The Vermont Department of Health and the Agency of Education have enacted strict new rules for children waiting for and riding the bus to school. Officials also recommend parents give their kids a ride, or have them walk or bike to school.
Middlebury College officials announced that access to the campus is off-limits to the public during the COVID-19 crisis. According to Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley, that includes roads that either bisect or transect the campus.
Lawmakers have mandated a variety of COVID restrictions to stem the spread of the pandemic, but not all lawmakers have been willing to follow the rules.
Without much-needed federal funding, some of New Hampshire’s recovery centers say they will fall into a funding gap. Cheryle Pacapelli, project director at Harbor Care in Nashua, told New Hampshire Public Radio that her facility experienced a nearly 40 percent drop in funding.
Asked about a CDC report saying only 6 percent of Covid-19 fatalities nationwide died solely from the disease, Health Commissioner Mark Levine at a press conference Tuesday decried the “armchair epidemiologists and physicians” who publicly impugn without understanding Covid-19 death statistics.
The overwhelming majority of reported coronavirus-related deaths – 94 percent – involved patients who had at least one other underlying health condition, such as a respiratory illness, diabetes, heart disease or another, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says.
While Vermont faces economic woes unseen in recent history due to Gov. Phil Scott’s shutdown mandates, one state with a similar rural landscape and population has taken a very different approach to mitigate the coronavirus without devastating its economy.
COVID-19 is motivating families to seek alternatives to their child’s current schools and inspiring entrepreneurs to create new enterprises. Public and private school choice policies enacted in nearly every state over the last 30 years are facilitating this process.
More than 20 percent of small business owners said they will have to close permanently if current economic conditions do not improve within the next six months, according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business.
Recent reports indicate New Yorkers frustrated with high taxes and fearing for their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic are flocking to New Hampshire.
User review platform Yelp is reporting that about 300 businesses in New Hampshire shuttered their doors permanently since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Also, a New Hampshire researcher warns that the spike in unemployment is leading to a rise in those lacking health insurance.
At Tuesday’s press conference, both Gov. Phil Scott and Health Commissioner Mark Levine urged widespread, aggressive immunization of Vermonters if and when a safe, effective vaccine becomes available.