Innkeepers are a busy bunch. To save you time, VLA attends Governor Scott’s Covid-19 press conferences and takes notes for you. Below is the summary from 2/1/22.
At the Governor’s press conference today there was talk of moving COVID mitigation measures from pandemic to an endemic model. Vermont and the northeast region have been seeing lower case rates and hospitalizations, and with the high number of Vermonters vaccinated, the state may soon be at a place where the focus can pivot to preparedness for the next phase – endemic state – and what it means to live with the virus and support mental health issues that the pandemic has amplified.
NOTES:
- Governor Phil Scott:
- Infection rates in our region continue to lower; continue to be encouraged.
- February is Career & Technical Education month; we need to grow in all sectors and launching a $1.4 million recruitment campaign for CTE enrollment, engaging with school-aged children
- Proposing to use half of surplus in education fund ($45 million) to upgrade CTE centers
- Spending of ARPA funds and the infrastructure bill will require more skilled workers and the time to invest is now
- Participated in an event yesterday with mental health advocates, providers, and community members and stakeholders. Needs are more important than ever due to pandemonic and its ripple effects. Thanks to all mental health professionals helping Vermonters.
- Commissioner Mike Pieciak:
- Trends in VT expand most of country; nationally cases down 36%; hospitalizations down 10.5%; deaths up 9%
- New England cases are down 44%, hospitalizations down 20%
- VT down about 40% past week, down across all areas and age groups
- 5,000 new cases down 3,300 from last week; avg. 600 a day – 1,800 3-4 wks. ago
- Testing is down with average 800 test a day with lower positivity rate
- Omicron in line with rest of states around us
- College campuses reporting most testing this semester with fewest number of cases this semester with 2.1% positivity
- Long-term care facilities have seen increase with 515 case from active outbreak
- Expect cases to continue downward next few weeks in VT and nationally
- Hospitalizations: admissions trending down last 2 weeks down 10%
- Availability stabilizing and decreasing on ICE
- Those not fully vaccinated have a 10-fold increase in chance of hospitalization
- 542 deaths total with 62 occurring in January; fatality highest among the most vulnerable by age and similarly those not vaccinated and boosted
- Boosters – Vermont ranked near top, 5,500 new this week
- Secretary Dan French:
- Responding to and collecting questions on new testing program and publishing FAQ documents
- Presumptive contacts – no longer doing close contract tracing in school; school classroom with infected person are presumptive contacts, offers wider net and deploying testing in real time; decision-making on safety shifts to students and families; student riding a bus or eating in cafeteria not presumed presumptive contact; real world indicates no real risk; cases in schools more often brought to school from communities; challenge for schools worldwide; VT early shift to Test to Stay saved hours of learning in schools; significant progress in lowering health risk to students with success in vaccinations – 60% 5-11 grades with 1 dose and 50% fully vaccinated
- Some schools’ vaccination rate greater than 80% and applied for grant funds, awarded thus far: $3,855, $7,725, $3.000 & $2,000 and expect more schools will be eligible soon.
- Focus on risk assessment public health and education; done well with health risk; focus to continued education risk accumulate and continues with need to get back to normal
- make pivot to at agency “educational recovery” – academics, social & emotional needs, and reengagement
- Secretary Samuelson:
- Increase concerns of mental health for all ages due to non-COVID impacts of pandemics –– masks, quarantining, increased isolation delaying timely care have lead to increase in substance abuse, suicide, and overdoes.
