COVID-19 update: State reporting to shift; schools see more than two dozen cases

May 13, 2022  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

How Vermont tracks the COVID-19 virus will change next week as the Vermont Department of Health plans to end daily updates of its dashboard and instead shift to a weekly report. 

State officials announced last week that May 18 will be the last update of the daily dashboard. It will be replaced by a COVID-19 Surveillance Report updated weekly on Wednesdays. The first one is posted on the Health Department’s website and linked on the dashboard page.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said data collected regarding cases, deaths, vaccination rates, hospitalizations, etc. will continue to be compiled and accessible to the public on the Vermont Open Geodata Portal. 

The CDC Community Level map for COVID-19 shows Washington County among 8 of Vermont's counties with high levels of the virus. This measure includes hospitalization data. CDC.gov screenshot

The CDC Transmission Level map for COVID-19 shows all of Vermont's counties with high levels of the virus. CDC.gov screenshot

From Friday, May 6 through May 13, Vermont logged just under 2,400 new COVID-19 cases measured by PCR tests tracked by the state. The 7-day test positivity average stood at 13.4%, according to the state dashboard. 

In addition, the most recent update of self-reported home tests where individuals tested positive showed 1,289 cases for the week of May 1-7, according to the Health Department. Those cases are tracked in a separate spot on the Health Department website under the heading COVID-19 in Communities. 

As of Friday, 64 Vermonters were hospitalized with COVID-19, 14 of those in intensive care. Several new deaths were reported this week for a pandemic total of 642 Vermonters who have died. 

This comes as the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention show 8 of Vermont’s 14 counties with a high rate of COVID-19 virus in the community and a high level of transmission in all of the Northeast and upper Midwest regions of the United States this week. 

In areas of high prevalence of the virus, the CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public and on public transportation, staying up-to-date with vaccines, and getting tested when you experience symptoms. 

Locally, schools reported fewer COVID-19 cases this week than during the first week in May among staff and students who were contagious while at school. Harwood Unified Union School District’s COVID-19 dashboard shows 26 new cases for the week of May 9, that’s down from 36 the previous week. 

The school cases so far this month make May the third-highest month of the school year so far for COVID-19 cases, behind the full months of January (123 cases) and April (117 cases), according to school district data. 

So far this school year, the Harwood district has had 464 reported cases among students and staff who were contagious at school, according to the district’s website. 

School health staff last week noted an uptick in cases in kindergarten students, particularly at Brookside Primary School in Waterbury. This past week, families from Waitsfield Elementary received a notice about an increase there, according to Allison Conyers, the district’s COVID-19 coordinator and school nurse at Brookside. She said that was the only school to show a significant increase with other cases spread evenly around the district. 

Local testing continues at the Waterbury Ambulance Station at 1727 Guptil Road in Waterbury Center. The site has hours daily by appointment. Staff there also can do vaccinations for anyone age 5 and older who is eligible for initial and booster doses.