As protests continue over the death of George Floyd, health experts warn of further spread of COVID-19. This hour, we hear how Vermont's health department is monitoring the situation on the ground. We also answer your questions on the state’s step-by-step reopening strategy, including the return of indoor dining and end of quarantine restrictions for some out-of-state travelers.
Our guests are:
- Tracy Dolan, deputy commissioner for the Vermont Department of Health
- Ted Brady, deputy secretary for the Agency of Commerce and Community Development
Broadcast live after Gov. Phil Scott's 11:00 a.m. press conference on Monday, June 8; rebroadcast at 7:00 p.m.
The following has been edited and condescend and clarity.
Let’s talk first about this outbreak in Winooski. What can you tell us about what are now 62 cases in Winooski and surrounding Chittenden County towns?
Tracy Dolan: We’ve been investigating this outbreak for the last couple of weeks, and we’re offering testing every day this week in Winooski and Burlington in order to get a better handle on it. Here is what we know:
- 62 cases in total
- 48 in Winooski, 9 in Burlington, 5 in other towns in Chittenden County
- 36 adults and 26 children
- Age of those infected ranges from 1-64 years old
- Median age of infected: 21 years old
- No hospitalizations, no death
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Why does the state health department say they are confident this is not widespread community transmission?
Tracy Dolan: Through contact tracing we’re able to see who has been in contact with whom and we are able to almost follow a path that the infection leads us down. All 62 of these cases have an epidemiological link to at least one other case, so that's the way we're able to track it. We’re seeing those numbers slow down a little bit, they could go up a bit as well, but we're confident these are all related cases.
More from VPR: Get the latest coronavirus updates here
Is there any surprise or concern about the number of young people who are testing positive?
Tracy Dolan: What we're seeing is that while there are a high number of children, most are asymptomatic. In fact most people in this entire outbreak are asymptomatic, only one in five present with symptoms. None of these children have become very ill.
It’s a little surprising to see the number of children, although when we look more closely we realize that some of the households involved have children living in them, so it's likely that we saw adult to child transmission. We're learning nationally that child to adult transmission is a little less common.
"It's really on us to check in after we think we've done it right, to then go into that community and ask people, 'Are you hearing this? Does it make sense for you? Do you have other questions?'" - Tracy Dolan, Deputy Commissioner of Health
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On the Winooski outbreak, we heard Health Commissioner Dr. Levine say the state needs to do a better job of cultural communication and in some cases translation services. Can you talk a little bit about why that's being highlighted and what the state health department is going to do to ensure everyone is getting the information they need to stay healthy?
Tracy Dolan: When we put out any kind of public health messaging, particularly around COVID-19, it's really important that not only do we put out an accurate message, but that we put it out in such a way that people are able to hear it in terms of their language, in terms of their culture and in terms of a message that makes sense for them. We have translated a variety of materials, for example there are videos available in a variety of languages on our website. It’s really on us to check in after we think we’ve done it right, to then go into that community and ask people, 'are you hearing this? Does it make sense for you? Do you have other questions?'
More from VPR: Health Commissioner: Winooski Outbreak Indicates Need For More Translation Services
Today marks the first day indoor dining is allowed in Vermont with significant restrictions. We also know that lodging esta?blishments are allowed to increase capacity. And there is a loosening of restrictions on those coming from out of state, from certain counties. Could you update us on what the guidelines are for indoor dining?
Ted Brady: If you’re itching like I am to get out, now's the time to do it. The most important thing you can do is call your local restaurant and see what they’re doing. Find out about their reservation policy and when they’re serving since a lot of restaurants are changing how they provide service. The overarching guidance is that you can eat at an indoor dining establishment with less than 25% capacity. So if a restaurant can usually hold 100 people you’re going to have 25 people indoors maximum at any given time. In addition to that, restaurants can continue to provide outdoor dining options up to a total of 50 people outdoors. We’re also asking everyone to make reservations.
"Tens of thousands of people work in the restaurant industry in Vermont, and when you look at the number of people that are relying on the department of labor for unemployment claims right now, we know we need to get these people back to work." -Ted Brady, Deputy Decretary of Commerce
And that's allowed as of today, but it's obviously not possible for every restaurant to be able to offer that. Do you have a sense of how many restaurants are opening?
Ted Brady: I don’t have an exact number. We know anecdotally that quite a few are eager to get open again indoors. We also know some are choosing not to, largely because there isn't much of an economic equation that gets you to profitability when you can only allow 25 people into your restaurant.
But people are trying to be innovative, they’re trying to offer new products, to attract their customers back and trying to balance the indoor-outdoor dining. Tens of thousands of people work in the restaurant industry in Vermont and when you look at the number of people that are relying on the department of labor for unemployment claims right now, we know we need to get these people back to work.
How does the health department weigh the risk of opening and a prolonged closure when it comes to something like indoor dining?
Tracy Dolan: Everything the governor is moving forward and doing is being informed by public health science. We don’t have great precedent to go off of, however we feel the governor has been really responsive to our concerns about wanting to move slowly, and we're continuing to test at a high rate in order to make sure we see the numbers stay low despite the outbreak we have. Our numbers overall show that of all the people we are testing, only 2% are coming back positive and we have very few people who are actually hospitalized or very ill.
"You should be doing things differently. Just because we're reopening doesn't mean you can just go back to life the way it was March 12." - Ted Brady, Deputy Secretary of Commerce
We recognize there is obviously some risk when you go inside a building and there is still a virus in this country and this state, however we think that’s a manageable risk. Everyone’s going to have to go with their own comfort levels. We do have to move forward, but we will do that cautiously, and I’m confident that if our numbers start going in the wrong direction, we’ll be able to pull it back.
What about places that don’t fit well into the category of restaurant or lodging establishment?
Ted Brady: If you don’t fit into one of those sectors when you look through our guidance on our website, we ask you to submit a request for additional guidance. We know this is complicated, so let's just go over some basic things everyone should be thinking about:
- You should be doing things differently. Just because we're reopening doesn't mean you can just go back to life the way it was March 12. You really need to think about doing things differently, like reducing density and the amount of high-touch points.
- Wear a mask. We’re asking all employers to require their employees to wear masks and we're asking people who are going into those employers' spaces to consider wearing masks.
- Socially distance. Every activity you do, you should try to be six feet away from people at all time.
Who are you getting pushback and criticism from?
Ted Brady: I think the number one place is the industry. We’ve put together this economic mitigation package of $400 million that the governor delivered to the legislature two weeks ago, including $250 million in direct grants to businesses that were either forced to close or had at least a 50% reduction in business. We’re two weeks in and the legislature has not acted on that yet. We’re hoping that they do quickly, but the last version we saw cut the grants to businesses by more than two-thirds, so it took our $250 million ask down to $70 million. That means less money for businesses, less businesses will get grants and the grants will be smaller.
