WELLFLEET — The 449 free Covid-19 tests conducted at Outer Cape Health Services here on June 17 and 18 have so far showed zero positive results.
Wellfleet’s clinic was one of 50 in the state to offer free tests to anyone, with or without symptoms, in reaction to potential viral spread at crowded Black Lives Matter rallies.
On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker reported that, statewide, 2.5 percent of 17,617 tests came back positive — good news, he said, since it’s close to the 1.9-percent rate of recent tests in the state. It appears that demonstrations did not spread the virus, he added, noting that most protestors wore masks and stayed outdoors.
Only partial results from the Wellfleet clinic were available by the Independent’s deadline. No results from the 538 tests given in Provincetown were available as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Morgan Clark, Provincetown’s health director.
Another 1,255 people were tested at the OCHS clinic in Harwich.
The local testing pool included 122 Wellfleet residents, and some results were still pending, Wellfleet Health Director Hillary Greenberg-Lemos said on Tuesday.
The tests themselves are about 96 percent accurate, said Stephen Katsurinis, chair of the Provincetown Board of Health.
But a negative test reflects your status only on the day of the test, and doesn’t mean you didn’t pick up the virus the day after, he said.
“We’re living in a place where there is contagion,” so a negative test should not change your behavior much, said Katsurinis.
With a positive test, even if you’re asymptomatic, you should isolate yourself for 14 days. It also triggers the contact tracing system to find others who may also have the virus.
Baker said the state’s positive-test rate is down 93 percent since April 15.
Still, he cautioned, other states that have opened up restrictions on social distancing have seen surges. So people must continue to wear masks, stay home if not well, and wash hands frequently.
The Wellfleet clinic is still offering tests daily from 1:30 to 3 p.m. for those who have symptoms or have been exposed to people with symptoms.
