Local

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
A view of Provincetown from the water.

By John Hilliard, The Boston Globe

Facing a surge of new COVID-19 cases since the July Fourth holiday weekend, Provincetown officials plan to hold an emergency meeting late Sunday afternoon to discuss actions needed to contain the disease’s spread.

The meeting comes during the height of the summer tourist season, when the Cape Cod community typically attracts tens of thousands of visitors, and after Governor Charlie Baker lifted most of the state’s pandemic health restrictions in May.

But Provincetown officials imposed an indoor-mask wearing advisory early last week after reporting what health officials are calling a cluster, which has grown to include 430 cases as of Friday, including some caused by the more-infectious Delta variant, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.

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The US Centers for Disease Control estimated that 83 percent of the nation’s cases from July 4 to July 17 are attributable to the variant, the state health department said. In New England during that period, more than two-thirds of cases were due to the Delta variant, it said.

The meeting is set to begin at 5 p.m. at Provincetown’s Town Hall, but people will also be able to view the session remotely, according to an agenda posted to the town website.

There will be an update on COVID-19 cases in Provincetown from Alex Morse, the town manager, and from the state Department of Public Health and Barnstable County’s Health Department, according to the agenda.

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No public comment will be taken during the meeting, which is being conducted by the town’s Board of Health and Select Board, the agenda said.

Morse wrote on Facebook Saturday morning that the town continues to work closely with county and state health officials to track and respond to the COVID-19 cluster.

“Expanded testing and vaccination will continue through July 30th and have thus far proved to be vital tools in the response effort as participation numbers increase daily,” Morse said Saturday.

More than a third of the cases involve Provincetown residents, according to Morse. About 340 cases involve Massachusetts residents, while the remaining cases involve people from other states. Three people have been hospitalized, including two in Massachusetts, he said.

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Symptoms reported in the other cases tied to Provincetown’s cluster are “known to be mild and without complication,” Morse said.

Last week, the Boston Public Health Commission reported at least 35 Boston residents with cases were traced back to the Provincetown cluster. The overwhelming majority of those cases occurred in people who were vaccinated, the commission said.

On July 22, the commission asked Boston residents who had traveled to Provincetown since July 1 to get tested and self-isolate for at least five days and receive a negative COVID-19 test.

Meanwhile, nearby Wellfleet, reported six cases of COVID-19 Friday.

“Our cases are occurring in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals,” according to a statement from Hillary Greenberg, Wellfleet’s health and conservation agent, posted to the town’s website.

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Greenberg asked that masking be required in all public buildings, and she extended support to ”Wellfleet business establishments who choose to require the public to mask in efforts to better protect their staff and those vulnerable members of the public.”