Vermont reported 348 new Covid-19 cases Wednesday, lowering the seven-day case average to 403 cases per day — the lowest seven-day average since Dec. 1, as the state passes through what officials have deemed a post-Thanksgiving surge in cases.
The progress comes six days after the state Department of Health reported a one-day record of 739 new cases on Dec. 9. Daily case totals have not surpassed 600 since that day.
[Looking for data on breakthrough cases? See our reporting on the latest available statistics.]
But two important caveats temper the positive news: Vermont is still seeing the aftereffects of the surge in its death count. And as another holiday season approaches, more cases are possible in just a few weeks.
Officials have cautioned that the state forecast indicates Covid cases are unlikely to decline, and could rise even further, since the Thanksgiving pattern that resulted in rising cases could happen again with Christmas and New Year’s.
In 2020, the latter two holidays caused a far larger surge, despite Gov. Phil Scott’s ban on multi-household gatherings. There are no restrictions on gatherings this year, but Health Commissioner Mark Levine said Tuesday that Vermonters should talk to partygoers about their vaccination status and consider rapid testing before and after gatherings.
The department disclosed four more deaths in its data for Wednesday, for a total of 24 deaths so far in December. At this rate, the December death toll would exceed the 40 deaths recorded in November.
Hospitalizations have tipped downward since they peaked at over 90 patients a week ago, although they remain elevated compared to pre-Thanksgiving figures. Seventy people are currently hospitalized with the virus, including 19 in intensive care units.
258 school cases reported
The health department also reported the latest school-by-school case figures. Schools had at least 258 cases among K-12 students and staff in the past week.
That count includes only people who were infectious on school property, and VTDigger has observed discrepancies between state data and local data dashboards. But the data remains the most comprehensive overview available of where cases are occurring in school districts.
