GOVERNOR EASES WORK RESTRICTIONS AS UNEMPLOYMENT SURPASSES 20%
MONTPELIER: Vermont Governor Phil Scott eased work restrictions this morning in an attempt to slowly get people back to work amidst the coronavirus crisis in the Green Mountain State.
A week ago Scott announced that workers who could work in groups of no more than two, including those who do property maintenance, and construction jobs, could return to work on April 20.
This morning, a week later, that restriction was lifted to groups of up to five people. It also allows greenhouses and gardening supply stores to begin operating, as long as there are no more than 10 people on the premises- that includes workers and customers.
The caveat to the greenhouse and nursery exception is that if a business had already tooled up to the curbside business, they continue to provide their customers with the needed products curbside.
Scott said he hopes to continue to slowly reopen the economy on a weekly basis, with announcements every Friday during his regularly scheduled press conference to update the citizens of Vermont on the response to COVID-19.
The news comes as the Vermont Department of Labor says that unemployment numbers are certainly above 20%, but likely above 23%. The timing corresponds with those who are self-employed or otherwise would not normally be able to file for unemployment, are now beginning able to file their claims under new provisions.
An update by the Vermont Department of Health on Wednesday indicated the rate of infected people continues to decline, with Vermont hitting its peek in illnesses last week.
Scott reiterated that just because Vermont hit its peek, citizens should not stop social distancing practices, and should wear face coverings whenever they are out in public.
Vermont stands as one of the very best successful states as far as fighting the coronavirus, according to State Health Department Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine, leading the Governor to be able to ease the restrictions.
Service personnel such as hair stylists are still restricted from operating under the Governor’s emergency order, which officially began in early March.
Franklin County’s number of confirmed cases has held steady at 90 for a week, with no new cases being reported. The number of deaths from the virus in Franklin County has risen from three to five in the same period.
According to data provided by the Vermont Department of Health, total cases in Vermont has increased to 827 cases as of Friday morning. That number is an increase of just 35 known cases in a week for all of Vermont.
It has been since the third week in March since Vermont has seen such low numbers of transmission of the virus, according to the Health Department’s data.
Many of Franklin County’s cases, almost half of them, originated from Northwest Correctional Center. Those inmates have since been transferred to the Correctional Center in St. Johnsbury for treatment.
Officials in state government are now working to retest all the inmates at the Northwest Correctional Center in order to determine if there were any cases that fell through the cracks when they did their initial testing- which lead to the transfer of more than 30 inmates to St. Johnsbury’s treatment center.
Stay up to date with the state’s response, and the local impact of the virus by following the County Courier in print, on the web, and on facebook.
