Vermont reported 120 new Covid cases on Wednesday, in line with recent daily totals as the pandemic continues to expand in Vermont.
Officials said Tuesday that the latest numbers weren’t rising as fast as before, a hopeful sign that cases could plateau and decline in the coming weeks.
But previous surges have shown that the impacts of hospitalizations and deaths continue long after cases have peaked. Vermont reported that 35 are people currently in the hospital with Covid, the highest number so far this summer. That includes nine people in the ICU.
Another death was also added to the data, bringing the total to 271 since the start of the pandemic. The person who died appears to have been between 40 and 49 years old.
Wednesday’s data also shows how the pandemic has shifted away from Chittenden County, which once had the highest rate in the state.
Instead, Bennington County reported a recent high of 23 cases, and state data from Tuesday shows that was the highest rate in the state. Rutland, Essex and Orange county have also reported rising cases, but their rate remains relatively low compared to Bennington.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using data through Monday, reports that all counties in Vermont have “high” or “substantial” transmission. They recommend both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors under that level of community transmission.
But Vermont’s case rates remain far lower than states in the South and West, according to New York Times data. Vermont has the fifth-lowest recent case rate in the nation, behind Maine, Connecticut, Maryland and Michigan.
About 915 doses of the vaccine were administered yesterday, bringing the total number of people who have started or completed vaccination to 85.7% of eligible Vermonters.
