Vermont reported 136 Covid cases Thursday, one of the highest daily totals since the start of the pandemic and a dramatic rise from the day before, Department of Health data shows. Cases total 6,149 since the start of the pandemic.
Thursday’s case numbers are the fourth-highest Vermont has had since the pandemic began in March, behind the record reached from testing delays in early December and a two-day surge in mid-November.
The numbers naturally fluctuate from day to day, with officials using the seven-day rolling average to figure out whether there’s cause for concern. They had previously said the pandemic appeared to be leveling off, with cases dropping to 100 a day or fewer. The state had reported 77 cases on Wednesday.
The state’s positivity rate in test results rose to 2.1%. It had been below 1% during the summer. However, the 2.1% is still below the 5% benchmark the state has in its reopening metrics.
Sixty-nine of Thursday’s cases came from Chittenden County, a jump from Wednesday’s 38 cases. The county has struggled with an outbreak at Elderwood, a long-term care facility.
Bennington County was second-highest with 15 cases, also an increase from the day before but part of a pattern of rising cases in the county. It’s unclear what’s responsible for the latest surge there; health department data doesn’t report any municipality in the area having a high rate of cases in the past two weeks.
The county doesn’t have any long-term care outbreaks, and few schools have reported recent cases in the area, although Burr and Burton Academy has had two cases in the past week.
Cases were reported in 11 other counties, all except Essex:
- Windsor: 11
- Orleans: 7
- Franklin: 6
- Lamoille: 5
- Rutland: 5
- Washington: 5
- Caledonia: 4
- Windham: 4
- Orange: 3
- Grand Isle: 1
- Addison: 1
The number of people hospitalized fell from 30 to 22. Three people were in intensive care and two people were hospitalized with suspected cases. No new deaths were reported; 105 people have died of Covid in Vermont.
The state reported that 633,446 tests have been administered for the illness in Vermont since mid-March.
— Erin Petenko and Cate Chant
