Vermont reported 119 new cases of Covid Thursday, the third straight day of increasing numbers as the state tries to combat the virus, Department of Health data shows.
Thursday marked the two-week point after Thanksgiving and its potential for Covid spread through multi-household gatherings. Although officials warned beforehand that poor compliance with Gov. Phil Scott’s executive order on gatherings could double Covid cases, Chittenden County said Wednesday that it believes the holiday did not affect its numbers.
The state added three new deaths to its data Thursday, bringing the total to 89. Officials have recently expressed concern about the rising tide of the virus in long-term care facilities brought on by the increasing rate of the virus in Vermont communities.
Chittenden County, the state’s most populous county and site of a recent long-term care outbreak at Elderwood, has had the most deaths from the latest wave of the virus, with 10. It also had the most cases reported Thursday, with 54 cases.
Vermont fares well in hospital capacity
Even as cases rise across the Northeast, recent data published by the federal government suggests it’s doing better in an important metric for measuring the toll of the virus: Its ICU capacity.
Only 3% of Vermont’s ICU beds have been occupied with Covid patients on average in the past few weeks, the lowest in the country, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
On a national level, 72% of ICU beds are occupied with patients of all conditions, with some areas getting close to or over their reported ICU capacity, according to a New York Times analysis.
By contrast, about 52% of Vermont’s ICU beds were occupied as of Dec. 2, including both Covid and non-Covid patients. State officials have said previously that they did not expect the latest wave of the virus to overwhelm Vermont’s hospital system, although the National Guard opened a facility for any patient overflow.
By hospital region, Rutland had the highest ICU occupancy, with 82% of its beds taken up by patients, but the area is only a small percent of the state’s total ICU capacity, with just 11 beds. The Burlington region has 42 ICU beds, and 66% are occupied.
Nearby states have ICU occupancy below the national average, but some areas within them are hitting higher occupancy rates. New York’s overall ICU occupancy is 60%, but Albany reported that 90% of its ICU beds are occupied.
Bangor, Maine, reported 86% of its ICU beds are occupied, among the highest in the Northeast, the data shows.
