CORONAVIRUS UPDATE FOR OUR REGION
By Gregory J. Lamoureux
County Courier
As the coronavirus vaccine continues to be administered throughout the state, cases in our region are still high in some communities. News cases in the past two weeks show drastic increases in Alburgh, Highgate, Cambridge, Swanton, Richford, and Enosburgh.
According to data provided by the Vermont Department of Health, the most recent town-by-town data indicates that St. Albans City has reported the greatest number of new covid cases.
Here is a breakdown of local COVID cases in our region, and the number of new cases reported to the Health Department in the past two weeks. It should be noted, the Vermont Health Department leans heavily on zip codes to determine where cases originate. This can skew the data to neighboring municipalities.
| Alburgh | 23 |
| Bakersfield | 15 |
| Belvidere | 12 |
| Berkshire | 0 |
| Cambridge | 20 |
| Eden | 2 |
| Enosburg | 27 |
| Fairfax | 8 |
| Fairfield | 8 |
| Fletcher | 0 |
| Franklin | 15 |
| Georgia | 1 |
| Highgate | 9 |
| Jay | 2 |
| Lowell | 0 |
| Milton | 43 |
| Montgomery | 0 |
| Richford | 17 |
| Sheldon | 7 |
| St. Albans City | 64 |
| St. Albans Town | 2 |
| Swanton | 41 |
| Waterville | 0 |
| Westford | 0 |
| Westfield | 4 |
Cases in the community have lead to the cancellation of all winter sports for the remainder of the winter season at Missisquoi Valley Union High School, according to school officials last week.
Responding to questions from the County Courier at a news conference, Dr. Mark Levine of the Vermont Health Department said cases among the teams have not shown any evidence of spreading from one school to another.
Levine said he had heard of “quite a few cases” within the sports teams at MVU, “especially hockey teams,” he added.
Levine said the state is only aware, at least at this time, of the virus spreading through transmission among team members, but not from team to team through competitions.
Vermont’s Secretary of Education, Daniel French, told the County Courier that the move within the Missisquoi Valley Union School District to go to remote learning for the next 14 to 28 days was less about the number of cases within the school system, but the number of cases within the community.
French said he would be meeting, presumably remotely, with Missisquoi Valley School District Superintendent Julie Regimbal later this coming week to discuss the cases and how to proceed.
French said the spread of the virus within the community is affecting the staffing levels at the school, which is the root of the school going remote.
The coronavirus vaccine has been administered to more than 22% of Franklin County’s residents, according to the Health Department.
Starting in December, healthcare workers became eligible for the vaccine, but since then the vaccine has been made available to anyone 65 and above, as well as any adults in the state with certain underlying conditions.
Those working with children in registered daycare centers, as well as educators are also eligible for the vaccine.
Franklin County has the second lowest vaccine rate in the Green Mountain State, second only to rural Essex County.
Rutland County has a vaccination rate of more than 30%, of their population having been administered at least the first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
If there is any upside to Franklin County’s vaccine rate, it’s that more than 82% of residents over the age of 75 have been vaccinated to date.
More than 71% of those in the 70-74 age group have had at least one vaccine in Franklin County, with a little more than 45% of those 65-69 being administered their first dose.
Vermonters who have been completely vaccinated are being held to a lower standard than those who have not been fully vaccinated.
The state’s regulations allow for an unlimited number of people in a gathering as long as they are all vaccinated, or as long as there is only one “pod” in the group in unvaccinated.
The thresh-hold for being fully vaccinated comes 14 days after the second vaccine dose is administered.
Vaccinated people are allowed to travel in and out of state lines, regardless of reason, without quarantining.
Those who have been identified as a close contact to a positive case are also not required to quarantine or seek testing, as long as they have been fully vaccinated and don’t show any symptoms of the coronavirus.
Vaccines are being administered in Alburgh, Swanton, St. Albans, Milton, Enosburgh, and Cambridge, according to the Vermont Department.
If you qualify for a vaccine, you can sign up through the Vermont Health Department here.
One year into the pandemic, Vermont data is showing that there are more people in their 20s testing positive than any other age group in the State, through the rate between men and women is practically tied.
As of Sunday, Vermont has been home to 214 deaths associated with the coronavirus. That’s about 1.26% of cases identified in the state.
