With Cape Cod experiencing what Sen. Julian Cyr described as an “alarming” surge of new COVID-19 cases, leaders in the region expressed frustration Tuesday with the lack of low-barrier testing in Barnstable County that would make it easier for many residents to get tested for free.
Cyr, a Truro Democrat, called the Cape a “testing desert” in Massachusetts, which is limiting the region’s ability to target its intervention efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus in harder hit communities.
Residents currently looking to get tested on the Cape either need medical authorization, or can go through Whole Health Pharmacy in Hyannis, which has limited hours and requires insurance, according to Cyr. The state does not have a “Stop the Spread” free testing site in the entire county.
“Not having that everyday testing, that free testing has just really provided a roadblock and it makes it difficult with trying to get these things under control,” said Sean O’Brien, director of the Barnstable County Department of Health and the Environment.
The warnings came during a Tuesday morning Cape Cod Reopening Task Force conference call. Though the task force usually provides updates on Thursday, Cyr said the group wanted to discuss the increase in cases – more than 270 reported in the last five days – before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We do not think that you should travel and we think you should mark and celebrate the holiday with whom you live or hold virtual gatherings,” Cyr said. The senator said his own family would not be gathering on Thursday.
There are 18 people hospitalized on Cape Cod with COVID-19, and just one person in the intensive care unit. But in the past two weeks cases have jumped from fewer than eight per 100,000 people to about 25. The town of Barnstable is in the highest risk “red” category, with a positive test rate of 5.41 percent.
“That is a tripling and is something we are very very worried about,” Cyr said.
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