Changes announced for state COVID-19 information, testing
May 21, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti There was significant news regarding COVID-19 both nationally and in Vermont this week.
The United States surpassed the 1 million deaths to the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the recommendation of booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11.
The state of Vermont announced it will close community testing sites on June 25. Testing will be available at pharmacies and health care providers’ offices going forward, state public health officials said. It’s unclear whether and where free testing kits will be available after June.
The Vermont Department of Health has discontinued daily updates to its COVID-19 online dashboard. Wednesday, May 18, marked the final daily update. Weekly updates will continue on Wednesdays with a surveillance report on the Health Department website. The state also has a link to the geodata portal with ongoing and historic data on cases, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
The state report as of May 18 shows 2,316 cases reported through PCR testing. That averages out to more than 300 cases per day. The latest weekly update of self-reported cases through May 14 shows 1,496 cases, according to the Health Department.
Meanwhile, the CDC’s monitoring of community levels of the virus place five counties including Washington in the high category; seven including Chittenden are listed in the medium category; Franklin and Lamoille are shown as low. That metric considers reported cases and factors in hospitalization data.
The CDC’s map tracking community transmission only shows all but Lamoille County in Vermont at a high level; Lamoille is marked as substantial. The CDC recommends people wear masks indoors in public in areas of high transmission.
COVID-19 in local schools
With more than a week still left to go, the month of May has seen the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases in students and staff in local public schools.
The Harwood Unified Union School District’s COVID-19 dashboard notes 23 new cases for the week of May 15, bringing the total for the month through Friday, May 20, to 85 cases. That’s down slightly from the previous week which had 26 cases, according to the school district.
Schools report only those cases where an individual was in school while contagious. So far, 487 cases have been reported in the Harwood district this year.
Waterbury Ambulance Service testing/vaccine schedule
Testing and vaccines continue through June 25 by Waterbury Ambulance Service at its station at 1727 Guptil Road in Waterbury Center, on the Barre-Montpelier Road in Berlin (behind Burger King), and on weekends in Waitsfield at the Waitsfield United Church of Christ, 4355 Main St. Individuals can get a PCR test or several take-home testing kits for free.
Director Mark Podgwaite notes that Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, May 28-29, only take-home tests will be offered.
The Waterbury Ambulance Service testing schedule in Waterbury through June 25 is: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesday 1-7 p.m. Thursday 1-5 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Waterbury site also offers vaccines 1-5 p.m. daily Monday-Saturday and 1-3 p.m. on Sundays.
Weekend hours for testing and vaccines in Waitsfield are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
More information on testing locations and hours and walk-in vaccine clinics is online at the Vermont Department of Health