Waterbury leads Washington County in new COVID-19 cases
Dec. 30, 2021 | By Lisa ScagliottiEditor’s note: This story was updated at 6 a.m. on Dec. 31.
As the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus spreads rapidly across the nation and in Vermont, cases statewide and locally this week have surged to the highest levels of the pandemic.
Thursday’s data update from the Vermont Department of Health reported a record 1,352 new cases for Wednesday across Vermont, breaking the previous daily high case count set on Tuesday with 937 new cases reported.
The department also released the latest community-specific data for the seven days ending Wednesday, Dec. 29, and that shows Waterbury with 130 new weekly cases, more than triple the previous weekly high of 41 cases recorded on Dec. 22.
The increase for Waterbury this week was the greatest single-week jump in cases for a single community in Washington County with Barre City a close second having recorded 123 new cases for the same time period. Barre City leads Washington County with the most cases of the pandemic, 1,910. Waterbury’s total since March 2020 is the second-greatest in the county at 664.
According to VTDigger’s analysis of the community data, Waterbury ranks second-highest in the state for new cases reported in the past two weeks. A look at Health Department case reports Dec. 16-29 finds 101 Vermont communities are in the highest category of case counts, defined as more than 80 cases per 10,000 people for that time period. For Waterbury, that works out to 321 cases per 10,000 people having reported 171 actual cases in that time. First-ranked St. Albans with 229 cases translates to 333 cases per 10,000.
Other nearby communities including those in the Harwood Unified Union School District saw increases in the past week, but not on the magnitude of Waterbury’s spike: 38 cases were reported for Stowe, and 47 in Montpelier; Waitsfield saw 19 and Moretown 17; 5 were reported for Warren while Bolton logged just 3 and Middlesex 2, according to Health Department figures.
The jump following the Christmas holiday mirrors the national trend since the highly contagious Omicron variant has begun to spread. The New York Times reported just shy of 489,000 cases on Wednesday, a new national daily record for the pandemic.
Both national and statewide statistics, however, show hospitalizations are holding steady despite the increase in cases. In Vermont, 56 people were reported to be in the hospital Thursday with 19 in intensive care. That figure is similar to a week ago and down about 25% from earlier this month when 76 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, according to Health Department data.
State officials this week during the COVID-19 press briefing with Gov. Phil Scott cautioned that Omicron is expected to drive case numbers sharply in the coming weeks, similar to the post-holiday surge seen last year. A key difference, however, is that the overall daily case counts now are several times higher headed into the post-holiday spike than in late 2020 into 2021.
Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine this week also cautioned against focusing on case numbers given that people are turning to at-home tests more in the past few weeks. The state distributed 25,000 testing kits free last week and planned to hand out just as many this week in an effort to equip Vermonters with testing before they gather for holiday celebrations.
Gov. Phil Scott in his COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday acknowledged that state testing distribution sites ran out before many who wanted tests could get them last week. “I understand the frustration, but we’re doing the best we can with what we have until the federal supply chain starts flowing,” he said. Additional tests are expected to be directed to the states as part of a federal initiative announced last week by President Joe Biden to distribute a half-billion tests starting in January.
The Health Department website has a short online form for people to use to report results of their home tests although it is not clear to what extent people are doing so. The state case numbers are likely to be incomplete as they reflect results from PCR tests administered at state testing sites and any results individuals report themselves, Levine noted.
With the New Year’s holiday this weekend, the Health Department will not update its online COVID-19 dashboard data until Monday, Jan. 3.
Before dawn, state snowplows are loaded with salt and parked inside the Agency of Transportation Highway Garage in Middlesex Thursday morning. AOT staff instead were ready to hand out hundreds of free take-home COVID-19 tests to parents of K-12 students. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Home testing ramps up before school reopens Jan. 3
As the New Year’s holiday approaches, schools are set to reopen across Vermont on Monday, Jan. 3. The state on Wednesday announced an effort to distribute home testing kits for parents to pick up to test their children headed back to school in grades K-12. Gov. Scott on Tuesday said a supply of tests recently received would allow approximately 87,000 two-pack test kits to be allocated for students and others to nursing homes.
Pickup takes just a minute as parents drive through the AOT garage lot on Thursday morning. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The tests are not required for students to return to school, but they are recommended as many COVID-19 infections currently do not present with symptoms, so an individual could be infected and contagious without knowing.
The free test kits contain two tests each with instructions for parents to have children test Saturday and Sunday this weekend before heading to school on Monday. In order to receive the kits, parents need to register using a short online form on the Health Department website under Testing. This round of tests is being distributed mainly at state Agency of Transportation Highway Maintenance facilities around the state on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 30-31. The nearest to Waterbury are the garages in Middlesex and Waitsfield. Hours are 7-10 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. both days.
School administrators in the Harwood Unified Union School District sent a memo to families late Wednesday about the rapid test kit distribution with instructions on what to do depending on the test results they get.
