The nation has experienced its first sustained decline in Covid since July, an early sign that the virus has hit its peak, Vermont officials said at a press conference Tuesday.
Forty-one states experienced case declines over the past week, said Mike Pieciak, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, who led the state presentation on Covid numbers.
Vermont’s case numbers, too, began to decline over the three-day weekend, a potential sign that the latest wave of the virus here is passing.
“Over the past four days, case counts have trended downward: from 180 to 140 to 123 to 102,” said Dr. Mark Levine, state health commissioner. “And testing did not seem to suffer over the holiday weekend.”
The state had 1,129 cases in the past week, compared to 1,169 the week before, according to Pieciak.
Levine added there have been no new deaths from the virus since last week, leaving the current total at 163. The number of hospitalizations in the state has “plateaued,” with no significant change in numbers. Long-term care cases also appear to be slowing down.
The state had vaccinated 35,000 people as of Tuesday, including 5,000 people who have received the second dose of the vaccine, health department data shows. But Levine said it was too early to say that vaccinations are having an impact on long-term care cases.
Pieciak said cases across the Northeast declined 12% this week compared with the week before, but noted that the total numbers are still far higher than they were a few months ago. The test positivity rate in the Northeast is also trending downward, standing at 6.27%, down from 10.73% at the beginning of January.
By comparison, Vermont’s positivity rate is 2.6%, the best in the nation.
Vaccine update
Scott again reminded Vermonters to be ready for the next phase of vaccinations, which start next week, although the state has not yet publicized the website where people 75 and over can sign up for the vaccine.
He said he knows Vermont’s decision to prioritize the oldest segment of the population is different from many states that chose to allow a broader range of people to sign up.
“Overpromising is not the answer,” Scott said. “The logical approach is to manage the supply of the vaccine we’re receiving.”
Scott said the state is “at the mercy of the federal government” to receive enough vaccine doses to continue with the next phase. The state receives about 9,000 doses each week, although Levine said the state can’t forecast how many doses it can expect from the federal distribution.
“It’s been all over the place over the last few weeks, so it’s difficult for us to say what we can expect,” he said. “We have to just continue to deal with reality.”
State advice on federal relief
Thom Lauzon, an accountant and former Barre City mayor, gave a presentation on how Vermont businesses can apply and qualify for different federal relief programs this year.
A variety of federal relief programs are available for businesses, including the Payroll Protection Program’s new round of applications and a relief program geared toward closed entertainment and culture venues. Updates in the programs have generally raised the ceilings for how much assistance businesses can receive.
More than 12,000 Vermont businesses received $1.2 billion in PPP loans from the first round of applications, and thousands more received more than $300 million through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan.
More information on the programs is available on the state website, including webinars. The federal Small Business Administration also has some guidance on its website.
