The state’s new spree of Covid cases seems to have affected Washington County towns and Colchester, according to a VTDigger analysis of Department of Health data.
A recent surge in cases — with 84 cases reported Friday and 116 reported Thursday — has been partially tied to a Washington County outbreak that started at a Montpelier ice rink and spread to schools, workplaces and more.
Now data shows that this week’s cases are a significant shift from Oct. 21 in neighboring Barre, Williamstown and Northfield. Barre and Northfield are located in Washington County; Williamstown is in Orange County. Barre City’s total cases rose from 29 on Oct. 21 to 99 on Nov. 11, according to the health department data.
Colchester, site of the St. Michael’s College outbreak, also had a significant rise in cases, from 77 on Oct. 21 to 173 on Nov. 11.
Detailed town-by-town information is limited. The Department of Health only reports cumulative cases by town on a weekly basis, so VTDigger analyzed previous iterations of the map to get an understanding of how new cases have cropped up. Retroactive cases may not be accounted for in the data.
The health department also does not report the precise number of cases if a town has fewer than six cases, citing privacy concerns.
The Washington County outbreak began at Montpelier’s Central Vermont Memorial Civic Center, where adult and youth hockey and broomball leagues met. Dr. Mark Levine, head of the DOH, has said the outbreak was not connected to the rink itself but pre- and post-game social activities.
From there, the initial people infected spread the disease to secondary and tertiary infections. Levine said at a press conference that seven schools, several workplaces and St. Michael’s College were affected by the outbreak.
Washington County has continued to report the highest new cases totals in the past two days, even though officials no longer directly attribute cases to the hockey outbreak. Gov. Phil Scott attributed the latest cases to general community transmission.
Burlington, the state’s largest city and site of several nursing homes that experienced outbreaks, still has the highest overall case total since the pandemic began.
Correction: This story previously listed Williamstown as being located in Washington County. It is in Orange County.
