Health | Off Message | Seven Days | Vermont's Independent Voice
Monday, November 29, 2021

Posted By on Mon, Nov 29, 2021 at 6:19 PM

click to enlarge Vermont Health Department Names Elizabeth Bundock Chief Medical Examiner (2)
Vermont Department of Health
Dr. Elizabeth Bundock
Vermont has a new chief medical examiner.

Dr. Elizabeth Bundock, the state’s deputy chief medical examiner since 2007, was appointed to the top post Monday following the retirement in April of Dr. Steven Shapiro.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Posted By on Sun, Nov 28, 2021 at 9:07 PM

click to enlarge Vermont Officials Keeping Tabs on Omicron COVID-19 Variant
Anne Wallace Allen ©️ Seven Days
Vermont Statehouse
Updated on November 29, 2021.

Gov. Phil Scott and his administration are closely following the news about the Omicron variant of COVID-19, which has been detected in several countries — including Canada — but not yet in the United States.

"We’re all independently monitoring this and watching the moves other countries are making," said Michael Pieciak, who handles COVID-19 modeling for the state and serves as commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation. "We’re all kind of waiting for more information."

Reports about Omicron, the newly identified variant of the virus, started circulating widely on Friday after it was detected in Britain and several countries in southern Africa. Among the concerns are the potential high transmissibility of the new strain and the possibility it can evade the vaccines now in use. Much is unknown, including the severity of disease it causes, and researchers are rushing to investigate the threat. The World Health Organization has called Omicron a "variant of concern," its most serious classification.

The U.S. will close its borders on Monday to travelers from eight countries in southern Africa, and New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on Friday.

"We continue to see warning signs of spikes this upcoming winter, and while the new Omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it's coming," Hochul said in a statement.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, November 22, 2021

Posted By on Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 10:11 PM

click to enlarge Vermont Lawmakers Approve Bill That Allows Towns to Require Masks
Kevin McCallum ©️ Seven Days
Andy Loughney outside the Statehouse on Monday
Vermont lawmakers on Monday grudgingly approved a bill to let individual cities and towns pass temporary mask mandates, but only after blasting Gov. Phil Scott for giving them the choice to do little else.

The bill passed the special legislative session by wide margins — 17-10 in the Senate and 90-41 in the House — but many lawmakers who voted for it said they did so only because Scott continued to oppose the broader mask mandate they preferred.

“What we need is a statewide response,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint (D-Windham). “We need our executive branch, our governor and our Department of Health to step up and protect the people of Vermont when we are facing the most challenging and difficult time of the pandemic in Vermont.”

Tags: , , , , ,

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 12:35 PM

Vermont Relaxes PCB Standards, But Impact on Burlington School Project Unclear
File: Luke Awtry
A sign in front of Burlington High School
The Vermont Department of Health has quietly updated the way it assesses airborne levels of cancer-causing chemicals, a decision that comes ahead of a statewide testing program for hundreds of schools across the state.

The newly created "action levels" are significantly higher than the "screening level" the state has previously used to flag excessive amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in indoor air. Burlington High School decided to shut its doors after testing last year showed levels above the state's threshold of 15 nanograms per cubic meter, along with extensive PCB contamination in building materials.

But the new action levels are 100 nanograms per cubic meter for high school buildings, a level not exceeded by most of the classrooms at Burlington High School's Institute Road campus. Last school year, district officials decided to forgo $70 million in renovations that voters approved and recently decided to build a new school. It is unclear whether the state’s decision will impact this plan.

Tags: , , , , ,

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Nov 11, 2021 at 5:12 PM

click to enlarge Heeding Activists' Demands, the State Will House Homeless Vermonters in Motels This Winter
Courtesy of Brenda Siegel
Brenda Siegel and Josh Lisenby camping on the Statehouse steps

Updated 5:28 p.m.

Since October 14, Brenda Siegel and Josh Lisenby have kept constant vigil outside the Vermont Statehouse for a single purpose: to pressure state officials to fully restore the pandemic-era motel voucher program, which provided free rooms for anyone experiencing homelessness between March 2020 and July 2021.

On Wednesday, after their 27th consecutive night on the Statehouse steps, Siegel and Lisenby achieved a momentous, if partial, victory. From November 22 to March 1, 2022, the Department for Children and Families will open motels to anyone in need of shelter who earns less than $24,000 a year.

Tags: , , , , ,

Posted By on Thu, Nov 11, 2021 at 1:48 PM

Vermont Sets New Daily Record With 591 COVID-19 Cases
© Chinnasorn Pangcharoen | Dreamstime
Artist's rendition of the virus
Updated at 4:21 p.m.

