Keep an eye on your phone — starting later this week, you may get a text from the state if you’re a close contact to a Covid case, officials said at a press conference Tuesday.
The texts will come from the number 89361 and tell Vermonters that they’re a close contact and should check with the Department of Health for details. The state health commissioner, Dr. Mark Levine, said the measure will get information to close contacts a little sooner than other methods that have been used.
“These close contacts can quarantine right away and access other important information on our website,” he said.
After getting a text, the close contact should still expect a call from Vermont’s contact tracing team within 24 hours for more detailed information about their exposure, testing and need to quarantine.
Three-quarters of close contacts in Vermont are interviewed within 24 hours, state data shows, but the number of close contacts rose dramatically in mid-November to 1,127 in a single week amid rising case totals and outbreaks. It’s since declined to 633 for the week of Nov. 28.
According to health department data, 17% of close contacts eventually become a case themselves.
Long-term care cases rise
The state reported 283 cases among current outbreaks at long-term care facilities, according to information presented by Mike Pieciak, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation.
The state had 117 new cases in long-term care facilities this week, compared to 66 new cases the week before. Much of that rise came from Elderwood in Burlington, the state’s largest long-term care outbreak, with 91 cases as of Tuesday.
Rutland Health & Rehab, the state’s second-largest current outbreak, reported nine new cases this week for a total of 63 cases. St. Albans Healthcare and Rehab Center had the second-highest increase with 22 new cases, bringing its total to 36 cases.
Levine said the state is planning a “more aggressive testing policy” that the state is immediately launching to help identify cases as early as possible.
The central reason for the soaring long-term care cases is its spread from community residents, Levine said. The higher the rate of the virus in the community, the easier it spreads to worksites, including the staff of congregate care facilities.
“It’s that ability of the virus to come into the facility unbeknownst to anyone because they have no symptoms, and maybe even multiple people at a time. And then, through some of the other staff, or even the residents, not having symptoms but having the virus when you don’t know it,” Levine said.
He said another struggle is the ability to isolate cases and potential cases in a long-term care center, particularly in places where residents share rooms. Many facilities also have staffing issues.
“The minute staff begin to get Covid, and other staff that they’ve been in contact with have to quarantine, they quickly run into staffing issues, making it challenging for them to cohort both patients and staff at the same time in separate places,” Levine said.
Some facilities have been able to isolate Covid patients on a single floor, but the layout of other facilities makes that more difficult, he said.
The state has expanded testing in those facilities to help curb the spread of the virus. “High acuity” facilities — places where residents have poorer health — have daily antigen testing and weekly PCR testing, Levine said.
Lower acuity facilities have antigen testing for any symptomatic staff members or residents, and twice-weekly PCR testing.
The 60 facilities involved have received 42,400 antigen cards, leaving 15,000 in reserve, and the state is working to get more from the federal government, Levine said. Officials are also meeting with Centers for Disease Control officials this week to see if there’s anything more Vermont can do.
Levine pointed to health department data showing that outbreaks resulting from social gatherings rose in October and November, but have recently shifted to more congregate care facilities, showing how the virus moved from the community to those facilities.
The state is tracking 144 situations — that is, cases that have caused broader exposure, he said. That includes 27 K-12 settings, six child care settings, 45 health care facilities, and 54 work sites.
“When we prevent cases, we prevent situations,” he said. “And when we prevent situations, we often prevent outbreaks.”
The state reported 100 Covid cases Tuesday, an increase from the 65 cases reported Monday but in line with weekend totals. Four new deaths brought to 85 the number of people who have died of Covid in Vermont.
Pieciak said virus trends in nearby Northeast states are troubling, and it appears that national virus concentrations could be shifting closer to Vermont. Cases increased 53% in Northeast states in the past week.
Rhode Island has the highest rate of daily cases in the country, said Gov. Phil Scott. New Hampshire has a positivity rate of 7%, above the Vermont threshold of 5% for reopening metrics.
Vaccine specifics released
The first 5,850 doses of the vaccine will come to Vermont in mid-December and will be used in the first clinics around Dec. 21, Levine said.
The state had previously announced that the doses would arrive Dec. 15. The first people in line for the vaccine: Health care workers and staff and residents of long-term care facilities, Levine said.
Additional doses will be reserved for those 5,850 recipients because people need two doses of the vaccine for it to be the most effective.
Asked about recent evidence showing that the vaccine has an 80% effectiveness rate after one dose, Levine said the state will follow manufacturer guidelines and provide two doses of the virus.
“I wouldn’t want people to sort of play around with it, in a sense; I’d rather we do it just the way we do other vaccines, knowing that we’re trying to achieve that 95 and hopefully higher percent efficacy and make sure everyone has an equal chance to do it,” he said.
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Vermont launches text-based contact tracing; cases rise in long-term care facilities - vtdigger.org
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