The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed three Vermont counties from its “high” Covid-19 community level category in its latest data update on Thursday evening.
Two of the three counties that were in the “high” category last week, Washington and Essex, were in the “medium” category as of Thursday, the CDC reported. The rest of the state was in the “low” category.
The CDC’s “community levels” rubric combines several different metrics — including the recent case rate, hospitalizations and hospital capacity — to assess the overall Covid risk within a county.
The CDC recommends that individuals in high transmission counties wear masks regardless of vaccination status, among other actions, while people in medium transmission counties should consider precautions if they are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease.
The agency also released some updated data on wastewater surveillance testing. The sewershed in Springfield reported a 187% increase in Covid viral samples over the past 15 days, while two other locations in St. Albans and Winooski did not report their sampling data to the CDC.
The city of Burlington, releasing its wastewater data separately, reported a sharp increase in viral samples at its East Plant in the past week but a smaller increase at its North Plant and a slight decline at its Main Plant.
Vermont reported 158 new Covid-19 cases, 17 hospitalizations and no additional deaths Friday.
The state’s seven-day average for new infections is 135, the same as on Thursday, according to the Vermont Department of Health dashboard.
Vermont’s seven-day average test positivity rate was 6.2% Friday, up from 5.9% on Thursday. The test positivity rate includes only PCR tests, not at-home antigen tests.
The health department reported that 17 people were hospitalized with Covid as of Friday, up from 13 on Thursday. That includes no people in intensive care, the same as Thursday.
The health department reported no additional Covid deaths on Friday. Thirteen people died from Covid in Vermont in March, and 617 people have died in total since the beginning of the pandemic.
