More than 130 Vermonters have used the Vermont State Police “Executive Order Reporting Tool” (EORT) to inform police about other Vermonters’ alleged infractions of Gov. Scott’s executive orders for work, travel and social distancing, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling said this week.
President Donald Trump gave out new three-stage guidelines for states to begin reopening their economies as the deaths and hospitalizations due to the coronavirus have been much less than predicted.
When the time comes to honor all of those Vermonters who displayed great courage, commitment, and capabilities during the pandemic, I hope that those who were deep in the fight — our janitors, custodians, wipers and environmental engineers — are recognized for also protecting all of us.
Norway has had 128 deaths from COVID-19 out of a population of 5.4 million. Finland, with 5.5 million, has had fewer than 100 deaths, and Denmark, with 5.6 million, has had 275 deaths. It’s too early to know, but Sweden later may be seen as a success because its smaller population allows it to respond more easily.
Jobless claims in Vermont have reached 81,947 since Gov. Phil Scott declared a state of emergency last month and ordered residents to restrict business activities and “stay home” in response to the coronavirus.
The House Transportation Committee on Wednesday discussed several thorny problems raised by the state of emergency: 34 public transit drivers are out, three have tested positive; ridership is down 75 percent; and Burlington riders are less likely to wear masks.
We will never know how many more Vermonters have years knocked off their lives, never know how many cases of domestic abuse occurred, how many more high schoolers dropped out a year or two later due to the stay-at-home order.
TCI was a bad idea before the COVID-19 recession. Today it is absolutely unthinkable.
While it would not be wrong for people who are showing the symptoms of the coronavirus to be presumed to have it in order for safety precautions to be taken, to presume and then publicly report that someone had died from the virus is misleading and brings into question all the numbers of deaths that are being reported.
Health Department guidelines for filling out death certificates in Vermont instruct doctors to cite COVID-19 as the cause of death even if patients didn’t test positive for the virus. Patients who died with other serious underlying health conditions also are to be classified as having died of the coronavirus.
Candidates seeking to fill the vacancy include Republicans Dana Colson, Meg Hansen and Dwayne Tucker, as well as Democrats Brenda Siegel, state Sen. Tim Ashe and Molly Gray.
In handing down its decision, the Vermont Supreme Court referred to a study that was produced by UVM Professor Stephanie Seguino labeled “Driving While Black and Brown in Vermont.” The accuracy of this widely distributed and referred to study has been called into question since its release by many, including myself.