MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Residents of Vermont’s Washington and Orange counties are being urged to join stepped-up local efforts to stop the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, the Vermont Health Department said Monday.
While cases are up across the state, the incidence of cases per 10,000 inhabitants in Washington is more than three times the state rate while Orange County is twice the state rate.
By contrast, Chittenden County, Vermont’s most populous county, has the highest number of cases, but the incidence rate is below the state average.
“We are monitoring and investigating more than 50 active situations in Washington and Orange Counties, meaning additional follow-up is needed in addition to normal contact tracing” Levine said in a statement.
The sparsely populated Essex County has the third-highest incidence rate of cases of the virus.
“Each case leads to the virus spreading in the community which leads to outbreaks,” said Levine. “We can end this. We know what the solutions are: limiting contacts and gatherings, following the travel and quarantine guidance, and getting tested when you’ve been to a social gathering, had symptoms of Covid-19, or had exposure to a person who is infected.”
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NUMBERS
The Health Department said Monday that for the third time in less than a week the state saw record numbers of new cases of the virus.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Vermont has risen over the past two weeks from 17.57 new cases per day on Nov. 1 to 71 new cases per day on Sunday.
The total number of cases reported in Vermont since the pandemic began is now more than 3,000.
There are currently 19 people hospitalized in Vermont with COVID-19, including one patient in the intensive care unit.
The number of deaths remains at 59.
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