Wednesday, April 15, 2020
The testing follows an earlier resident case at the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, a 150-bed facility tied to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, that was not publicly announced. That patient tested positive during the first week of April after being transferred to the emergency department for COVID-19-like symptoms, SVMC chief medical officer Trey Dobson said.
Tags: covid-19 , coronavirus , Southwestern Vermont Medical Center , Southwestern Vermont Health Care , Centers for Living and Rehabilitation , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Shelley Palmer, owner of Big Brother Security Programs, sold thousands of basic surgical masks to Central Vermont Medical Center last month as the hospital was trying to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
Such masks are worth around 10 cents each, but Palmer charged the nonprofit hospital $2.50 per mask, reaping an “exploitative gain” of at least $80,000, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office said.
Tags: Coronavirus , covid-19 , price gouging , personal protective equipment , ppe , vermont attorney general , t.j. donovan , shelley palmer , big brother security programs. , Web Only , Image
Saturday, April 11, 2020
A total of 32 inmates out of nearly 200 who were confined at the St. Albans prison have tested positive for COVID-19, the Vermont Department of Corrections announced Saturday. Another 16 employees have also contracted the virus, with nine employee tests still pending.
The outbreak is nearly as large, in terms of case volume, as those at two Burlington nursing homes, where more than 50 residents and staff at each have been diagnosed.
Tags: Northwest State Correctional Facility , Northeast Correctional Complex , Vermont Department of Corrections , coronavirus , covid-19 , Web Only , Image
Friday, April 10, 2020
Gov. Phil Scott said on Friday that Vermont will remain in a state of emergency for at least another month, and he moved to extend orders aimed at keeping more people home amid positive signs that social distancing measures are curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Scott first announced the move in a press release that indicated he was also extending his stay-at-home order and prolonging bar and restaurant closures until at least May 15. Those orders were set to expire next week.
Speaking at a press briefing Friday morning, the governor warned that the state doesn’t yet know whether the virus will still spike. But he said modeling data suggests the spread of the virus is slowing down, meaning it's important that the state doesn't "let up yet."
“I know how disappointing this is to many, as some were hoping that we could magically flip a switch and go back to normal. There’s no one who wishes that could be more the case than me,” Scott said. “The fact is, the data shows what we're doing is really making a difference. Vermonters are literally saving hundreds of lives by staying home."
“There’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Scott later said. “It’s just a very, very long tunnel.”
Tags: stay-at-home , Vermont , order , coronavirus , Phil Scott , governor , COVID-19 , cases , Web Only , Image
Thursday, April 9, 2020
At least 29 inmates and eight guards have been infected, the Vermont Department of Corrections said Thursday night. Most are not showing symptoms, but they will be moved to Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury, which the state has planned to use as a quarantine facility in the event of an outbreak.
Tags: Northwest State Correctional Facility , Vermont Department of Corrections , coronavirus , covid-19 , prisons , inmates , ACLU of Vermont , Jim Baker , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
The one-time Bennington lawmaker has joined progressive advocacy group Rights & Democracy as the organization’s Vermont movement politics director. She described the position as one in which she helps “move Vermonters from what we call ‘protest politics’ to seats of actual power and decision making.”
“That’s really my vision for this work,” she said, “to encourage and promote a really radical diversity in those different elected seats, and to build needed systems of support for those folks that are elected to be able to successfully pass and implement progressive policies.”
Tags: Kiah Morris , Rights & Democracy , Vermont , James Haslam , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
The 50-seat Bombardier regional jet had carried just the pair of travelers from Detroit to BTV, the latest evidence of the near total collapse in air travel to the state’s largest airport.
“It was pretty weird,” Zack Maroon said of what was effectively a private jet flight home.
Maroon was the beneficiary of the federal government’s efforts to keep air travel on life-support during the coronavirus pandemic with billions of dollars in subsidies meant to keep airlines flying — whether it makes economic sense or not.
The $2 trillion federal CARES Act stimulus contains at least $60 billion for airlines if they service a minimum number of routes. Part of the goal is to keep flights serving regional airports like Burlington through September so the airlines don’t consolidate operations at larger hubs, such as Boston, explained Nic Longo, deputy director of aviation at BTV.
Monday, April 6, 2020
The center announced Monday that 22 employees tested positive for COVID-19, on top of the 26 resident cases that were already known. One resident has died.
The extent of the outbreak was revealed through mass testing of residents and staff late last week, just days after the first resident case was confirmed on March 30. It was not clear whether the tally released Monday included a single employee case that was previously disclosed.
Tags: Birchwood Terrace , covid-19 , coronavirus , nursing home , Burlington Health and Rehabilitation Center , Vermont Department of Health , University of Vermont Medical Center , Web Only , Image
According to education reporter Lola Duffort, a member of the union's organizing committee, 15 of VTDigger's 17 editorial staffers have signed a petition seeking recognition. The bargaining unit, called the VTDigger Guild, represents full- and part-time reporters, photographers, interns and fellows, as well as staff columnists.
Galloway, who founded VTDigger in 2009 and also serves as executive director of its parent organization, the Vermont Journalism Trust, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Duffort said her colleagues have been organizing since last fall and had intended to announce their decision last month but held off so that they could focus on covering the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on Vermont.
"We're doing this because we think it will strengthen VTDigger," she said. "This organization will be better positioned to weather this crisis and and to begin growing once again afterward if the newsroom has a seat at the table."
Tags: VTDigger , Anne Galloway , Lola Duffort , Web Only , Image
Friday, April 3, 2020
The Burlington Police Department will begin enforcing Gov. Phil Scott's executive order this weekend, aiming at what city officials said is a small number of residents who are "willfully" not complying.
The new approach was announced at Mayor Miro Weinberger's afternoon briefing.
Tags: covid-19 , coronavirus , burlington police department , civil tickets , stay at home order , T.J. Donovan , Attorney General , Jon Murad , Web Only , Image