MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont Governor Phil Scott Tuesday responded directly to critics of the new guidelines he imposed last week aimed to slow a spike in new COVID cases.
Scott on Friday implemented strict new guidelines for bars, restaurants, non-school recreational sports, and social gatherings. He says the data shows the spread of the virus is mostly caused by adults getting together with friends consuming alcohol and food. He says that’s led to record growth. Scott says 71% of the state’s outbreaks are linked to social events and that transmission is not happening much in schools, salons, gyms, and restaurants.
For those skeptics who want to ignore the science, Scott said there’s nothing the state can do to stop you. “Please don’t call it patriotic. Don’t pretend it’s about freedom,” he said. “Our country and way of life is being attacked by this virus.”
Vermont will open five new testing centers this week in Burlington, Middlebury, Waterbury, Rutland, and Brattleboro. Officials say they hope to have a total of 14 sites by the end of November. When open, officials say the free-testing will be open to two-thirds of Vermonters within a 30-minute drive.
In K-12th numbers, the state saw 20 new cases last week in 12 different schools. There were 34 cases reorted in higher education, mostly at the University of Vermont. Upwards of 1,700 teachers were tested Monday and they will continue throughout the week. The number of contact-tracers is also increasing with assistance from the Vermont National Guard.
AHS Secretary Mike Smith says hospitals and long-term care facilities were ordered Monday to return to the no visitor policies they had in the spring. All adult day programs have been suspended.
The latest modeling shows virus cases in Vermont are expected to rise to an average of 100 a day. Hospitalizations could rise into the 40s and ICU admissions into the teens. There are about 40 ICU beds available in Vermont. Vermont crossed the 3,000 COVID case mark on Monday, with the last several hundred coming at record speed. The state now has the second-highest reproduction rate of the virus in the country right now.
The state is setting up an additional 200 surge beds at the fairgrounds in Essex, for a total of 250 beds there by next week.
As of Tuesday, Vermont health officials reported 95 new coronavirus cases for a total of 3,104. There have been a total of 59 deaths. The state’s percent positive seven-day average is 1.9%. A total of 202,177 tests have been conducted, 204 travelers are being monitored, 10,732 have completed monitoring, and 2,107 have recovered.
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Scott singles out COVID skeptics as case counts spike - WCAX
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