As of July 16, Vermont has officially gone 30 days without a death attributable to COVID-19, in stark contrast to much of the country, which has in recent weeks seen a surge in new daily cases and fatalities.
The state has remained steady at 56 deaths from COVID-19 since June 18, a trend Health Commissioner Mark Levine attributes to the vigilance of Vermonters as well as strict health protocols for those in long term care facilities, who account for 52% of the state’s fatalities. While Vermont’s neighbors — New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire — see declines in infection rates and deaths, they continue to report new deaths almost daily.
“We like to think this is because Vermonters are actually doing what we advised them to do,” Levine said of the benchmark.
“On a given day in Vermont, we maybe have two people in the hospital with COVID,” Levine said. This, he noted, is a good sign for future trends in fatalities, because most deaths outside of long term care facilities occur in hospitals.
As Vermont survives its least deadly month yet, the rest of the country is still suffering through the worst of the pandemic.
“On a given day in Vermont, we maybe have two people in the hospital with COVID,” Levine said. This, he noted, is a good sign for future trends in fatalities, because most deaths outside of long term care facilities occur in hospitals.
As Vermont survives its least deadly month yet, the rest of the country is still suffering through the worst of the pandemic.
“I look at our surrounding states, and they’re doing so much better than they’ve ever done. But they still have deaths all the time,” Levine said. “There, death is a routine occurrence. Here, it isn’t at all.”
Compared to its northeastern neighbors, Vermont has a much smaller population. Still, its deaths per capita are substantially lower than those states, according to data from the New York Times. While the health department’s statistics are subject to change, overall, Vermont has seen just nine deaths per 100,000 people since the start of the pandemic, compared to 29 in New Hampshire, 122 in Massachusetts and 165 in New York.
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