Vermont has reported its first Covid-19 death in a person younger than 30 years old.
The state finished August with 17 deaths amid a Delta-driven surge of cases, according to totals reported Wednesday by the Vermont Department of Health. That’s 11 more deaths than state officials had forecast for August at the beginning of the month.
They include one Vermonter between 20 and 29 years old who died earlier this week after contracting Covid-19.
Of the 277 Vermonters who have died since the start of the pandemic, three were in their 30s and seven were in their 40s.
“Every single one of the Vermonters who have died as a result of the pandemic is a deeply felt and tragic loss, and it’s especially heartbreaking when someone so young is taken,” Health Department spokesperson Ben Truman said via email.
Truman did not share additional details about the victim, but said, “as we have seen, some COVID-19-related deaths have been a direct result of contracting the virus, while in others, the virus exacerbated chronic or other existing health conditions.”
He wrote that if Vermonters followed health guidance and got vaccinated, “we can beat this pandemic, and hopefully, not have any more empty chairs around the family dinner table.”
The state also retroactively added more cases to its data from the previous day, bringing the total to 184 for Tuesday and 123 cases on Wednesday.
The data update added several cases to Washington County totals. The county had 47 cases on Aug. 30, its third-highest total ever.
Twenty-nine people are currently hospitalized with Covid, including eight in the ICU.
Wednesday also marked the first day of school for many districts. A handful of schools — including Twinfield Union in Plainfield and East Montpelier Elementary — have closed this week because of multiple student cases.
A few other schools have reported multiple students now have Covid, including Colchester Middle School with four cases, St. Albans Town Educational Center with four cases and Derby Elementary School with four cases. However, only close contacts or the classrooms associated with cases were sent home in those schools.
The state does not currently report Covid totals for schools. You can share information about Covid-related closures with VTDigger by filling out our tip form.
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