By Janet McLaughlin Editor’s note: This commentary is by Janet McLaughlin of Burlington, executive director of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children. Just before the calendar flipped to 2022, thousands of Vermont families with school-age children picked […]
Category: Covid-19 updates
New Covid-19 subvariant has been detected in Vt
By Erin Petenko/VTDigger A new subvariant of the now-dominant Omicron strain was detected in Vermont last week as part of genomic sequencing, the Department of Health reported Friday, Jan. 28. The Broad Institute identified the subvariant in a sample sent […]
Covid cases begin to decline, hospitalizations remain high
Staff report Covid-19 cases remain elevated in Vermont, with the daily number of new infections averaging 1,121 cases over the last 7 days. The state reported 8,135 new cases this week, 2,878 fewer cases compared to last week, a decrease […]
The ‘why’ behind the Woodstock Village mask requirement
By Seton McIlroy, vice-chair of Woodstock Village Board of Trustees Weatherwise, the toughest time in Vermont is not the freezing days of winter, as some out-of-staters think. It’s the Janus-faced month of April. We get a few days, maybe a […]
‘There’s just not a light on the horizon:’ Vermont hospital staff swamped by record Covid-19 hospitalizations
By Liora Engel-Smith, Erin Petenko and Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger RUTLAND — Asked what it’s like to do her job right now amid a staffing crisis and surging Covid-19 hospitalizations, a nurse heading home from Rutland Regional Medical Center on Monday, Jan. […]
Schools run out of rapid tests
Gone just days after new protocols for students and staff took effect By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger On Wednesday, Jan. 19, school districts across the state kicked off new Covid-19 testing protocols. Following the recommendation of the state Agency of Education, school officials […]
WCSD reacts to Covid testing protocol changes, lack of supplies
By Curt Peterson Windsor Central Unified Union School District (WCSD) Superintendent Sherry Sousa told the Mountain Times she understands the rationale behind the Agency of Education’s abandonment of the in-school “Test to Stay” program this week. “Surveillance testing didn’t address […]
Vermont is no longer collecting school Covid data
Positive Covid case numbers are now impossible to know with shift to at-home antigen testing, self-reporting By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger and Polly Mikula State officials in Vermont are no longer gathering or publishing the number of Covid-19 cases detected in schools. […]
Covid continues its spike, hospitalizations high
Staff report The state reported 715 new Covid-19 cases, Tuesday, Jan. 18, with 116 hospitalized — a new record. Just prior, the state reported 806 cases Monday, 2,217 on Sunday, and 1,766 cases Saturday. The seven-day average is 1,604 cases […]
Covid outbreaks force schools to close
Staff report Some local schools are so short of staff due to the Covid outbreak they temporarily closed. Several schools in the Orange East Supervisory Union closed the week before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Oxbow High School in Bradford […]