![]() ![]() In the CDC study, which accounted for the first 469 cases in the cluster - the only ones the agency had time to study - 74 percent, or 346, occurred in fully vaccinated people. Of the 833 people in the Provincetown cluster as of Wednesday, only seven had been hospitalized. Though effectiveness varies by vaccine brand, most are quite potent against infection and exceptionally so at preventing the kind of infection that causes serious illness. “While it’s as contagious as it is,” a federal health official told Yahoo News, speaking on the condition of anonymity, “and while these breakthrough infections are occurring - and they seem to be occurring more frequently than we once thought - the vaccine appears to be highly effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths, even against the Delta variant." That is largely because of vaccines, which remain effective in preventing people from becoming infected in the first place, as CDC officials have been at pains to note. ![]() Earlier this week, test positivity rates were down to 5.9 percent, from a high of 15 percent some days before. “P-town is still very much a lively place," said Morse, using the term of affection locals use for Provincetown. By the time the CDC published its paper on Provincetown, the town seemed to be returning to normal. Provincetown is proof of that, and of how putting masks back on when infection rates spike can help blunt what might otherwise be a spike. He then added a crucial caveat: “Our vaccines are good. Ashish Jha, an epidemiologist and dean of public health at Brown University. While the Delta variant presents a new challenge, one whose scope was not fully understood until earlier this week, the experience of Provincetown also shows a clear path to defeating the variant. ![]() The Provincetown cluster, however, shows that that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, such impositions are returning to parts of the country, as the nation appears to be losing steam against the pandemic. The CDC study concluded with advice for public health officials to “consider expanding prevention strategies,” which could include masks and limits on indoor gatherings.Ī mask mandate makes a comeback in Provincetown. A CDC study of that outbreak released on Friday presented some alarming new facts but also gave reason to be optimistic about where the pandemic is headed in the U.S.Īccording to agency analysis, the Delta variant is much more transmissible than previously thought, in line with the chickenpox and Ebola. Provincetown seems to argue strongly against such measures, even as it calls for others.Įarlier this month, news began to emerge of hundreds of cases stemming from Fourth of July festivities in Provincetown, probably better known today as the nation’s most famous gay resort. For now, though, Delta is the primary target, the reason why some fear schools may revert to remote learning, and why restaurants and bars may have to close again, as they did in 2020. New variants could emerge, either more transmissible or more severe, or both. ![]() Provincetown shows how at least the next battle in the war against the coronavirus can be won. “Day by day, things are improving,” town manager Alex Morse told Yahoo News. A combination of high vaccination rates and renewed masking appears to have significantly slowed growth of the Provincetown cluster just as that cluster was making national news. “The war has changed,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged in an internal presentation that summarized the new findings about Delta, which led the agency to reimpose a mask mandate earlier this week in an urgent bid to keep the pandemic from spiking again across the U.S.Īnd if you want to find a reason for why no such spike will take place - or how such a spike can be effectively prevented - you would do well to look to the same charming fishing village. An outbreak of several hundred cases there earlier this month alerted public health officials to the fact that the Delta variant of the coronavirus transmits much more easily than people had previously thought. WASHINGTON - If you want to cast blame for the return of face masks, you will have to look to the charming fishing village of Provincetown, Mass., at the tip of Cape Cod. ![]()
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