BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -
Vermont’s health commissioner said that he frequently hears people questioning why residents need to be so careful about the coronavirus, but that health officials know better, and he pointed out how.
“I am watching hospitalizations start to pick up very slowly but real,” Dr. Mark Levine said Friday during the governor’s twice-weekly virus briefing. “And we know this is an indicator that lags several weeks behind the increase in cases.”
While the number of hospitalizations is small, it is something the Health Department is following very closely, he said.
As the pandemic wore on, death rates have improved nationwide even if hospitalization rates are worsening, but there’s “no evidence that this is because the virus itself has changed or is less virulent at this time,” Levine said.
Vermont has become really good at protecting the most vulnerable, who are living in long-term care facilities, prisons or at home, he said.
There’s also been significant research in therapies, and health care providers have become better at ICU, ventilator and oxygen management and have learned how to handle newly identified complications, such as blood clots, more quickly and effectively, he said.
The latest surges in cases around the country have been in people whose average age is younger than earlier in the pandemic, he said.
“But we know that over time, even though the initial cases are younger, these evolve into cases involving more middle-aged and then older populations,” Levine said. Just listen, he said, to the stories of people who have become ill or developed chronic symptoms.
“We need to learn so much more about these people, and research is ongoing,” he said. “But the current literature would impress upon us that contracting COVID is not a pleasant experience and may have more long-term after effects.”
In other coronavirus news in Vermont:
___
THE NUMBERS
The Health Department on Monday reported 23 new cases of the virus, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to nearly 2,220.
Of the new cases, 19 were in Chittenden County, two were in Essex County, and one each were in Orleans and Windham counties.
There were three patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and three in intensive care.
The number of deaths remained at 58. Vermont has not reported a COVID-19 fatality in more than three months.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.