Vermont’s top officials said Tuesday that small gatherings and out-of-state travel by people who do not quarantine on their return appear to be the source of COVID-19 infections that are increasing across the state.
During his regular Tuesday virus briefing, Republican Gov. Phil Scott said the outbreak that began at a skating rink in Montpelier earlier this month is continuing to spread across Vermont. The total number of infections from the outbreak has now reached 70.
It wasn’t the on-ice activities at the rink that are driving the outbreak. Rather, officials believe it is social events and other activities such as carpooling and out of state travel without following quarantining guidelines that has led to the spike in cases.
“Getting together without taking precautions, including mask wearing and distancing, and not following the travel guidance appear to be a common denominator in what we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks,” Scott said. “I want to be clear: This is travel by Vermonters, not out-of-state visitors.”
The 70 cases linked to the outbreak that began at the Central Vermont Memorial Civic Center in Montpelier includes those originally infected, secondary infections and then additional cases of people infected by the secondary spread.
The cases that grew from the hockey outbreak are now reported in four counties, at a number of colleges and universities, schools and workplaces in four counties.
The outbreak at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, which as of Monday had reported 28 positive cases of the virus, is part of the Central Vermont outbreak.
The cases come as Vermont and much of the nation is seeing an increase in cases.
“’The nation and even the immediate region could be labeled as dangerous right now,” Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said at Tuesday’s virus briefing.
Of the cases, 32 are in people age 19 or younger, 19 are in people 20-44 and the remaining 19 are in people over age 45, state statistics show.
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VACCINE STUDY
The University of Vermont Medical Center has been chosen to participate in a Phase 3 trial for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca, officials said.
UVM is looking for at least 250 volunteers from Vermont, northern New York and New Hampshire to take part. About 30,000 people are taking part nationwide in the study.
People interested in participating can read the requirements and apply through the UVM Medical Center website.
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NUMBERS
On Tuesday the Health Department reported 29 new cases of the virus, bringing the statewide total since the outbreak began to more than 2,110.
There are currently four people hospitalized with COVID-19.
The number of deaths remains at 58, a number that has not changed since late July.
But the number of people who can travel to Vermont without quarantining continues to shrink.
The travel map updated every Tuesday now shows that 880,000 people across the northeast can now travel to Vermont without quarantining. The state’s system allows people to visit Vermont without quarantining if they come from counties where the active infection rate is less than 400 cases per million inhabitants.
The new map makes all of New Hampshire and much of upstate New York adjacent to Vermont off limits for people to visit for routine purposes without quarantining or for people from those areas to visit Vermont.
“This is the lowest the map has ever been in terms of the number of people who can enter without quarantining,” said Michael Pieciak, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, who oversees the map.
But the state’s travel guidelines do allow people to travel to and from those areas for essential reasons, such as work, school, medical care or buying groceries, Pieciak said.
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SCHOOL STAFFING SHORTAGE
More than a dozen Vermont school districts say they are stretched thin and need to fill 100 positions to be fully staffed to return to full in-person learning.
Leaders in the 16 districts that cover the counties of Addison, Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle are urging people to consider applying, warning that there will likely be a delay in bringing students back full time if the positions aren’t filled, mychamplainvalley.com reported.
“I think it’s very fragile right now,” said Winooski School District Superintendent Sean McMannon. “That’s why we’re reaching out and basically appealing to our communities, otherwise we will either have to stop our plans where they are, or we may have to backtrack.”
A lack of personnel is causing logistical challenges, said Superintendent Lynn Cota of the Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union.
“We’re kind of a desert,” she said. “We have positions that are still open for professional staff that we have no candidates for, or maybe one or two non-licensed or non-qualified candidates.”
Amy Rex, superintendent of the Milton Town School District, said health and safety guidelines have changed the way schools operate.
“We can’t go without those support staff people if we continue to increase our numbers,” she said. “Typically, all students go to the cafeteria at the same time, and then you have two supervisors who supervise lunch. Now, every classroom has to have lunch supervision… We’re just figuring out how to put the puzzle pieces together.”
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