Gov. Phil Scott asked Vermont residents Wednesday to be ready to volunteer and help the state continue its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scott had issued an appeal the night before for volunteers in fields as varied as child care, grocery workers or in the medical profession.
“While I know you are already doing and giving so much, it’s difficult to ask for more, but unfortunately that’s what we need,” Scott said during his Wednesday briefing on the pandemic.
The state has set up a website where people can volunteer.
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THE NUMBERS
As of Wednesday, Vermont was reporting more than 320 positive cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths.
There were 30 people hospitalized across Vermont for treatment of COVID-19 and an additional 45 patients hospitalized “under investigation for COVID-19.”
Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said the department’s outbreak response teams have responded to eight housing facilities to investigate cases of COVID-19.
“That’s a number that’s growing,” Levine said. “It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone as COVID becomes more prevalent. We are behind many states in terms of the number of facilities, thank goodness, that have had a case, but this is something we are going to be seeing as an increasing trend.”
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SUPPLIES
Levine also said Vermont now has the equipment to be able to expand the number of patients who can be tested for COVID-19, which can make efforts to contain it more specific.
“We got wonderful news about (personal protective equipment) and truckloads of materials, and now some of our supplies we can actually characterize as being in the millions of pieces as opposed to hundreds of thousands,” Levine said.
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RETAIL STORES
State officials in Vermont are ordering large retailers that sell critical items such as food and prescription drugs to stop the in-person sale of nonessential products.
Whenever possible, stores such as Walmart, Target and Costco must stop the sale of nonessential items and require online or telephone ordering, delivery, and curbside pickup.
Big box retailers generate significant shopping traffic by virtue of their size and the variety of goods offered.
The items that cannot be sold in person include clothing, consumer electronics, books, furniture and sporting equipment.
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BUSINESSES AND EMPLOYEES
State officials are working to understand how the $2.2 trillion federal relief package will help Vermont businesses and people whose jobs have been affected. Officials have put together a resource package so people can learn more about how those programs can help them or their businesses.
Scott said many of the details people would like to know are not available yet because the federal law was passed only days ago and state and federal officials haven’t worked through the details.
“They have to be patient, in some respects because, again, there is no playbook on this,” Scott said. “It hasn’t been done.”
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