Vermont’s Covid-19 community levels were “low” in the past week, the state Department of Health reported Wednesday.
The state’s Covid metrics have ticked downward even compared with previously low levels in the past few months. The department reported 29 hospital admissions for Covid in the past week, the lowest number since July 2022.
Cases are also trending downward. The department reported 259 Covid cases in the past week, the lowest weekly case count since the state began reporting it on a weekly basis in June 2022. But the case counts are based on PCR tests and do not include at-home antigen testing. The department does not report the number of PCR tests taken or the positivity rate.
The rest of the nation has also reported an ebb in Covid rates, according to The New York Times. As of Wednesday, national hospitalizations were at their lowest point since May 2022.
It’s been roughly one year since Vermont began experiencing a surge in case counts from the BA.2 subvariant, one of the highest points the virus reached during the pandemic in Vermont. Thus far, hospitalizations and hospital visits for Covid-like symptoms remain below BA.2 levels, according to the department.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 12 of Vermont’s 14 counties had “low” Covid levels, while two counties — Bennington and Rutland — continue to report “medium” levels.
The health department reported seven additional Covid deaths, bringing March’s total to nine. Assuming that trend continues, it would put March on track to have a lower death total than January or February.
In total, 939 people have died of Covid in Vermont since the beginning of the pandemic.