Nearly 600 Vermonters tested positive for COVID-19 in a single day, far surpassing a previous record-high figure for daily infections set a week ago.

The Vermont Department of Health reported on Thursday 591 new cases — nearly 100 more than the 496 infections reported on November 3.

The positive cases were identified out of roughly 13,800 tests. The new data raised the average rate of positive tests to 4.1 percent.

"It's another concerning data point," health department spokesperson Ben Truman said.

Franklin (72 cases), Lamoille (21 cases), and Rutland (74 cases) counties all set new records. Windsor, with 37 cases, tied its previous high.

But infections are distributed across the state. Chittenden County, Vermont's most populous, recorded 97 cases, the most in a day since the Delta variant arrived over the summer.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Posted By on Tue, Nov 9, 2021 at 5:33 PM

click to enlarge State Officials Stress Vigilance, Not Mandates, as COVID-19 Surge Continues
File: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
Gov. Phil Scott and Health Commissioner Mark Levine at a press briefing
Vermont officials on Tuesday expressed concern about the state's prolonged surge of COVID-19 infections and said people should consider wearing masks when visiting indoor public settings — a step that the officials themselves took for the first time in months  during a weekly briefing.

But they maintained that there is still no need for new restrictions, again dismissing the idea of another mask mandate.

“If we make smart decisions in the coming weeks, and make an extra effort to protect the vulnerable, we can help reduce hospitalizations,” Gov. Phil Scott said, flanked by several masked members of his cabinet. “But it takes all of us committing to these smart, practical choices.”

It has been less than a week since Vermont reported a record-breaking 487 COVID-19 cases in a single day, 140 more than the previous record. The state has now reported 2,200 cases over the last seven days, bringing this week's  average to 308, the highest it has ever been.

Unvaccinated people continue to drive much of the surge, posting a rate of infection 3.7 times higher than their vaccinated counterparts, state data shows. That includes children ages 5 to 11, who are catching COVID-19 at the highest rate of any age group right now — twice the rate of all adults — and who were recently made eligible for vaccination.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, November 8, 2021

Posted By on Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 6:16 PM

click to enlarge Vermont Publisher Chelsea Green Sues Sen. Warren for 'Suppressing' Book
Courtesy of Valley News/Sarah Priestap
Margo Baldwin in 2014
Vermont publisher Chelsea Green has filed a federal civil lawsuit  claiming that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stifled free speech when she called on Amazon to curb the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and cited one of  Chelsea Green's books as a source of "dangerous conspiracies."

The other plaintiffs are Florida osteopath Joseph Mercola and Organic Consumers Association founder Ronnie Cummins, who coauthored The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal, published in April by Chelsea Green. Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine activist who wrote the book's foreword, is also a plaintiff.

Warren wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on September 7 to express her concerns that the online retailer was "peddling misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments." She exhorted Amazon to review its search algorithms and take steps to reduce the visibility of books like The Truth About COVID-19, which still appears as one of the top results in an Amazon search using the term "COVID-19."

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Nov 4, 2021 at 2:31 PM

click to enlarge Vermont Reports Record-Breaking 487 COVID Cases on Thursday
Chinnasorn Pangcharoen | Dreamstime
Artist's rendition of the virus
Updated at 7:40 p.m.

Vermont reported 487 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, shattering the previous single-day record of 347 and dashing any hope that the state had turned a corner amid the latest surge of infections.

The seven-day infection average now sits at 247, the highest ever, while hospitalizations are trending upward after a brief decline. Fifty-five people were in hospitals, with 19 in intensive care — one shy of the record. Deaths have also continued to mount: Fifty people have succumbed to the virus since the start of October, including 10 in the last week.

When Vermont reported what was then a record-breaking number of cases in mid-September, state officials partially blamed a computer glitch. State health department spokesperson Ben Truman confirmed in an email that Thursday’s case spike was not a similar mishap.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Posted By on Wed, Oct 27, 2021 at 2:55 PM

click to enlarge Amid Hospital Crunch, VA to Offer Mental Health Beds to Nonveterans
Calvin L. Leake | Dreamstime.com
The Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to temporarily allow nonveteran mental health patients to receive inpatient care at its White River Junction location in an effort to alleviate the pressure on Vermont's health care system.

The state-federal agreement will provide access to as many as 10 inpatient mental health beds for civilian Vermonters, as long as no veterans would otherwise need the space. It went into effect Monday and will last 30 days.

“The VA has an enormous amount of skill and experience in the area of mental healthcare,” Emily Hawes, Vermont's commissioner of mental health, said in a press release. “We are fortunate that they are willing to help us out and open their doors to non-veterans for a period of time."

Tags: , , , , ,