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The Vermont Department of Health reported 48 new Covid-19 cases over the weekend as an outbreak in Winooski appears to be spreading to other places in Chittenden County.
Health Commissioner Mark Levine said at a press conference Monday that 62 cases are believed to be associated with the outbreak: 48 residents of Winooski, nine in Burlington and others elsewhere in the state’s most populous county.
Thirty-eight of the confirmed cases over the weekend were from Chittenden County, according to health department data. Levine added that 38 of the cases linked to the outbreak are adults, meaning that 24 cases are children. The median age of the outbreak is 21, with the oldest person 64. He said there were no hospitalizations so far.
“While some may look at the growing case count and assume this is getting worse, it’s important to remember that we’re seeing all these positive tests because of all our expanded testing,” Levine said.
The health commissioner noted that free Covid-19 testing centers will be open in Burlington and Winooski through the week, and he encouraged people living there to get tested.
The health department has so far collected a total of 1,027 specimens at the Winooski and Burlington testing sites — meaning the positivity rate has been about 6%, far higher than the state average but well under other hotspots around the country.
“Let me now reassure everyone, no matter who you are or where you live, you can still walk the streets of Winooski and Burlington, or any other community in Vermont,” Levine said.
“Please continue to take the same precautions, we have been advising all along,” he added. “Wear a face covering. Keep a six foot distance from others. Wash your hands a lot. And of course, if you’re feeling ill, stay home.”
Last week, 34 Winooski residents tested positive for the virus, in the first outbreak in Vermont in nearly a month. The average number of new daily cases has hovered below 10 since early May.
The state has not yet determined a source of the spread in Winooski, nevertheless, Gov. Phil Scott and Levine stressed that the outbreak in that city was under control.
State Epidemiologist Patsy Kelso said the major difference between this outbreak and those earlier this year is the state’s ability to monitor and contain it.
“There was a lot more risk back then,” Kelso said. “Now we’ve got cases that we know are linked. We understand where they’re coming from, and we have capacity to do testing and contact tracing to make sure we’re continuing to box it in.”
Kelso declined to get into details about her team’s findings, out of confidentiality concerns, but said that spreading is believed to have occurred both during “shared activities of several different types” that led to transmission within households.
Levine said one new aspect of his department’s approach is offering testing to every contact of a positive case.
“It doesn’t change our initial behavior because any contact that’s a significant contact needs to be exercising quarantine,” he said. “At the same time, rather than just see if they potentially develop symptoms and watching their course, testing is an integral part of that.”
At a press conference Friday, interpreters and leaders from New American and immigrant communities expressed frustration over what they said was inadequate state efforts to provide education about Covid-19 to non-English speakers.
“One of the reasons why people are so infected may be because they don’t have the information,” Virginie Diambou, a doctor who has helped with the translation efforts, told Levine.
Levine touched on those challenges during Monday’s press conference.
“We add that in these two cities that have the most diverse populations in the state, we must learn from them how to work in a way that is culturally sensitive and doesn’t stigmatize either people or places,” he said.
“And we must continue to work at communicating clearly without relying on the language of public health professionals, which I recognize is a foreign language in itself to most people.”
Testing at Rutland nursing facility
A positive coronavirus test has sparked testing at the Mountain View Center in Rutland, a nursing facility operated by Genesis.
Levine said at a Monday press conference that the person who tested positive “was hardly in the facility for any period of time.” However, the state’s current policy is to conduct facility-wide testing when someone tests positive at group living settings.
Genesis also operated the Burlington Health and Rehab facility, which was the subject of an in-depth New York Times article over the weekend.
However, that was not the deadliest outbreak at a Vermont elder care facility. That tragic distinction goes to Birchwood Terrace, where 21 people died. Seven Days detailed that outbreak in a story last week.
Colin Meyn contributed reporting
