Provincetown’s COVID-19 cluster rises to 833 cases

“It is important to note that the case data is cumulative and does not represent the number of people with active cases of COVID-19, nor the number of cases currently hospitalized,” Morse wrote, adding that of the 210 cases identified among the inhabitants of the city since July 1, half had been released from isolation on Tuesday.

These releases, he said, are “consistent with the timeframes associated with periods of incubation and infection of the virus and with the Department of Public Health guidelines on isolation.”

He also urged people to get tested.

“Testing is the best way for health officials to assess the impact of a cluster and the success of measures taken to reduce viral spread,” Morse wrote.

Additionally, Morse cited a silver lining to the disturbing news regarding the cluster: The city’s positivity rate is moving in the right direction.

“The test positivity rate … [has] improved since monitoring of the Provincetown cluster began, from a peak of 15% on July 15 to a new low of 5.9% reported on July 27, ”Morse wrote. He said a positivity rate of less than 5% is considered “progress towards cluster containment”, while a positivity rate of less than 1% would mean the cluster is contained.

Popular summer tourist destination city has adopted new indoor mask mandate during an emergency meeting on Sunday between the Select Board, the City Board of Health and Barnstable County officials.

Material from earlier Globe stories has been used in this report.

Travis Andersen can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @TAGlobe.