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Three more residents of Burlington Health and Rehab have died of the coronavirus, according to the Vermont Department of Health.
The report brings the total number of deaths at the facility to four. A total of five people have died in Vermont, including a 90-year-old man at the White River Junction VA Medical Center.
The total number of infected persons in Vermont has increased to 75, up from 52, in just one day. All but two counties now have COVID-19 cases — Grand Isle and Essex — according to the department.
There are now 14 positive cases at Burlington Health and Rehab. One of the infections is of a staff member.
Burlington Health & Rehab provides long-term and respite care to older adults, as well as short-term rehab for those leaving the hospital. Elderly living facilities and nursing homes have been of high concern to public health officials, given the particular threat the coronavirus poses to older people. Gov. Phil Scott ordered last week that elder care homes limit visitors.
Health Department Commissioner Mark Levine said they have “found no fault in their infection control practices or procedures.”
“We’ve been actually doing a lot of proactive additional steps to bolster what the facility in reality was already doing,” Levine said.
The state is overseeing response at Burlington Health & Rehab. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Vermont is handling the situation correctly and doesn’t believe it is essential to investigate.
“[The CDC] continues to tell us that we have always been following their guidance and we’re doing a fine job,” Levine said. “They have no desire to come here because as I’ve said before they have numerous outbreaks across the country in long-term care facilities as a result of the COVID-19 problem.”
Levine said there may be an opportunity in the very near future to have a select group of patients who are not in long-term care moved out.
Staff are all being required to have temperature checks before they enter the facility to determine if they have a fever of any sort. If they have a temperature, they aren’t allowed into the building.
Levine made the remarks at a press conference with the Scott administration and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.
Gov. Phil Scott and other members of his administration told reporters they had taken all the right steps to curtail spread of the coronavirus in Vermont.
Mike Smith, secretary of the Agency of Human Services, said that access to nursing homes and long-term care facilities has been limited for more than a week. “We clamped down very strongly on visitation,” Smith said.
The no visitors policy, except in the case of end of life situations, Smith said, was a critical step taken to protect elderly Vermonters.
Despite efforts to limit gatherings of more than 10 people, the closing of bars and restaurants, gyms, and salons, Scott said the state will continue to see a rise in cases, “as we test more Vermonters. I give my deepest sympathies to those who lost loved ones due to this.”
“That’s why our mission has been to do all we can to slow the spread of the coronavirus,” Scott said. “The reality is many who will be infected, but will only experience moderate symptoms. But the conditions are much more severe for the elderly, and those with chronic health conditions.”
Scott said the precautions the state is taking are being made to “protect our loved ones and neighbors who face greater risks, and to win this battle. We have to do our part, all of us.”
The governor said he has taken a number of steps through his emergency executive orders “to make sure people are social distancing, including limiting the size of social gatherings to 10, dismissing schools, closing daycares, restaurants, bars, gyms, hair salons, and much more.”
Scott told reporters and the public at-large that Vermonters need to start preparing “for even more difficult measures.”
“As I said last week, we’re going to have to do a lot more before this is over,” he said.
Scott said in this new phase, he has signed an order to require all businesses and nonprofits to implement work-from-home procedures to keep employees safe.
“This is not going to be two or three weeks, it is going to be months before we are through the surge,” Scott said.
The governor said Vermonters should expect additional steps soon that will further reduce contact and direct more to stay at home in order to slow the spread.
“I think it’s important what we’ve done thus far in giving people time to prepare, prepare emotionally, mentally, for what’s happening,” Scott said. “Once we prepare them, and they see that stake in the ground, they’re prepared to do whatever is necessary to get through this and that’s what we’ve tried to do, take a really measured approach to to this crisis.”
Scott said he thought his administration had “done this correctly.”
“We’ve tried to take a really measured approach to to this crisis,” the governor said.
Scott has ordered the Vermont National Guard and the Vermont Emergency Operations Center to stand up the first of three medical surge sites in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Welch said he is urging the federal government to provide $75 billion to $100 billion in funding for hospitals like the UVM Medical Center which are “under enormous strain” as they suspend elective surgeries, which are a major source of income. The funding would also be used for personal protective equipment, now in short supply.
The congressman said the federal government should treat the pandemic as a national emergency and provide aid to states who will bear the brunt of the costs associated with COVID-19.
