Vermont’s town-by-town Covid data no longer shows a clear concentration in a single area, a reflection of the statewide spread of the virus, according to Department of Health data for cases up to Wednesday.
Barre City remains the third-highest town with the most cases added in the past week, behind Burlington and Essex, but the outbreak there has slowed considerably. Cases increased by 11% in the past week, down considerably from the recent past, including one week when cases doubled. The Barre City outbreak is tied to a Montpelier ice rink cluster that spread to more than 120 people in the region.
The towns with the highest rate of cases recently on a per capita basis include St. Albans and the Northeast Kingdom towns of Victory, Guildhall, Lowell and Irasburg.
Towns with small populations can have a high Covid rate with just a handful of cases. Victory, for example, has a population of only 81, according to Census data. In a town of that size, a single case could propel Victory to one of the highest per capita rates in the state. The Department of Health hasn’t reported the exact number of cases in Victory, because it reveals that number only if a town has more than five cases, citing health privacy laws.
Places with both a high population and a high rate are potentially more concerning — such as St. Albans, which added 33 cases in the past week, the fourth-highest in the state, and a 40% increase from the previous week, when it was the 14th-highest in the state.
Or check out the original Department of Health map here:
