Home tests are the holiday’s hot item as Waterbury sees record cases
December 23, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti
The Vermont Department of Health's COVID-19 Dashboard has been updated with new displays of data including breakdowns of cases, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status. Screenshot from DOH site
With state COVID-19 testing sites closed for the Christmas holiday through Saturday, a giveaway of take-home tests got a strong response across Vermont with a notice from the Department of Health before 10 a.m. today that test kits were already distributed.
Photos of people standing and sitting in vehicles in long lines around Vermont filled social media this morning as those seeking tests far outnumbered the supply. State officials said they had 60,000 test kits to distribute ahead of both the Christmas and New Year’s weekend. Locally, the Waterbury Center testing site at the Waterbury Ambulance Station was not included in the giveaway. Ambulance Service Director Mark Podgwaite on Wednesday said he was unable to secure a supply to give out.
The clamor for tests comes as newly released weekly case data by town shows that Waterbury logged 41 cases in the past week - the most in a single week of the entire pandemic.
By 10:30 a.m. today, the Vermont Department of Health website had a message directing people to the page with the list of "Sites with Take-home Antigen Tests” to check where there will be test kits tomorrow, Dec. 24. It says, “At those sites, there will be two test kits per car available until all the test kits have been given out.”
The locations, however, are not in many population centers. Only one location is in Chittenden County and none are listed in Washington or Lamoille Counties. The places listed to be open on Dec. 24 to hand out tests as of 10:30 a.m. today are in Bennington, Colchester, Dummerston, Mendon, Newport, St. Johnsbury and White River Junction.
Additional test giveaways so far are listed for Dec. 28, 29, 30.
Just before noon, the Health Department issued a bulletin to the news media saying that approximately 30,000 tests were distributed this morning. Tomorrow, “people should plan in advance for high demand and wait times,” the message said.
Given the demand, the state has increased the number of rapid antigen tests available to 96,000 from its original 60,000 antigen tests. An additional 10,000 free LAMP tests were in the mix but those required signups to receive and the state website currently indicates that all of those slots are taken.
“The [Gov. Phil] Scott administration is continuing work to acquire more rapid antigen tests for broad distribution, but like other states, we are constrained by the realities of the supply at the federal level,” the Health Department said. “In the meantime, Vermont will continue to get as many tests as possible into the hands of Vermonters, as fast as possible. We thank everyone for recognizing the value of these rapid tests in protecting themselves and their loved ones, and especially those most at risk of serious illness.”
The intense demand for testing comes as cases have surged with the new Omicron variant in the past two weeks and as public health officials have urged people to test before gathering indoors for holiday celebrations.
Appointments for state testing sites have been full this week and pharmacies have been turning away customers daily saying they have no home tests for sale.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that the federal government will launch an effort to distribute a half billion home tests to Americans. The deliveries by mail will start in January, too late to help those looking to get together over Christmas and New Year’s.
Vermont braces for the biggest spike
In Vermont, state officials warned this week that the Omicron variant is spreading more quickly than earlier strains of the virus. Daily cases have averaged in the 400s recently with the state reporting 653 cases on Wednesday, the second-highest single-day count of the pandemic. State officials cautioned at Tuesday’s COVID-19 press briefing that modeling suggests daily cases could approach 1,000 per day in a post-holiday surge.
So far the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that while the Omicron variant is more contagious and fast-spreading than earlier strains, it doesn’t appear to be causing more severe illness. Still, the sheer volume of cases is resulting in more hospitalizations across the country with hospitals struggling to manage the increased demand caring for COVID patients and those needing care for other routine illnesses and injuries.
Jeff Tieman, president and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, told VTDigger this week that Vermont’s 14 hospitals are reaching their limits managing staffing shortages, more critically ill patients and burnout among staff.
“There’s a good chance we would see our hospitals in a really difficult, if not overwhelming, situation,” Tieman said.
Some federal assistance has arrived at UVM Medical Center with the deployment of 20 first responders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Dec. 17. The medical support team consists of 10 paramedics and 10 EMTs. Four of these staff have since been reassigned to other Vermont hospitals, UVM officials said.
These responders are assigned for 14 days to work alongside hospital staff to assist with basic tasks of patient care such as monitoring vital signs, helping with patient mobility, and managing supplies.
Waterbury hits a new weekly record: 41 cases
The state on Thursday released the latest weekly case counts by town a day early ahead of the holiday. Waterbury has now logged 534 cases of COVID-19 since March 2020. That reflects an increase of 41 cases in the week ending Dec. 22. That’s the most cases in one week with the previous highest being 29 cases two weeks ago, according to Health Department data.
Other nearby communities saw increases in the past week including 30 new cases in Stowe which has a pandemic total of 374. Moretown saw 9 new cases last week; 8 new cases were reported in Warren, 7 in Waitsfield, and 2 in Middlesex. Barre City, which has seen the highest case counts in Washington County lately, logged 43 cases in the past week; Montpelier had 20, according to the Health Department case charts.
The jump in Waterbury tracks the latest developments in local schools where messages have been going out almost daily this month announcing new cases. Brookside Primary School in Waterbury has accounted for more than half of the 32 December COVID-19 cases in the Harwood Unified Union School District. It has reported 18 cases including six on Tuesday when school was closed one day early for the holiday break due to inadequate staff for Wednesday.
The other cases this month were concentrated at Harwood Union Middle/High School with 7 cases and Crossett Brook Middle School with 5; one each was reported at elementary schools in Moretown and Warren.
Overall, the Harwood school district has reported 61 cases this school year. These reports are for students and staff who were contagious while at school. Other instances of school community members testing positive outside of school are not included.
At this week’s COVID-19 briefing with Gov. Phil Scott, state Education Secretary Dan French acknowledged the challenge schools are having across the state to remain open for in-person learning while managing new cases of the virus among students and the resulting contact tracing and testing. He said school officials anticipate the situation to continue after the holidays.
One bright spot, French noted, is that approximately 53% of children in the 5-11 age group have received their first dose of the vaccine since it was approved for them in November, according to state Health Department data. That group will increase their immunity as they receive second doses soon, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, state education officials are looking to draft recommendations they may offer schools after the holiday break, French said. Given the current surge in virus spread, they have decided to hold off on suggesting schools drop mask requirements once 80% of their students are immunized, French said. Harwood school leaders recently said they were not considering changing mask rules anytime soon. Currently, all staff and students are required to wear masks at school.
French also suggested that schools increase testing as they reopen after the holiday break but he did not say that the state would assist with ramped-up testing efforts.
Waterbury Ambulance Service member Keith Marino (right) administers a COVID-19 vaccine at last weekend’s booster clinic at the Waterbury Area Senior Center. Photo by Gordon Miller
Vaccines still the focus
Meanwhile, state officials continue to emphasize the importance of vaccines and now in particular booster shots. Data on cases involving the Omicron variant are showing those who have received a booster are likely to experience mild sickness.
“To be considered really protected, you need to have the booster - period,” Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said.
State pop-up vaccine clinics are being added regularly to the schedule of daily vaccine sites. Locations, hours and links to schedule appointments are online at healthvermont.gov/covid-19/vaccine/getting-covid-19-vaccine. In addition, vaccines are available at pharmacies and doctor’s offices.
To help inform the public of the difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, the Health Department this week updated its dashboard website to include graphs showing the breakdown cases, hospitalizations, and deaths by vaccination status. Those will be updated weekly. See the new COVID-19 state data dashboard at healthvermont.gov/covid-19/current-activity/case-dashboard.