Report Timeframe: November 18, 2025, to November 24, 2025. Current Vermont Department of Health recommendations on preventing COVID-19
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by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported last week that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations have edged up. Other indicators like wastewater virus show an increase in COVID-19 and Norovirus in Vermont and nationally, while COVID outbreaks decreased.
Neither the VDH nor the CDC are any longer reporting COVID fatalities or total cases in Vermont or in the US.
The hospitalizations dataset contains day-level data reported from all Vermont hospitals each Tuesday. Reported numbers are subject to correction.
Laboratory-confirmed and diagnosed COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 outbreaks must still be reported to the Vermont Department of Health.
There were 0 outbreaks last week (4 the week before), with 0 in Long-Term Care Facilities and 0 in schools. Like hospitalizations, outbreaks increased slightly from mid-summer and have since fallen.
WastewaterSCAN
Below is the latest national and Vermont state-wide data from WastewaterSCAN. This reflects information from participating wastewater treatment plants through November 12, 2025. In Vermont and across the country, wastewater data show a rise in COVID-19 and norovirus.
WastewaterSCAN also recently added West Nile Virus to the pathogens it monitors. There have been no positive detections since monitoring began.
Updates:
- Nationwide, COVID-19 is now in the “High” category, with aggregated measurements showing medium concentrations and an upward trend.
- Vermont sites are in the “High” and “Medium” categories.
- Nationwide, Norovirus is in the “High” category with an upward trend.
- Vermont sites are in the “Medium” category.
- Nationwide, Flu and RSV remain in the “Low” category and well below the threshold for seasonal onset. There is a slow, early uptick in the South.
- Vermont sites are in the “Low” category.
Respiratory Viruses
COVID-19
- Vermont
- COVID-19 is in the “High” and “Medium” categories in Vermont.
- National
- COVID-19 is in the “High” category with median concentrations and an upward trend over the past 21 days.
- Over the past 21 days, the median concentration was 11.5k copies/gram (cp/g) with ~83% positive detections.
- COVID-19 is in the “High” category with median concentrations and an upward trend over the past 21 days.
Influenza
- Vermont
- Influenza A is in the “Low” category in Vermont
- Influenza B is in the “Low” category in Vermont
- National
- Influenza A and Influenza B are categorized as “Low” nationally, and not in seasonal onset.
- In past years, flu levels began to rise in October and reach their peak in mid-winter. Last year, the national onset of flu A was in mid-December 2024. The onset of flu B was later in the season, and did not occur until early March 2025.
RSV
- Vermont
- RSV is in the “Low” category, with no trend over the last three weeks.
- National
- RSV is in the “Low” category and not in seasonal onset.
- Current RSV concentrations across all regions remain lower than they were at this time last year. For context, the national onset for RSV during the last respiratory virus season did not begin until early December 2025.
Avian Flu
- Vermont
- H5 has not been detected in Vermont in the last three weeks.
- National
- H5 (the flu A subtype associated with H5N1 or avian influenza) has been detected at 80 WastewaterSCAN sites across 27 states.
- There has been 1 positive detection so far in November in Tennessee. In October 2025, there were 7 positive H5 marker detections (4 in CA, 1 in NJ, and 2 in TN).
- A heat map of H5 detections is linked here.
- H5 (the flu A subtype associated with H5N1 or avian influenza) has been detected at 80 WastewaterSCAN sites across 27 states.
Gastrointestinal Viruses
Norovirus
- Vermont
- Norovirus is in the “Medium” category in Vermont.
- National
- Norovirus is now in the “High” category nationally with median concentrations up 52% in November compared to October.
- 100% of samples were positive for Norovirus in October.
Other Pathogens
Measles
- Vermont
- As of November 17, there have been zero measles detections in Vermont wastewater.
- National
- Measles is in the “Low” category nationally.
- In November, there were 2 positive measles detections in Florida and Minnesota.
- Since the measles data were made public, there have been detections at 25 sites across 17 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, and Utah.
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