When Gov. Phil Scott held his weekly Covid-19 press conference this Tuesday, one key administration official who’s usually on stage tuned in remotely.
Financial Regulation Commissioner Mike Pieciak, who runs Covid-19 modeling for the state, said he attended virtually for good cause: He had tested positive for the virus a week earlier, he confirmed to VTDigger on Thursday.
Pieciak took a rapid antigen test on Wednesday, Dec. 22 — one day after attending another Covid press conference — to prepare to visit family for Christmas, he said. The test came back positive.
Pieciak has become a public face of the state’s battle against Covid, presenting weekly data and modelling reports to Vermonters since the start of the pandemic.
During the Dec. 21 press conference, he shared the stage with Gov. Phil Scott and other top officials.
Pieciak said he worked with state epidemiologist Dr. Patsy Kelso after testing positive and determined that nobody else at the press conference qualified as a “close contact.”
Pieciak still informed state officials about their exposure last week, he said, as well as others he had interacted with in the days leading up to his positive test. Jason Maulucci, a spokesperson for Scott, said he also contacted members of the press who were in the room on Dec. 21.
Masks are required at the state office where the press conference was held. Everyone on stage other than an American Sign Language interpreter was masked, except when speaking at the podium, according to video from the event.
Many state officials, including Gov. Phil Scott, have said they are fully vaccinated and boosted, meaning that they would not have to quarantine under Department of Health guidelines.
Pieciak said he is not aware of any other cases tied to the press conference. He said he worked in his Montpelier office that day, but because his department is largely remote, he did not come into contact with any colleagues.
Maulucci said no top state officials had since tested positive for the virus, and he does not know of any other cases among other press conference attendees. He said he’s not sure if any state officials got tested. But, he added, “I know many were planning to test before Christmas anyway, so I bet several did.”
In January 2021, Scott and other top administration officials had to quarantine following an exposure to Covid-19 from a contractor who attended the state press conference. Scott chose to disclose his exposure to the public at the time.
Asked why Pieciak’s case was not previously reported, Maulucci told VTDigger, “We would report situations involving the governor, but it’s not our standard practice to disclose health information for other state government employees.”
Pieciak said he didn’t feel the need to inform the public himself because he had very mild symptoms that quickly resolved, and he’d been open with those around him about his case. His symptoms included a scratchy throat that day and a little congestion the next day, he said, but he recovered within a day or two.
“I had my booster right before Thanksgiving, so I was pretty much at the maximum protection in terms of protection from the vaccine and the booster,” Pieciak said. “I think that certainly helped my symptoms.”
Pieciak is now past the five-day isolation period under guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but he said he was still being cautious in returning to normal life. “I haven’t been around any people,” he said. “I’ve been doing just very minor things.”
Pieciak said his experience reinforces his view that everyone eligible must get vaccinated and boosted.
“If you don’t have the vaccine, you just don’t know what kind of experience you’re going to get from the virus. Whether you’re young or older, good shape, not in good shape, it really feels like Russian roulette,” he said. “(When) I got the positive notice, I never really worried too much because I just had confidence in the vaccine and the booster.”
The rise of the Omicron variant means that Vermonters can expect more breakthrough cases, Pieciak said. But he noted that experts have said that Covid-19 cases for boosted people tend to be like a mild cold. Those who are less vaccinated often experience more severe symptoms.
He also told Vermonters, “Get tested, and make sure you don’t spread it.”
“The thing I take comfort in is, I don’t know where I got it, but at the same time, everyone that I’ve been around has been tested and nobody has tested positive, so I feel fortunate I didn’t spread it to anybody as well,” he said.
