What did Vermont do to get a handle on COVID-19 in long-term care facilities?

One of the first reported COVID-19 related deaths in Vermont, announced on March 19, was a 95-year-old female resident of Burlington Health and Rehab, a nursing facility.

This news came just 12 days after Gov. Phil Scott, alongside the state's Health Commissioner Mark Levine, announced the state's first presumptive coronavirus case. The long-term care facility was one of the few in Vermont that had witnessed a severe outbreak of COVID-19 cases among its elderly residents and staff members in the early weeks of the pandemic.

Despite being hit hard at the onset of the pandemic, on May 7, Burlington and Health and Rehab was declared COVID-19-free. 

By mid-July, Vermont hit 30 consecutive days without a COVID-19 death, a milestone Health Commissioner Mark Levine partially credited to strict protocols in long-term care facilities, where 32 residents have died due to the disease.

How did the state succeed in tamping down the coronavirus outbreak in long-term care facilities while so many other states continue to struggle? And what did Vermont learn in the process? 

Subscribers can read the full story here to find out how the day unfolded.

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Contact Maleeha Syed at mzsyed@freepressmedia.com or 802-495-6595. Follow her on Twitter @MaleehaSyed89. 

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