It was unclear from the state announcement why preschoolers were not included in the distribution. Contacted on Thursday, Waitsfield Principal Kaiya Korb, an administrator leading COVID-19 response in the Harwood district, said she believed the kits were the same as what schools have been using in the Test to Stay program that tests students identified as close contacts to someone who is infected. Those tests are only approved for ages 5 and older, she said. Most preschoolers are 3 or 4 years old.
Tests are handed out one-per-student as parents drive up to the distribution. Parents need to sign up online with the Department of Health in order to receive the tests. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
“We, too, are asking regarding options for our pre-k students and their families; this is what is available broadly to us through the state now. There are testing kits approved for those under 5 and we hope those will become more widely available,” Korb said.
In a follow-up message later however, Korb said she checked on the tests and those being distributed this week at the AOT sites are different from the ones schools had been using. The package information states that they are suitable for age 2 and up, she said. Given that, Korb did not know why the preschool students were not included with these rapid tests.
Waterbury Roundabout inquired about tests for preschool-aged students, contacting both the Department of Health and Agency of Education press contacts. In an email reply late Thursday, Vermont Education Secretary Dan French said, “It was a question of supply. We are aware of the concern over PreK but we wanted to make sure we had K-12 covered.”
When asked about test availability for teachers and school staff members, Korb said school officials are “exploring options for staff.” As the governor noted on Tuesday, rapid home tests have been in short supply for the general public across the nation. Distribution by the state at sites around Vermont both ahead of the Christmas holiday and this week has been met with high demand exceeding the supply in most instances in less than an hour.
Korb said for now, school staff will need to get their own tests through pharmacies or online, which can be reimbursed through the district’s healthcare plan. Testing is also available at state-sponsored sites with registration for appointments online and results available within 1-2 days. State officials said this week they will be adding more appointment times and to check the state website for availability.
School officials said once school is back in session, voluntary Monday surveillance testing will continue for both staff and students. Korb noted that results for those PCR tests typically are ready by Tuesday afternoons. Parents can sign students up for those tests online.
“Staff have demonstrated great responsibility to the safety of the community this year and last; many had already planned ahead to be able to test before returning to work if they were going to be having contact outside of their homes” over the holiday break, Korb noted.
In the memo to families on Wednesday, school officials acknowledged the increased virus spread just in the past week noting that “over 30 cases have been identified in our school community since Dec. 22,” which was the last day of school before the holiday break. In Waterbury, Brookside Primary School began its break a day early after six cases were reported at the school on Dec. 21 and there was insufficient staff to open school the following day.
Secretary French this week acknowledged that there may be school closings in the coming weeks across Vermont for just those reasons. Despite that, there are no plans in place to encourage schools to switch to remote learning this year. In fact, schools that close due to COVID-19 are required to make up missed days in order to meet the annual minimum number of days for the school year. French said Education Agency officials are reviewing the process by which schools may request waivers to avoid making up missed days and new steps would be announced in the coming weeks.
French also described how the state hopes to shift school testing efforts in the next month or so to rely on rapid tests administered at home to shift the burden from school staff who now oversee testing in schools.
Printed instructions are included with the test kits handed out to parents. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Vermont adopts, adds to CDC guidance for isolation, quarantine
The Vermont Department of Health on Thursday announced that the state has adopted new guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week regarding isolation and quarantine with an additional testing step.
The detailed instructions can be found on the Health Department website.
Isolation refers to the time following a positive test or start of COVID-19 symptoms. Quarantine refers to time following exposure to an infected person when a person is a close contact but free of infection.
“Under the new state guidance, a person with a positive test – regardless of vaccination status – should stay home and isolate for 5 days and notify close contacts that you have tested positive,” the Health Department said.
The isolation period may end after five days if the person has two negative antigen tests performed at least 24 hours apart, starting no earlier than day 4; if they either never had symptoms or symptoms have improved and they feel well; if they have had no fever for at least 24 hours without medication. The guidance also recommends wearing a mask around others for another five days.
CDC officials have said the new recommendations aimed to strike a balance between what they thought the public could practically manage and information about the latest COVID-19 Omicron variant that indicates it is most contagious a couple of days before and after symptoms begin.
State officials acknowledge that they cannot require people infected take tests before ending isolation, but Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said it’s highly recommended because testing adds “an important additional layer of protection while exiting isolation, especially in light of the high levels of community transmission of omicron variant we are experiencing.”
The state’s updated quarantine guidance outlines actions for people who have been exposed to COVID-19 to follow depending on their vaccination status.
Those who are vaccinated and boosted, or whose primary vaccines were recent do not need to quarantine, but they should wear a mask around others for 10 days. The guidelines recommend a COVID test on day 5 or as soon as symptoms develop. Those who are not vaccinated at all or who have not received a booster shot and their primary shots were more than six months ago should quarantine for five days if exposed to COVID-19, the new guidance states. The quarantine period may end if they don’t develop symptoms or test negative after five days with either one PCR/LAMP test or two rapid antigen tests. Wearing a mas around others through day 10 is also recommended.
Details on what to do if you test positive, are a close contact, where to get tested, etc. are online on the Health Department website at healthvermont.gov/covid-19.