KILLINGTON — A mix of local and out-of-state residents gathered for a private birthday party on Aug. 19 at the Summit Lodge, the event from which 14 Covid-19 cases have sprouted.
Mark Levine, Vermont health commissioner, said at Gov. Phil Scott’s Covid-19 press briefing Tuesday morning that “the investigation is actually very early,” and the state is working around the clock to identify “a large number of contacts.”
The lodge kept a log of contact information for people at the event, which has proved useful to state officials working on contact tracing. Levine said Vermont interviews 92% of cases within 24 hours, one of the highest percentages in the country.
Levine lauded the Summit Lodge management for its cooperation and its efforts to comply with state guidelines.
“Summit Lodge did exactly what they understood the guidelines to be,” he said.
The gathering, attended by 40 people, did not exceed the state’s cap of 150 people at any given outdoor event. The state also requires that the number of people not exceed 50% of the approved fire safety occupancy or one customer per 100 square feet of customer space.
Both attendees of the party and close contacts of attendees, have tested positive for the virus. Levine said there’s no way to be exactly sure what happened at the party.
“I don’t have enough detail, and I don’t think we’d ever understand without complete video of the entire several hours people were there,” he said.
Later, Levine added that the large number of people the state has identified through contact tracing efforts implies that some of the “bare minimum” rules must have been broken among guests.
“Keep in mind, it was a party, and people were dining outdoors, walking around, I’m sure with food, and not interested in trying to eat with a mask on,” Levine posited. “So, that’s all I can tell you. People have to be very extraordinarily careful.”
Duane Carleton, a musician who played just shy of 300 dates at local venues around Killington last year, played at the Summit Lodge on Saturday. He said he knows the owners of the lodge to be “very diligent.”
Though he had heard rumors that some community members had tested positive for the virus, he didn’t learn until his show on Saturday that the lodge had hosted a party where the virus spread.
The managers of the Lodge are “absolutely” enforcing social distancing, he said, with tables spread out in the banquet room, which the owner has doubled in size since the pandemic began. On Saturday, he saw staff sanitizing tables and wearing masks.
Saturday was rainy, so Carleton said he played inside for tables that were spread out in a large banquet room.
“When a table was bussed they sprayed down and cleaned the table and the chairs and everything,” he said. “There’s a lot of ways that infection could spread at a function that have nothing to do with the venue.”
On Tuesday morning, Killington town manager Chet Hagenbarth said he’s “been better.”
Hagenbarth had seen comments on social media late last week about the party, many expressing concern about the spread of Covid-19. He didn’t know anything official, though, until the Department of Health contacted the town Tuesday morning.
“We were actually the last notified,” he said. “The newspapers had this story before we knew it existed. It was all rumor until the state came out yesterday.”
Hagenbarth said the party’s attendees were made up of locals and out-of-staters, but believed some of the out-of-staters had been living in Killington in recent months.
Killington town officials are encouraging residents to take extra precautions and strictly adhere to state guidelines by wearing masks, socially distancing, and isolating if they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive, or if they begin to show symptoms themselves.
Rutland Regional Medical Center is not currently treating any patients for symptoms of Covid-19, according to Gerrianne Smart, manager of marketing and public relations.
Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery said he worries that some Killington residents have become complacent. He received a complaint from a resident on Thursday about a gathering, described to Montgomery as “over 200 people at an outdoor tent, all kind of huddled together with no masks.”
Montgomery didn’t find 200 people present when he responded to the event, held in front of a business on Killington Road, but did find a tent, and said the group had likely dispersed. The gathering reportedly took place following a golf tournament.
“So that’s kind of a concern of ours,” he said. “Is this going to generate some additional issues in town?”
Rutland City will host a pop-up testing site on Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Rutland Office of Local Health in the Asa Bloomer building. Those interested must register in advance.
Hagenbarth hopes local businesses won’t need to close because of an outbreak, citing the cancellation of the 2020 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup, held in recent years at Killington, as another reason businesses are stressed.
“There’s always a lot at stake when you talk about what it takes for the resort to be able to even break even in the winter,” he said.
When businesses close, the town loses money from the meals and rooms tax, which he said adds around $380,000 per year to the town’s budget.
“Those are the things we’re just trying to keep an eye on right now,” he said. “We’re doing OK, but there remains to be seen what this will do over time.”
Erin Petenko contributed to this report.
