by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The good news continues to be that Vermont appears to be at or near the peak of the COVID-19 infection rate. The bad news is that the economic impact on individual Vermonters continues, as the backlog of unemployment insurance cases continues to leave thousands of claims unpaid.
The state has assured those still waiting for checks that they will not lose any money as they work fix the process.
At today’s press briefing in Montpelier. Governor Phil Scott took full responsibility for the backlog in claims. Acting Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said the state has added 30 more staff, is adding another 20-25 today and is still working on using a third-party, private entity to help them process the thousands of new UI claims. Those new claims include sole proprietors who previously would not be allowed to receive benefits.
As a reporter said, the UI claims are “another kind of surge.”
Donna Carpenter, owner of Burton Snowboards, speaks during the Tuesday press briefing via video, as Governor Scott listens to her remarks. Screen grab. Click on image to watch full briefing.
Scott said if the new effort to alleviate claims doesn’t work in the next few days, then the state will have to get creative in getting money into the hands of unemployed Vermonters. Scott admitted that he didn’t know at this point exactly what that might look like.
As for the UI backlog, he said there is no excuse for it.
“I accept full responsibility for this,” Scott said, who admitted he didn’t see it coming. ”We need to do better and we will do better.”
Of those still waiting, he said, “I feel their pain.”
Dr Levine reported that the state is clearly on “a tendency towards a plateauing.”
There were only nine new cases of COVID-19 reported since yesterday for a total of 759, but there was also one new death, for a total of 30 in Vermont.
Still, he said, “We’re doing very well.” Hospitalizations and other key data points have remained flat in recent days. With over 400 COVID-19 beds set aside and hundreds more available if there is a surge, there are only 33 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and only 30 hospitalized under investigation.
Test results indicate positive cases are now under 10 percent even as Vermont steps up its aggressive testing. Over 11,000 tests have been administered.
The other good news, in part, is that the governor said he could reveal on Friday new regulations to reopen farmers markets. He said if when he does so, the farmers markets will operate differently than they did previously. In other places, for instance, social distancing at farmers markets have been strictly enforced.
He also left open the possibility of some new face mask mandates. Scott said he wears a mask in public and takes his temperature every day. He has not been tested.
Today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo instituted a statewide face mask mandate in places where social distancing was not possible, such as public transportation. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said face coverings must be worn in grocery stores.
Both Governor Scott and Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, said that the state likely will not get back to pre-coronavirus “normal” until a vaccine is developed, which might take a year or more to develop.
Eventually and hopefully soon, serological (blood) testing for antibodies to the novel coronavirus will become reliable.
“That will inform us in many, many ways,” Levine said.
Scott said until that time some level of social distancing rules will continue and might include allowance for the size of gatherings. He said crowds could be increased the way they were reduced at the beginning of the pandemic, where they went from 500 to 250 to 100 to 10.
He acknowledged this will affect important events like weddings.
“I wish I could tell you in some definitive way,” he said.
Testing will be a part of at least our near future even after we get past the peak of infections, Levine said, until we get a handle on how the virus acts. He said the virus will inform us.
The governor said that while “We are heading in the right direction,” he will re-open the economy “a quarter turn at a time” and be vigilant on putting out brush fires of new infections, “before they turn into wildfires and overwhelm our health care system.”
Scott we have to figure out “how we get back to work that is safe and responsible.”
When asked about the possibility of the federal government ordering the states to reopen their economies, Scott was forceful in rejecting that notion, saying that, “We will continue to do what we believe is right.”
He said the states, not the federal government, were first to confront the coronavirus and, “We don’t need them to get us out of this,” he said.
Regarding the states’ efforts, New York State has organized a multi-state council that will work together to restore the region’s economy. Those states include the three southern New England states, Pennsylvania (which has the longest border with New York), New Jersey and Delaware (which does not border New York).
When asked by a reporter why Vermont was not included, the governor said he received a call from New York (he didn’t say from whom) apologizing for not including Vermont. Vermont has the second longest border with New York.
He said he will work with the council. He said the council will not mandate rules for other states, but will share information.
For instance, if Vermont were to re-open campgrounds this weekend, it could great a rush of visitors who could create a surge in new COVID-19 cases.
Or another state could re-open their beaches or golf courses and undermine social distancing in other places and put their health care systems in jeopardy and threaten new “wildfires” of cases.
"We're more stringent than other states in some aspects," Scott said.
The council, Scott said, will communicate on what the best regional strategies will be without forcing one state or another to act in a certain way. It's really about letting neighboring states know what you're doing.
"We want to be part of this," he said.
COVID-19 cases by county, April 15, 2020.
In opening the press briefing today, Scott thanked not only Vermonters for their sacrifices during the pandemic, but also many institutions and businesses for their efforts.
By video, Donna Carpenter, owner of Burton Snowboards, UVM President Suresh Garimella and Martii Matheson of JV Air explained their parts in the effort.
Burton, despite many obstacles, is making 500,000 KN95 respirator masks for health care workers in Vermont and across the region.
Carpenter said when the federal government failed to step up as it should have, that they took on the task and worked with the governor and many others, including partners in China to make this happen.
When they finally were able to come up with a prototype they made the exchange with state officials at the Waterbury park and ride, like it was some sort of drug deal.
Even after they got approval, they ran into a Customs hassle, which the Vermont State Police had to help them maneuver past.
She thanked the governor and said she is personally grateful to live in Vermont and have her company here.
Scott acknowledged the generosity of Burton and the work of founder Jake Burton Carpenter, who died of cancer late last year.
“His legacy of giving lives on,” Scott said.
To which his wife Donna Carpenter said, “Ride on, Jake, ride on.”
UVM, among other community efforts, has set up a surge site at its Patrick Gym, provided food for health care workers, opened up parking for the medical center.
“We value our mission to the state,” Garimella said. “We will get through this together.”
Scott said that no doubt Garimella, like everyone else, was not expecting this when he took the UVM job a year ago, but nonetheless he is “the right person at the right time.”
JV Air was instrumental as part of a team effort to rush coronavirus test samples onto a plane and fly them to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota at a time when the commercial airline system was canceling flights from Logan Airport in Boston.
“We’ll do it again, if needed,” Matheson said. (SEE STORY HERE)
Scott said without such team efforts from many groups and individuals, “We wouldn’t be as successful as we are today.”