Brandon man leading way in EV fast-charging pg. 5
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Michael Shank congratulates GMP pilot program.
Published by Denton Publications, Inc.
March 21, 2020
Serving Addison, Rutland & Chittenden Counties
Coronavirus: Scott expands health response SEOC got underway last week From News & Staff Reports THE EAGLE
Gov. Phil Scott: “While COVID-19 is not widespread in Vermont and the risk to the general population remains low, we can slow its spread by following the Health Department’s guidance.” Photo by Lou Varricchio
Scott: All schools must close by March 18 Middlebury College on early spring break By Lou Varricchio EDITOR
MIDDLEBURY | The growing worldwide panic over the Chinese caronovirus hit Vermont on multiple fronts last week. And in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Phil Scott (R) has announced a Continuity of Education Plan for the orderly dismissal of all schools, and cancellation of all school related activities, no later than Wednesday, March 18. Scott’s directive will last through April 6, but may very well be extended for a longer period.
Last week, the first reported case of the virus was reported in Bennington and Middlebury College officials closed the campus giving students an early spring break. Instead of classroom learning, Middlebury students will attend classes via distance learning methods, at least until the end of the current semester. As first reported by Guy Page of the Vermont Daily Chronicle, “the University of Vermont Emergency Management office released its second statement encouraging faculty and staff to ‘begin planning for a potential shift to remote instruction.’’ The statement said the UVM Center for Teaching and Learning offers a ‘teaching continuity website,’ remote learning website direction and instruction, and hours of operation during the spring break.” See SCHOOLS » pg. 2
MIDDLEBURY | To support the ongoing work of the Vermont Department of Health and expand the capacity of state government to coordinate the COVID-19 response, Gov. Phil Scott (R) last week ordered additional state agencies and departments to activate through the Vermont State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). The SEOC began regular daily operations on March 11 with a multi-disciplinary team of state agency and department representatives currently assigned. The SEOC works closely with the Health Department’s Health Operations Center to ensure preparedness for the potential of widespread
transmission of COVID-19 as well as the implementation of community mitigation measures as they become necessary. “While COVID-19 is not widespread in Vermont and the risk to the general population remains low, we can slow its spread by following the Health Department’s guidance,” said Scott. “With an increasing number of Vermonters being monitored, the first positive test and the likelihood that there will be more cases, ensuring enhanced coordination and information sharing is critical. This step positions the state to scale its response as COVID-19 becomes more prevalent at the community level.” The SEOC opens ahead of, and during, potential and likely emergencies to support prevention, response and recovery efforts. The last major incident managed from the SEOC was the flooding event of Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2019. For updated information on Coronavirus, visit the Vermont Department of Health website: www. healthvermont.gov/covid. ■
Attention, shoppers!
Hannaford Supermarkets and its customers donated 18,124 pounds of food valued at $29,360 to the Vermont Foodbank as part of a hunger relief campaign that produced $1.4 million dollars in nutritious food and cash to food banks and pantries throughout the northeastern states. “Each year we see the abundant generosity and caring of our Middlebury- and Brandon-area customers through the Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger program,” said Ericka Dodge, Hannaford spokesperson. Photo provided
Virus scare aside, Addison among healthiest counties adults that are current smokers, the percentage of adults that are obese and the percentage of adults that report binge or heavy drinking. We indexed each of these data points on a scale of 0 to 100, took a weighted average, then indexed the final number to generate the health behaviors index,” she added. Next, Smart Asset considered access to healthcare as a secondary measure of how healthy each county is. Finally, Annunziato noted
that the website used a “weighted average” of the three indices above to yield an overall healthiest place score for Addison County. “We used a 50% weighting for length of life, a 30% weighting for health behaviors and a 20% weighting for healthcare access. We indexed the fi nal number so higher values reflect the healthiest places,” according to Annunziato. Addison County ranked in second place following first-place Chittenden County:
YPLL Rate*: 3,725 Adult smokers: 13.3% Adult obesity: 24.2% Excessive drinking: 20.7% PCP Rate**: 108 Uninsured rate: 4.6% Healthiest places: 90.48 *Years of Potential Life Lost before the age of 75 per 100,000 residents. **Primary Care Physicians per 100,000 residents. ■
Smart Asset’s Alyssa Annunziato: “We created a health behaviors index for each Vermont county. This reflects the counties with the healthiest behaviors, as measured by three data points... .” Photo provided
Smart Asset finds Addison County residents No. 2 state’s healthiest By Lou Varricchio EDITOR
MIDDLEBURY | A new Smart A sset st udy fou nd Add i son County to be among the healthiest counties in Vermont. To find Vermont’s healthiest places, the online financial technology company said it considered
three factors: length of life, health behaviors and healthcare access. “The first factor we considered was the premature death rate in a county, specifically the years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 residents. This number shows the rate at which people die before the age of 75. Places w ith the lowest rates of premature death generated the highest length of life index values,” according to Smart Asset spokesperson Alyssa Annunziato. “We created a health behaviors index for each county. This reflects the counties with the healthiest behaviors, as measured by three data points: the percentage of
See pg. 3
Sweet season underway
Nearly half the maple produced in the United States comes from Vermont, according to both the state’s data and a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2019, more than 2 million gallons of Vermont’s sweet product was produced. Gov. Phil Scott, pictured here, visited a maple operation, tapped a tree, and helped kick off the sweet season. Photo provided
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