thursday morning.

“The good news is we’re down to 74 today,” Lauf said.

The previous peak for hospitalizations was early in January 2021, when the two hospitals saw 70 patients with COVID-19.

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A difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients

The difference this time is that vaccinations are widespread, Lauf said.

He said the hospitals are seeing a big difference play out between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients.

All seven of the individuals currently intubated in the hospitals’ ICUs are either not vaccinated or received only one shot, Lauf said. An eighth COVID-19 patient in the ICU is fully vaccinated but not intubated.

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“It’s still shocking when you look at the numbers,” Lauf said. “My God, it does have a strong correlation between being vaccinated and not.”

Younger, less vaccinated people are tending to get sicker, he said.

Older, unvaccinated people with comorbidities who end up in the hospital with COVID-19 are being vaccinated and boosted, treated and sent home, Lauf said.

He pleaded with Cape Codders to get vaccinated and boosted.

“There’s enough for everyone. I hope people listen to physicians and get boosted,” he said.

Not everybody in Cape hospitals with COVID-19 is being treated for the coronavirus, Lauf said.

He said about 20% of the patients at the Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19 were in the hospital for other reasons and treatments.

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Highly transmissible omicron likely causing the surge

Cyr said the highly transmissible omicron variant is likely driving the wave of COVID-19 cases on Cape Cod, as it is elsewhere in the state.

He announced Thursday that a second state-sponsored “Stop the Spread” free coronavirus testing site has opened at Provincetown Town Hall.

The first Cape “Stop the Spread” site opened Monday at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis.

In other news, state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, D-Falmouth, said the once-weekly free testing site operated by Barnstable County at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds would move across the street Jan. 20 to the Cape Cod Church.

In the future, the free PCR testing site will be open two days a week on Mondays and Wednesdays, Fernandes said.

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In addition, a free testing site operated by Barnstable County at the Orleans Department of Public Works plans to expand its hours by an hour or so, running from 9 a.m. to noon on Thursdays, said Sean O’Brien, director of the county’s department of health and environment.

“There’s a lot going on out there,” O’Brien said.

Patricia Nadle, CEO of Outer Cape Health Services, said the federally qualified health center has received 5,000 at-home test kits to distribute to patients.

Arrangements are being made to distribute them through local nonprofit organizations in the network's 10-town service area from Yarmouth to Provincetown, Nadle said.

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She asked people not to drop by the front desks at Outer Cape Health Services to request a kit.

“We don’t have that distribution model in place at this time,” Nadle said.

Outer Cape Health Services expects to receive more kits in the future.

Cyr said local officials are working with other community health centers on the Cape to also distribute free kits, which contain two tests apiece.

"An overarching theme here is despite these rising numbers (of cases) Cape Cod and the Islands remain prepared and resilient," state Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, said.

"We do ask people to take common sense public health precautions that we know work," such as avoiding large public gatherings and masking, she said.

Peake asked people to wear surgical, KN95 or N95 masks if possible but said, "The mask that you have on your face is the best mask."

The state Department of Public Health is partnering with Cape Cod Community College to offer COVID-19 vaccination clinics three days a week — Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays — at the college’s West Barnstable campus.

Barnstable County also holds a coronavirus vaccination clinic Wednesdays at the Harborview Room at the Barnstable County complex in Barnstable Village.

To register for either of the vaccination clinics or for free PCR testing, go to barnstablecountyhealth.org.

People can also search for COVID-19 vaccination appointments at pharmacies and other locations at vaxfinder.mass.gov.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Record-high COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations on Cape Cod, MA