Gov. Phil Scott has announced a plan to lift most Covid-19 restrictions by July 4.
At a press conference Tuesday, Scott unveiled a four-phase schedule for relaxing travel restrictions, loosening capacity limits for businesses and eliminating gathering restrictions.
Scott said the announcement was meant to allow families, businesses and other organizations to budget and plan for the months ahead. “Our goal with this plan is to give Vermonters a transparent look at how we’ll be able to work our way out of this pandemic,” Scott said.
Masking and physical distancing guidelines remain throughout the first three phases. Both are still “encouraged” following July 4.
In Step 1, set to begin April 9, quarantine requirements for travelers would be lifted. Instead, unvaccinated people entering Vermont would be required to get tested within three days of arrival.
Low- or no-contact businesses would also shift to “universal guidance,” a new set of restrictions to be shared by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Many businesses currently fall under sector-specific guidance, which would be lifted under the new plan.
Lindsay Kurrle, secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, said the universal guidance would include five steps that would be applicable to all sectors: staying home if sick, wearing a mask, ensuring 6-foot spaces, practicing good hygiene and knowing the travel restrictions.
Capacity limits will no longer apply, as long as that guidance is met, she said. “For example, a retail establishment could open at 100% capacity, so long as they are providing for 6 feet of space for each customer based on their square footage,” she said.
She said the new rules would allow Vermont to plan ahead for the spring and summer. “We hope it will bring needed confidence and predictability to businesses, municipalities and others in their ability to plan for a full reopening of events and gathering and businesses,” she said.
In Step 2, set to begin May 1, all other businesses would shift to universal guidance.
Gathering restrictions would be relaxed to a maximum of 300 people for outdoor gatherings and up to 150 people for indoor gatherings, with a maximum of one person per 100 square feet. Vaccinated people do not count toward capacity limits.
Kurrle said that event organizers could stick to the 300-person limit if they didn’t want to take the time to verify vaccination status but could also try to ask for vaccine verification to extend that limit.
“I imagine that some will set it right up online where they might have a reservation system for those who are unvaccinated, and once they hit that cap, they stopped selling tickets to the unvaccinated group of persons and then maybe welcome people at the door who can show proof of vaccination,” she said.
In Step 3, set to begin June 1, all travel restrictions would be lifted. Capacity limits for gatherings would increase to 900 people outdoors and 300 people indoors, with a maximum of one person per 50 square feet, again not counting vaccinated people.
As of July 4, remaining gathering restrictions would be lifted.
Health care and education sectors would remain under separate guidance throughout.
The plan is based on projections for Vermont’s vaccination rate, Scott said. Each phase includes a predicted start date, but Scott said those dates are subject to change.
“We’re in the last laps of this very long and difficult race, and this plan shows how we’ll finish strong,” Scott said. “But I want to be really clear. The key to getting there are vaccinations, which is why we’re laser focused on making sure as many Vermonters as possible get them.”
The first three steps of the reopening include targets for the vaccination rate among older Vermonters and all adults. The July 4 date does not include any vaccination goals, and officials could not comment on how many vaccinations they expect by that date.
Those 40 and older — along with adults in certain occupations, with qualifying health conditions, or who identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color — are eligible to make appointments now.
Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said the latest eligibility for BIPOC Vermonters has “moved the needle” a bit, but slowly.
Efforts to increase access to the vaccine in Essex County have been successful, with clinics filling up, he said. Vermont is planning to allocate more doses to that county, and officials are discussing having a nearby New Hampshire hospital administer the vaccine to Vermonters.
Overall, about 42% of Vermonters 16 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to Department of Health data. Nearly 89% of Vermonters 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
That high vaccination rate has led to lower cases among the oldest age group, even as cases in general are rising, according to a presentation by Mike Pieciak, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation.
The state hit 1,231 cases in the past week, an increase of 41 cases over the week before, Pieciak said. The median age of those cases is now 27.
Hospitalizations have risen slightly, while critical care cases have declined, an indication that younger Vermonters are being hospitalized but have less severe cases once hospitalized, Pieciak said.
“When we had our cases in the past and didn’t have a vaccine to protect the most vulnerable, they indeed would comprise the majority of the hospitalizations because of their risk,” Levine said. “Now, even though they are protected … we have such an amazing number of cases of Covid in the younger population … even a small percentage of them does increase to a few more people” in the hospital.
March had a total of 22 deaths, a slight decline from 25 deaths in February. Pieciak said Vermont could expect between 10 to 20 deaths in April.
Cases across the region grew 1%, and national cases grew 9%, Pieciak said.
It’s possible that the case increase could be tied to the spread of the variant. Levine said the state has identified its first case of P.1, the Brazil variant, but officials have yet to receive details on what county had that strain of the variant.
The state has also reported about 37 cases of the B117 variant and about 11 cases of the B1429 variant, according to DOH data.
This story has been updated.