To slow the spread of COVID-19 as cases and hospitalizations rise in Vermont and throughout the nation, Vermont will temporarily require a 14-day quarantine for all non-essential travel, increase compliance checks and expand testing to find the virus earlier and contain it faster.
While there has been only one COVID death in three months in Vermont, the state continues to collect at least $1 billion in federal taxpayer money to alleviate economic hardships resulting from Gov. Phil Scott’s virus-related shutdowns.
Pfizer said Monday that the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with BioNTech SE proved to be more than 90% effective in preventing new coronavirus infections in a study of thousands of volunteers.
Only 22% of American adults said they would get an approved coronavirus vaccine right away, according to a new survey by research firm Civic Science. Nearly 18% of respondents said they would wait six months or more to get a vaccine that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
While the travel restrictions are likely restricting the supply of travelers into Vermont, it has not, so far, made Vermont uncompetitive with our New England neighbors.
Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts on Monday announced an executive order limiting indoor and outdoor crowd sizes and authorizing police to levy $500 fines for each person in attendance above the limit. Will Vermont follow suit with something similar?
In response to state and local government shutdowns designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, schools districts and local governments implemented different reopening guidelines in part because of politics.
The Scott administration “will be forced to do something about it” if Vermont coronavirus cases continue to rise, Gov. Scott said at his press conference Friday. He urged Vermonters to stay vigilant so that more restrictive measures will not be necessary.
Unless you’re going to quiet Washington County, New York, every out-of-state travel destination crosses or is located in quarantine zone.
Almost half of the biggest school districts are open for in-person learning for many students and more are planning to reopen, according to a Washington Post survey.
The Boston Public Schools said Wednesday that students will be learning online tomorrow because of a COVID-19 case increase, according to a statement from the city. The transition is a reaction to the week’s reported infection rate increase to 5.7% from last week’s 4.5%, according to a city statement.
The protest at Middlebury College came within two weeks of 22 students being removed from the campus for violating COVID-19 guidelines and of the school moving into Phase 2 of its reopening, which limited gatherings to groups of 10 or fewer, “indoors or outdoors.”