- Recent report from Dept. of Corrections highlights challenges of direct service workers
- Mental health stressors accumulating among children
- Provide stability and social action to balance Covid and non-COVID impacts
- 57% Vermonters up to date with vaccines; working to make it easier to get shots; contact healthvermont.gov/business health vermont.gov/vaccine to arrange for clinic or schedule vaccine
- Approx. 30k masks and 30k tests have already been distributed to organization to distribute
- Coming week another 72k masks and 10k antigen tests going to organization to support their clients
- 400 million N95s will soon be available throughout the country at pharmacies, community centers, and other locations
- Will continue with PCR testing and look to getting additional rapid tests – for testing info healthvt.gov/testing or call 855-722-7878
- Hospitalizations are stabilizing with half as many staff out this week than last; continue areas of focus moving psychiatric care from ER to where they can get the care they need
- Continue to open up subacute care; arrange for 20 new beds this week in Chittenden area
- Staff and hospitals are still under strain and need our acknowledgment
- Commissioner Levine:
- CDC study provides more data that supports importance of booster; makes significant difference case and mortality rates
- Infection rates: vaccinated with booster, 1 per million; w/o booster, 6 per million; and unvaccinated 78 per million
- Have learned during this pandemic that multiple doses are needed for maximum effectiveness; based on science and continued evolving of the virus
- Fully vaccinated can prevent serious disease by 90-95%
- Getting fully vaccinated is important to help move VT away from Omicron surge
- State health care system has not been overwhelmed even in midst of surges and believed to be due to our high vaccination rate
- Planning for new phase of living with virus in post-pandemic era; Omicron may be hastening movement to endemic state where we learn to live and manage much like the flu; goals continue to protect highest risk and stable health care system; continued to closely watch hospitalization rate while focus on daily case counts and positivity will have less value while waste water analysis, focus on high risk populations, and genetic sequencing will help monitor activity
- Need to work on recovery when the time is right – improving social and emotional well being
- Data case board updating now only each weekday
- BA2variant identified in one Vermont specimen, a more transmissible version of Omicron with no other traits cause for concern
- Moderna has received full approval for 18+
Questions:
- How many N95 from feds and what is timeline of availability?
- Nationally, 400 million masks; no known timeline; in pharmacies and other locations; more info expected from Fed
- How does state plan to measure impact on progress in mental health?
- Samuelson – ongoing services collects info and will continue to monitor those measure
- National Guards are helping hospitals, would you consider Guards helping out in schools?
- French – do not see that happening, do need to acknowledge still have staffing issues and see that pressure on system
- On mental health – hope to position Education Support Team at the district level to collect information so resources can be deployed more effectively; coordinating and bringing things online when we talk about pivoting focus
- Levine –problems were already in place pre-pandemic and will not go away
- Trucker restrictions at the US/CAN border
- Scott – federal control; having vaccine is important; it remains to be seen if steps taken will have impact; have resisted forcing vaccination and use education and availability to vaccines
- Concern about truckers choosing not to drive?
- One may step back; others may step up.
- Rank-choice voting
- Scott – not supportive of that; person with most votes wins
- Thoughts on contract licensing issue, no vetting on true
- Scott – not sure what this solves; larger businesses have insurance requirements and have concern on impact of smaller entities; desperate need for smaller entities to do the work; $3,500 does not go far; undo burden on single and smaller operations; if it is going to be done the threshold should be higher; already mechanisms in place including civil litigation.
- Efficacy of testing and will state continue to use PCR?
- Will continue to offer PCR testing across state as option; not recommend regular PCR for general public which we have pivoted away; reasons may require like international travel.
- Use rapid testing for decision making, systematic testing, ability to decrease transmission; more effective way to manage testing and Omicron
- Will be ongoing reevaluating of surveillance testing
- Are you disappointed that only 6 schools have met the 80% threshold thus far?
- That is the number of school districts that have applied for grants; only about 50% of schools replied to survey; not a good read on broader vaccination rate; since the first of year try to automate data with school enrollment and health department and differences with need to be pursued; immunization and advisory council will be meeting with discussion around mandatory school vaccines and will provide feedback
- View on Republican party at this time.
- Scott – I do not support Donald Trump; core values may not be shared by; expect to see others step up; not yet determined if running again
- With UVM report on increasing mental health problems including suicide in prisons is it time open up visitations in prisons?
- Scott – I think so but haven’t spoke to Commission of Corrections yet; would like to get back to it as soon as possible.
- Gun-free Zone in hospitals––will you veto the bill?
- Scott – supported necessary changes in the past; continue to evolve with existing laws not make new laws; not in favor of changing laws at this time but will look at the bill when it comes across my desk
- Are majority of schools implementing Test at Home?
- Yes, believe fully implemented this week; independent schools not brought online yet, planning at some point due to supply/distribution issues
- Rapid at-home tests – do they detect infection as early as PCR test? Any issues with self-reporting?
- Levine – antigen less sensitive than PCR with chance early in illness may not be detected but expect results are pretty good; advocate two tests within 24-48 hrs.
- Rather pleased with state reporting tool – upward of 6,000 tests were positive and 12,000 were negative but expect way more were done; continue to encourage to use tool
- Do results get incorporated into state’s rate?
- State uses PCR data.