Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The most recent amendments to Governor Scott’s emergency declaration include: All close-contact businesses are required to close by 8 pm on Monday, March 23, including gymnasiums, fitness centers and similar exercise facilities, hair salons and barbers, nail salons, spas and tattoo parlors; Updated community mitigation measures further restrict the size of mass gatherings to 10 or less; All non-essential adult elective surgery and medical and surgical procedures, including all dental procedures, are ordered to be postponed in the safest but most expedient way possible.

Vermont Department of Health As of 2 pm Sunday, there are 52 positive cases in Vermont, an increase of 3 from Saturday. This number could change by the end of the day today. There are still no reported cases in the Northeast Kingdom or Lamoille or Grand Isle Counties. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 and mild illness, you can stay home and treat your symptoms. Not everyone needs to be tested. Testing is not treatment and we have limited ability to test. Newly added to the list of travelers who should stay home and monitor their health for 14 days are people returning from Malaysia or from a cruise.Call the Health Department at 802-863-7240 for monitoring information. If you have symptoms of fever, cough or difficulty breathing call your health care provider.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger I know it is challenging to awake to headlines from around the world and around the state that the COVID-19 crisis is deepening. My expectation is that it is going to be this way for a while. At the same time, Burlingtonians should be that reassured huge efforts are under way to care for the sick and slow the spread of the virus, and the country’s plan for short-term relief and then economic recovery when the storm has passed are taking shape.

Vermont Business Magazine As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, Rutland Regional Medical Center has had to implement changes to its Retail Pharmacy Pickup and Visitor Restriction policy. We greatly appreciate how everyone has continued to adapt to the fluidity of this situation and we will continue to share the most updated information to the community as it becomes available.

RRMC Pharmacy Prescription Pick-Up

When prescriptions are ready, the Pharmacy will call you and payment will be taken with a credit card over the phone or cash will be collected at pick-up. Exact change is appreciated. Upon arrival at the Stratton Road entrance, call the Pharmacy (802.747.1777) and staff will bring the prescription to your car. If you’re unable to call the Pharmacy, please come to the entrance, provide your name, and they will bring it to you.

Pharmacy Hours: Mon-Fri: 8am-6pm. Saturday and Sunday: 9am-5pm

by Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts Agriculture has quietly gone about its business for decades. Stores shelves have always been stocked with an endless supply of milk, meat, produce and so much more. The picture changed overnight when COVID-19 entered our world. Consumers rushed to make sure they had enough food as they began to self-isolate in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.

Vermont Business Magazine In times of crisis, separating fact from fiction is more important than ever. But doing so can also be more difficult. That’s why the Vermont Department of Public Safety strongly encourages residents to avoid spreading rumors, speculation and disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Vermonters should turn to trusted sources including their municipal and state governments, established local and national news outlets, and fact-checking and myth-busting resources from federal authorities.

Vermont Business Magaziner The Vermont Retail & Grocers Association is issuing an urgent call to action for all retailers remaining open to provide designated hours for vulnerable populations to shop or provide curbside delivery to ensure the safest condition possible for them to acquire the products they need.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health on Saturday reported 16 new positive cases of novel coronavirus COVID-19 statewide. Seven of those cases are residents of the Burlington Health & Rehabilitation Center (BHR). Health Department epidemiologists have been on site and issued updated guidance for this facility and all long-term care facilities statewide with a known infection. Health officials have also spoken with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Burlington Health & Rehabilitation Center has been following CDC guidance on treatment and isolation of COVID-19 patients since Monday, March 16, 2020. The Health Department has prioritized identifying and testing any symptomatic patients and health care workers at the facility following the initial positive tests. The facility is checking the temperature of all staff before they enter the building and having employees who are symptomatic stay at home.

Leonine Public Affairs As with all aspects of life in Vermont, the tenth week of the 2020 legislative session was unprecedented in nature and unlike any week in modern history. The novel COVID-19 pandemic caused the Vermont statehouse to shut down. In the grand scheme of things this was a minor event because over the past week Governor Phil Scott has ordered the shut-down of the state’s schools, licensed child care centers, bars and restaurants and prohibited non-essential gatherings of more than 50 people as the virus spreads rapidly throughout the state. Hospitals and healthcare providers are bracing for what is expected to be a wave of infections that will strain resources while large portions of the workforce grapple with sudden unemployment. Vermonters are being encouraged to practice social distancing and stay home as much as possible.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) led 165 lawmakers in calling on House and Senate leadership to dramatically increase long-term funding for community health centers (CHCs) in the third coronavirus legislative package being drafted by Congress to address the immediate economic and public-health emergency needs caused by the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced additional community mitigation measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He ordered gatherings to be limited to 10 and to close gyms, salons and tattoo parlors and similar "close-contact" businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Weinberger on Thursday shared the following update with the public regarding COVID-19 in Burlington. Good afternoon. I want to start by acknowledging what a challenging time this is for everyone. Hourly workers, parents of young children and children of elderly parents, health care workers, grocery store workers, first responders, renters and homeowners and people experiencing homelessness, small business operators and large companies, the young and the old, officials at all levels of government – all of us – are facing issues that just a couple weeks ago would have been difficult to imagine.