The Vermont Department of Health reported 1,667 new Covid-19 cases over the past five days.
The state’s Covid-19 dashboard was not updated over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. On Monday, the health department released data for Wednesday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 28.
The new case counts include Vermont’s second-highest one-day total of the pandemic: 561 new cases on Wednesday, Nov. 24. But the new numbers have also brought the state’s seven-day rolling average down to roughly 311 cases per day, its lowest since Nov. 9.
Holidays typically result in some testing irregularities, meaning Monday’s data may not precisely represent the state’s caseload. State data shows that test volume on Friday, Nov. 26, was unusually low — around 1,000 tests — while recent Fridays have typically included upward of 10,000 tests.
Irregularities may also impact the state’s test positivity metrics. The seven-day average positivity rate was 4.5% on Monday, but daily numbers over the long weekend varied. The one-day positivity rate on Thursday, Nov. 25, was 8.7%, its highest since April 2020 — before testing was widely available.
[Looking for data on breakthrough cases? See our reporting on the latest available statistics.]
The state also reported four new deaths, and each person was 70 or older. A total of 410 Vermonters have died during the pandemic, and 152 have died since July, when the Delta variant became dominant.
As of Monday, 68 Vermonters were hospitalized for Covid-19, with 15 in intensive care. Monday’s hospitalization count matches the record-high count from last Tuesday.
The state did not publish daily hospital numbers over the long weekend. The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, which leads the state’s Covid-19 modeling efforts, provided VTDigger with the following counts for the past four days:
- Nov. 25: 62 hospitalizations, 17 in intensive care
- Nov. 26: 62 hospitalizations, 21 in intensive care
- Nov. 27: 61 hospitalizations, 18 in intensive care
- Nov. 28: 63 hospitalizations, 19 in intensive care
The Nov. 26 total for people in intensive care is a record high since the state began reporting on ICU usage in October 2020. The previous high was 20 ICU patients on Feb. 7.
Medical officials have raised alarms about ICU capacity as Covid-19 patients and others who deferred care during the pandemic pack a limited number of hospital beds.
Experts have also projected a surge in Covid-19 transmission due to holiday gatherings is likely, but the effects of the Thanksgiving holiday may not be visible in the case data for several more days.
The health department on Monday also said it is monitoring the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a strain identified Friday by the World Health Organization as a variant of concern. The variant, first identified in South Africa, has now been detected in North America, with two cases reported in Ontario, Canada.
No Omicron cases have been detected in Vermont, according to a statement from Health Commissioner Mark Levine.
The new variant “is an important reminder that the Covid-19 pandemic is still here with us, and we will continue to monitor any new developments closely,” Levine said.
Levine encouraged Vermonters to get vaccinated and get their booster shots if they haven’t already. The health commissioner stressed that much is still unknown about the variant, and more data about its transmissibility and responsiveness to vaccines will be available in the coming weeks.
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