The Vermont Department of Health reported 740 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, breaking the previous one-day case record by 100 cases.
The second-highest total occurred only five days ago, on Dec. 4. With the latest data included, the state’s seven-day case average rose to 482 cases per day, rebounding from a slight decline the state had reported for a few days in a row.
[Looking for data on breakthrough cases? See our reporting on the latest available statistics.]
On Tuesday, state officials said Vermont appeared to be in the midst of a post-Thanksgiving surge driven by holiday gatherings. It’s now been just over two weeks since Thanksgiving, enough time for cases to incubate and for people to get tested.
While Friday’s data is based on a day with a lot of testing — 16,700 tests conducted — it did not reach the previous one-day testing record of over 18,000. The seven-day positivity rate was 4.8%, one of the highest positivity rates Vermont has ever reported.
While Bennington County continues to report the highest Covid rates in the state, three counties broke their records for one-day case totals on Friday: Addison, Windham and Windsor counties.
A total of 78 people are currently in Vermont hospitals with the virus, including 23 in intensive care units. That’s down from 92 hospitalized and 31 in ICUs a few days ago. State officials and health care workers have recently expressed concern about ICU capacity.
The department disclosed three new deaths in its data, for a total of 429 Vermont victims of Covid-19 during the pandemic. Thirteen of those deaths have occurred in December.
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