By Polly Mikula “If we look back two years to March 13, when I signed the emergency declaration here in Vermont, I never expected that it would last two years, not just the state of emergency, but I didn’t think the pandemic was going to last two years,” Gov. Phil Scott said at a recent…

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Staff report In a letter sent to Windsor Central Supervisory Union parents, at 7:54 p.m., March 9, Superintendent Sherry Sousa announced that the district's elementary schools would move to voluntary mask wearing on Monday, April 4 — three weeks after the governor announced general guidance for unmasking would take effect (March 14). "I’ve spoken with…

By Curt Peterson Local school district boards have been scrambling after the state announced last Thursday, March 3, that new guidelines would stop advising mandatory masking within school buildings after March 14. The new guidelines came out just three days after the state’s previous guidelines (setting an 80% vaccination theshold for schools to unmask) went…

Vermont drops guidance for masking indoors, at school By Polly Mikula Starting Monday, March 14, it’s ok for everyone to unmask in public, including indoors and in K-12 schools, the state announced Thursday, March 3. “As our statewide hospitalization rate is low, and hospitals are no longer facing the Covid-related strains of the recent surge,…

Five of Vermont’s 14 counties (including Rutland) are considered high risk, per CDC, and should not unmask By Polly Mikula The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its Covid-19 precautions Friday, Feb. 25, by allowing people in areas of low and moderate transmission to remove masks indoors. “This new framework moves beyond just…

With rapid testing results mostly unknown, hospitalization and death rates are better barometers By Polly Mikula Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine presented the weekly modeling of Covid-19 in Vermont at the weekly press conference, Tuesday, Feb. 22. The charts showed a continued decline of Covid cases in the state, with hospitalizations stable — death rates…

Starting Monday, Feb. 14, Rutland Regional Medical Center will expand visitation for patients, allowing each patient to have two consistent visitors. This change comes as Covid-19 cases trend downward in Rutland and across Vermont and the hospital closes its public vaccination clinic. “Our goal always is to keep our patients safe,” said President & CEO…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger On Tuesday morning, Feb. 8, members of the Vermont Immunization Advisory Council, a group of state officials that makes recommendations about vaccine requirements for Vermont schoolchildren, met for the first time in nearly two years. About 25 minutes later, the meeting was over, with the council declining to take up a question…

 Covid’s risk to students mental health is now greater than physical health, governor says By Polly Mikula Masking in schools — among the last remaining Covid mitigation measures in place for students — will soon be optional for schools with a student vaccination rate of over 80%, Governor Phil Scott announced at his regular press…

By Mike Dougherty/VTDigger Recent trends in Vermont’s Covid-19 case counts have officials and experts feeling optimistic about the course of the pandemic — but all warn it would be premature to brush off the Omicron threat just yet. As of Friday, Jan. 28, the state’s seven-day average for daily new cases had fallen by more…

January saw record ICU visits, hospitalizations By Polly Mikula This week the Covid case numbers appear to be heading back to pre-Omricon levels after hitting record highs last month. The state reported 284 cases on Saturday, 311 on Sunday, 149 on Monday and 206 on Tuesday. The seven-day average was 396 cases per day, a…

By Curt Peterson More than 30 people attended Hartland’s second public meeting on Thursday night, Jan. 27 to discuss how the town might best invest $1,050,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Everyone attended virtually but Rendy Strawbridge of Barron Hill Road, who sat with Town Manager David Ormiston in Damon Hall. Of the…

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 up free Covid rapid tests to ensure as safe a return to school as possible.…

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 to them as part of Vermont’s “ongoing sequencing efforts,” according to health department spokesperson Ben…