The Department of Health updated its dashboard late last month to include new metrics, including some of the most cited metrics in the discussion of how Vermont is tracking and combating the pandemic.
Positivity rate
The state now includes the percentage of people tested in the past week who have a positive result, which is about 0.6% as of Nov. 5.
Positivity rate is one of the state’s “reopening metrics” — a measure of whether the state can continue to stay open or whether it needs to shut down. A positivity rate of more than 5% is a worrying sign, according to state reports.
It’s also a measure of how well the state is testing its population. A higher-than-usual positivity rate suggests that the state is falling behind on tracking positive cases or not reaching the right population.
People tested vs. total tests
Up until recently, the state only reported the number of people tested — giving a snapshot of how many people across the state have gone out for a test, but not how many tests have been performed. The data now includes both.
People may be tested multiple times for a variety of reasons: They had a positive test and want to see if they are still infectious, they may have been exposed or symptomatic multiple times, or they may have a job or position that requires them to be tested frequently, like a long-term care provider.
The ratio of tests per person rose in late August/early September as college students returned to Vermont, according to Department of Health reports. As of Nov. 5, about 192,000 people have been tested for a total of 424,000 tests.
ICU hospitalizations
The state has long reported the number of people currently hospitalized for the virus, but now also includes the number of people in the intensive care unit.
This gives us an indication of how many people are currently struggling with severe Covid complications, although they do not report how many people in total have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic.
A rise in these numbers could suggest that the state is close to hitting the capacity of its health care system, and it’s also included in the state’s reopening metrics.
— Erin Pentenko
