Provincetown COVID-19 cluster widens to 760 cases

A Provincetown, Mass., coronavirus cluster has expanded to more than 760 cases since the outbreak on July 4, the town’s manager, Alex Morse, said Tuesday.

Morse said 765 cases have been identified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health with almost 200 cases from local residents and 439 cases from Massachusetts residents, NBC News reported.

The cluster began after the Fourth of July weekend. Morse said the number is cumulative, meaning that there are not currently 765 people with active COVID-19 cases from the cluster.

In addition, Morse said that the positivity rate has dropped from 15 percent to seven percent in the area since the beginning of July. 

The increase in reported numbers in the Massachusetts town comes as the delta variant spreads rapidly through the U.S. The spread of the new strain, coupled with the number of unvaccinated Americans, has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue new guidance this week. 

The new recommendations from the health agency state that vaccinated individuals should mask up indoors in areas where the transmission rate is high. 

Provincetown, like the rest of the U.S., has experienced an increase in cases. Last week, 132 COVID-19 cases were reported in the town and an emergency meeting was called to tell individuals to wear a mask indoors whether they are vaccinated or not.

The “vast majority” of the new cases were among fully vaccinated individuals, according to Morse.

The town’s board will consider a public health emergency in the upcoming weeks depending on if cases rise.