MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont officials have used federal coronavirus relief funds to help around 200 people fix or replace above-ground fuel tanks so they could get home heating fuel delivered this winter.
The Times Argue reports that a 2017 Vermont law requires that above-ground tanks be inspected every three years. Tanks that fail can’t be filled.
Matt Cota of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association says the state has an aid program, but it had run out of funds. Vermont Legal Aid pointed out that COVID Relief Funds could then be used to help.
Kristin Schultz, administrator of the fuel tank assistance program, said 198 awards were written using coronavirus money.
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NUMBERS
On Thursday, the Vermont Health Department reported 136 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to just under 6,150.
Currently there are 22 people hospitalized with COVID-19, including three in intensive care.
No new fatalities were reported Thursday, leaving the statewide total since the pandemic began at 105.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Vermont has risen over the past two weeks from 75.43 new cases per day on Dec. 2 to 103.43 new cases per day on Dec. 16.
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