Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Human Services Secretary Mike Smith told Seven Days on Wednesday that his agency had been hearing troubling reports of medical appointment delays "for a while" now.
"I thought it was time that we needed to look into this — and needed to look into it in a very substantial way," he said.
Tags: Mike Smith , Medicaid , Vermont , Seven Days report , UVM Medical Center , Investigation , Wait times , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
He noted that he was speaking unmasked in a large auditorium with fewer than 20 people and colleagues who had been vaccinated.
“Like we’ve been saying all along, you should assess your own risk,” Levine said. “The room is spacious and well ventilated. Very different than if I was giving a talk here, attended by the general public, and it was a full house.”
Tags: Phil Scott , governor , Mark Levine , health , commissioner , Department of Health , masks , mandate , schools , Web Only , Image
Monday, August 30, 2021
About 140 Twinfield Union School students in grades K-6 are learning from home on Monday after multiple students contracted the coronavirus just days after school opened for the year.
School officials said they learned late last week that a sixth-grade student had tested positive for COVID-19 after having close contact with a daycare employee who contracted the disease after attending a wedding the previous weekend. Since then, four other students — three kindergarteners and a second-grader, all connected to the daycare — have tested positive, Twinfield Union principal Mark Mooney said.
Mark Tucker, superintendent of the Caledonia Central Supervisory Union, said the district is keeping students in kindergarten through sixth grade home "out of an abundance of caution."
"I was really hoping that we could let the dust sit on some of these procedures, but we didn't even get through the first day of school," Tucker said. Classes started last Thursday; pre-schoolers start class on September 1.
Tags: Twinfield Union School , COVID-19 , coronavirus , testing , masking , Vermont , education , Web Only , Image
The Vermont Department of Corrections has not officially deemed the situation an "outbreak" pending results from more testing on Monday, a spokesperson said. But a majority of the new cases were found in a unit where four other infections were recently discovered.
That unit, which currently houses 71 people, is now being treated as a "surge unit," meaning anyone who becomes positive will not be sent elsewhere to isolate. Everyone confined in the unit is either infected or has been deemed a close contact of someone who is, spokesperson Rachel Feldman said.
The prison now has at least 32 cases: 25 among incarcerated people and seven among employees.
Tags: COVID-19 , health , Vermont , Department of Corrections , Department of Health , infections , Web Only , Image
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Several more people who work or are confined in Vermont prisons have tested positive for COVID-19, leading the Department of Corrections to reimpose a systemwide mask mandate.
The department also suspended outside visits to prisons with active cases, which currently includes five of six state facilities.
Tags: Vermont Department of Corrections , COVID-19 , mask mandate , Gov. Phil Scott , Northern State Correctional Facility , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Last year, masking, testing and social distancing dominated the beginning of the fall semester. In Burlington and elsewhere, residents worried about the return of college students, many from faraway states where the pandemic was surging. Vaccinations had not been approved for the public.
This year, in the second autumn of the pandemic, masks are still recommended indoors. But about 90 percent of the students are returning fully vaccinated to their campuses, said Financial Regulation Commissioner Mike Pieciak, who is handling COVID-19 modeling for the state.
With 13 of 16 institutions of higher ed reporting, said Pieciak, only 350 students have received exemptions from vaccination requirements.
Tags: College , COVID-19 , breakthrough cases , vaccination , Mike Pieciak , Web Only , Image
House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) pressed Gov. Phil Scott to take further steps to protect Vermonters, including raising the prospect of a temporary indoor mask mandate.
“Vermonters have consistently asked why we aren’t doing more to prevent the spread of the virus,” Krowinski said in a release. “We have the tools available to protect ourselves, and any step we can take to prevent someone from being hospitalized or succumbing to this virus is worth taking.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint (D-Windham) echoed her colleague’s remarks. As the mother of a child under 12 who is ineligible for vaccination, Balint said she understands the anxiety parents feel about sending their unvaccinated kids back to the classroom as the virus surges.
Tags: COVID-19 , Phil Scott , Jill Krowinski , Becca Balint , Web Only , Image
Friday, August 20, 2021
Mayor Miro Weinberger said Friday that he will host a town hall meeting with local businesses next week to discuss whether his office should pursue a citywide mask mandate similar to the one that was in effect for most of the last year.
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Tuesday, August 17, 2021
“While cases have picked up, it's important for Vermonters to remember we're not Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or any other states with significantly lower vaccination rates, and significantly higher hospitalizations,” he said. In Vermont, he added, “the data shows vaccines are preventing cases.”
That means schools are not expected to return to a remote or hybrid model this fall as people move indoors and case numbers likely rise, said Education Secretary Dan French. French said there might be some cases where a child leaves school due to individual illness and can connect online, “but the emphasis this year is going to be on in-person [instruction], because we know that works far better than the remote."
Tags: covid-19 , restrictions , masks , vaccines , Web Only , Image
Monday, August 16, 2021
Though the line is a lot shorter these days than it was a few years ago, Illuzzi said, the crossing goes much more slowly. And what used to take 30 seconds, he said, now eats up five minutes.
“I have to have my vaccination card, and I have to present a negative COVID test I took within three days," said Illuzzi. "They seem to be a bit more strict.”
As a student, Illuzzi has been able to cross the border throughout the pandemic. He’s exempt from the rules that have halted vacationers and many others whose travel is considered nonessential.
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