Updated at 8:56 p.m.
Eighty-six employees of Killington Resort have tested positive for Covid-19, according to the state Department of Health. Another 22 employees are symptomatic and awaiting the results of testing.
It’s not clear how many customers of Vermont’s largest ski resort have tested positive.
“We became aware of the situation that there were a number of cases there on Monday,” health department spokesperson Ben Truman told VTDigger. “It’s being considered an outbreak as of today.”
Killington’s is the largest known outbreak currently affecting a Vermont business, according to Truman.
In cooperation with resort management, the department is planning three employee testing clinics at Killington, from Sunday through Tuesday. The clinics, staffed by members of Middlebury Rescue, will also offer employees the opportunity to get vaccinated. The clinics will be held from 7 a.m. to noon each day at the Snow Shed Lodge.
Two public testing clinics will also be held in town on Jan. 2 and 3, from 2 to 6 p.m., at the old fire station at Killington Road and Dean Hill Road.
Mandatory masking was reinstated at the resort Monday, according to an announcement on its website: “This policy requires all guests and employees, vaccinated or not, to wear a face mask covering their nose and mouth while indoors or riding our gondolas.”
The new masking policy also applies to neighboring Pico Ski Resort. Both mountains are owned by Utah-based Powdr Corp.
Michael Solimano, president and general manager of Killington and Pico, said via email that resort officials are working closely with the Department of Health and “continue to monitor and comply with the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic, prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of guests, staff and the community.”
The mountains instituted a vaccine and mask mandate for all staff and volunteers before opening for the season, offered weekly testing on site throughout November and December, and provided paid time off and rides to employees so that they could obtain booster shots, he said.
“We also canceled base lodge music and closed indoor bars where we cannot control capacity and shifted focus to outdoor bars and dining locations encouraging guests to treat their car as their base lodge and of course staying home if they feel sick,” Solimano wrote.
Killington has taken all the appropriate prevention and precautionary measures, Truman said, as well as steps to support employees.
“Obviously the outbreak is, in a word, unfortunate, but it is not unexpected,” he said, given the wide reach of the virus and the rising statewide count this week.
Vermont reported a record-setting one-day total of 1,352 cases on Thursday.
“It’s present in the workforce and it’s circulating,” Truman said. “There’s no patient zero situation. It’s out there with the folks who have it and it’s circulating around the community.”
