Cavendish Update 11/13/20: SB Mtg/Schools/Covid
/
VIEW THE CAVENDISH VT FACEBOOK PAGE DAILY FOR THE LATEST NEWS You don’t have to be a Facebook subscriber to see this page.
11/13/20
1. Cavendish Select Board Meeting 11/9/20
2. Schools going remote
3. Covid update
4. Events
1. CAVENDISH SELECT BOARD MEETING 11/9/20: The Select Board (SB) continues to meet by Zoom, with Okemo Valley TV posting a video of the meeting at their website. Minutes are available at the Town’s website.
Action Taken
• Approved Green MT Snow Fleas Snowmobile Club yearly road crossings.
• Approved Golden Stage Inn for a 1st class Liquor License and Outdoor Consumption Permit
Updates
• Cavendish Gulf Rd and Stone Way paving projects are close to completion
• ATV on town roads. Becoming an increasing issue. Brendan McNamara, town manager, receives an average of 4-5 calls on weekends. Sunday seems to be the worst day with East, Old County and Atkinson Roads appearing to be hot spots. The hardest part is who regulates and enforces.
• Mack Molding parking area completed. The town replaced the culvert on Mill St. which will improve drainage for both the parking area as well as Mill St. that tends to flood due to ice dams
• Bazin Brothers provided paving estimates for three more roads (Wheeler, Greven and Ranney Hill). While price point was on target, the timing wasn’t due to approaching winter. Plan is to do paving on more Class 2 roads in the spring and summer.
• Since paving of 131 will take place next summer, this is a good time to discuss curbing and side walk replacement.
• Former town garage fill spread should be taking place by the end of this week into next.
• For this year, letters for funding requests will not require agencies/organizations to attend the December Select Board meeting.
• Voting went seamlessly. Thank you to all those involved.
• The town manager, who is also co-health officer, explained that no information is provided to the town by the Health Department regarding Covid incidence in town. The most recent data shows that Cavendish has 1-5 cases of Covid.
Executive Session for personnel matter
2. SCHOOLS GOING REMOTE STARTING WITH THANKSGIVING BREAK: On Nov. 8, TRSU Superintendent Lauren Fierman sent a note to the TRSU community. Over the last several weeks, many members of our educational community have been engaged in discussion about the likely effects of holiday travel on our ability to safely run our schools. Families and staff have shared information about their holiday plans, including the number who will need to be in quarantine after traveling out of state or having non-Vermont visitors in their homes. As a result of these discussions and surveys, we have reached a difficult conclusion.
All schools in the TRSU will be going to remote learning from Wednesday, November 25, until one week after the December Holiday Break. We will return to in-person instruction on Monday, January 11….The After School Program is exploring options in order to be able to provide support for families during the weeks of December 7 to December 18 and then again for the week of January 4. Information about the availability of those options will be shared as soon as possible.
3. COVID UPDATE: This week VT has broken one record after another. Yesterday alone there were 109 new cases, with 19 people in the hospital-five in ICU. From Nov. 5-Nov. 12, VT has had 373 new cases of Covid, with Windsor County accounting for 19 of the cases. Chittenden and Washington County are the largest hotspots, but the VT Dept. of Health is tracking 79 situations statewide, including an outbreak at Rutland Healthcare and Rehabilitation.
Why such a sudden rise? According to the state, social gatherings, not wearing masks & social distancing, out of state travel, deer camps, Halloween parties, and people with symptoms not staying home are all contributing to the rapid rise. Contact tracers have not been getting the information they need, which is adding to the problem.
New Measures: To counter the rapid rise of cases in VT and surrounding states the following steps are being taken:
• 14-day quarantine Mandate: The “travel map” has been suspended and replaced with the quarantine mandate, requiring anyone who travels to or from Vermont for unessential travel must quarantine for 14 days. This can be shortened if the person is PCR tested on day 7 of the quarantine and tests negative for Covid. Testing site information is available on-line.
• Youth ice hockey suspended until Dec. 31
• Surge field hospitals are being opened in Burlington and Rutland.
• Gatherings should be limited to fewer than 10 people and stay home for the holidays “Our plans and choices will have an impact on the health and lives of our families and communities. I am strongly urging people to lay low this season and forgo non-essential travel,” said Gov. Scott.
• Covid testing is being increased to seven days a week in addition to widespread surveillance testing for certain groups, such as school workers.
• Compliance Checks: Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling announced a return of randomized, plainclothes compliance checks on whether businesses are violating social distancing guidelines or travel restrictions. The state will send out officers to do those checks starting Nov. 12 as a way to figure out the baseline level of compliance across different businesses, he said. They plan to target lodging and social businesses, particularly indoor ones.
• Surveillance testing of K-12 schools will begin after Thanksgiving break. To establish a baseline, the state will offer testing to all teachers and staff starting next week. After the Thanksgiving break, testing will be conducted on a rotating schedule, with tests offered to one-quarter of Vermont schools each week, so that every teacher and staff member is offered testing once a month. Testing will be voluntary.
If you are thinking about travel:
- Decide if the risk is worth it for your family.
- Plan to have a safe trip, remain flexible and get your flu shot.
- Quarantine when you return.
- Plan on being tested
The metrics for reopening/shutting down: VT uses the following guidelines for evaluating how the state is doing:
• Syndromic surveillance: Percentage of visits to hospitals with Covid-19 like illness and influenza diagnosis-warning flag percentage of visits exceeding 4% for multiple consecutive days
• Viral growth & reproductivity: Sustained case growth that would lead to <30% open ICU beds.
• Percentage of new positive cases: New positive tests represent > 5% of daily results. Note that VT is doing thousands of tests a day now and the percentage of positive cases is lower than it was in the spring when there was very limited testing and a much rate of positivity.
• Hospital and critical care bed capacity: Reduction in ICU open beds to less than 30%.
Currently VT is still operating below the threshold. As the Governor noted, “I think what we need to do is tighten up a little bit; we’ve become a little bit lax in all areas. But I don’t see us rolling back to where we were in the beginning, because we have a little bit better understanding of what this virus does and how to protect ourselves.” That comment was made at last Friday’s press conference.
Light at the End of the Tunnel: There is some good news to report. The FDAapproved bamlanivimab, a new treatment for Covid, this week. Pfizer has announced that their Covid vaccine is 90% effective. The vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been found. It is anticipated that the vaccine will be available by the end of the year and will be going to front line workers such as nurses, doctors and first responder. Dr. Fauci estimates that by April 2021, vaccines will be available to the general public. In the mean, the CDC is reporting that the research shows that masks provide protection to both wearer and those they come in contact with.
Cavendish Covid Resource Guide has been updated and is available at the Cavendish Connects Website. Please note that Shaw’s does provide a delivery service and pick up service is available from Singleton’s and Walmart.
4. UPCOMING EVENTS:
NOVEMBER 14 (SATURDAY)-29 (SUNDAY): Deer Season
NOVEMBER 16-29 (MONDAY-SUNDAY): Virtual CTES Book Fair.
NOVEMBER 26 (THURSDAY): HAPPY THANKSGIVING Town office closed
NOVEMBER 27 (FRIDAY): Town Office Closed
NOVEMBER 30 (MONDAY): Deadline for the GMP Covid 19 assistance. FMI: Department of Public Service website.
CA❤︎ENDSH-A SAFER SIX COMMUNITY
Covers mouth & nose
Always masks in public
Vermonters keep each other safe
Elbow coughs
Never forgets to wash hands
Disinfects common surfaces
Is alert for symptoms
Stays 6 feet apart
Has respect for personal space