Vermont started taking applications on Tuesday for hazard pay for essential health care, public safety and human services workers who responded to the COVID-19 public health emergency from March 13 through May 15.
Covered employers may apply online to provide $1,200 or $2,000 in hazard pay to each employee who worked during that time frame, Republican Gov. Phil Scott said. A total of $28 million in federal funding is available and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Eligibility is based on risk of exposure to the virus, number of hours worked and other factors, Scott said.
The Legislature passed the measure to allocate the funding.
“On behalf of all Vermonters, please know you all have our deepest gratitude for your hard work and sacrifice, for putting in those long hours, spending time away from your families, the care you’ve given your patients and your perseverance to all of this in a spirit of being true public servants,” Scott said Tuesday during his regular COVID-19 press briefing.
The best way to support these workers is to continue to slow the spread of the coronavirus by keeping at least 6 feet apart when possible, wearing a mask, washing hands a lot and staying home when sick, he said.
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INFECTED INMATES
The state was awaiting pending test results for 90 Vermont inmates held at a Mississippi prison where 85 Vermont inmates have tested positive for COVID-19.
Vermont houses 219 inmates at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, because of a lack of capacity in its own prisons. After six inmates returning to Vermont from the private Mississippi prison last month tested positive, the state Corrections Department on July 30 ordered that the remaining Vermont inmates in Mississippi be tested. Another Vermont inmate held in the facility had already tested positive after having a fever.
“In hindsight, you know, I should have seen this coming in some respects,” said Scott. But the state was relying on the company operating the private prison, CoreCivic, to do the testing and “they were testing with symptomatic cases and not throughout,” he said.
“Mississippi is experiencing a high number of cases and so they are right in that sunbelt along with a number of other states in that region,” Scott said.
The Vermont Department of Corrections used to only test symptomatic individuals but now regularly tests all staff and inmates and every new intake, said Human Services Secretary Mike Smith. Vermont has insisted on regular testing of the population in the Mississippi facility, separating those who tested negative from those who tested positive and testing staff, Smith said.
The outbreak adds to critics’ concerns about housing inmates out of state. Scott’s administration had proposed building a new correctional facility in Vermont but the Legislature opposed it.
“I do think it’s time for us to revisit that because we know our facilities, our infrastructure, is outdated and needs to be upgraded and we need to bring our offenders back to Vermont,” Scott said.
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THE NUMBERS Vermont reported five new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, for a total of 1,431 statewide since the pandemic began. The total number of deaths remained at 57. One person was hospitalized with COVID-19.
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