Local COVID-19 cases taper off; state uses Waterbury outbreak as an example

September 11, 2021  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine speaks at the governor's weekly COVID-19 press briefing this week. Orca Media screenshot

With just 10 new COVID-19 cases in Waterbury in the past week, the recent spike has begun to taper off, according to Vermont Department of Health data released on Friday. 

Since the end of July, Waterbury has seen a surge of 113 cases which account for more than a third of the 302 cases reported for the community since the pandemic began in Vermont in March 2020. One part of that surge was driven by the outbreak among children in the town recreation camp in early August. That outbreak is now associated with 38 cases, according to state Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine.

The Waterbury outbreak was one of two instances highlighted in Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference on COVID-19 on Sept. 7. In discussing lessons learned, Dr. Levine noted how adults at the camp were vaccinated and spared from infections while it easily spread among the children too young for the vaccine including 21 children in one group infected. 

The other example was a wedding in Central Vermont that has accounted for 65 cases and an additional outbreak at a child care center, Levine said. 

These outbreaks illustrate the importance of vaccines, masking indoors, early testing, and isolation for close contacts, Levine said. State officials including Gov. Scott continue to emphasize the vaccine and testing remains widely available, however wearing masks indoors remains a recommendation. 

Levine stressed the importance of wearing a mask indoors regardless of vaccination and testing three to five days after attending a large gathering. He said individuals who think they could have been exposed should not wait because the prevalent Delta variant of the virus spreads quickly with a “quite brief” interval between exposure and symptoms developing. 

Meanwhile in the past week, overall Vermont cases have averaged about 150 per day with approximately 30 people hospitalized and two new deaths reported in individuals over age 70. Waterbury’s case counts dropped from the previous week’s high while overall new cases in Washington County remained steady. Washington County has the second-highest new infection rate in the state in the past two weeks behind Chittenden County, according to the Health Department. 

Communities with higher virus spread include Barre City with 45 new cases as of Wednesday and Northfield with 24; only 12 were reported for Montpelier.

Locally, neighboring communities have seen very few new COVID-19 cases in the past week. Moretown logged three for the week ending Wednesday, Sept. 8; Stowe had two new cases; one was reported in Middlesex. Other communities in the Harwood Union School District had no new cases reported although data for Duxbury and Fayston is not broken out by the Health Department. 

State officials continue to watch trends largely driven by the Delta variant of the virus. New data was added to the weekly report to include a table listing all public schools in the state. That information will be updated on Tuesdays with data current as of Sundays, officials said. That can be found on the Health Department’s COVID-19 website in the community section.  

Testing locally remains available daily at the Waterbury Ambulance Service station on Guptil Road in Waterbury Center. Ambulance staff also offer vaccines several days a week and vaccines are available daily at pharmacies. 

Walk-ins are welcome but appointments for testing and vaccines are appreciated and can mean faster visits. They can be made online at healthvermont.gov/covid-19.