UPDATE: On Friday afternoon, the Department of Health announced that the number of COVID-19 cases in Addison County now totaled 13. Of the 2,261 people tested for COVID-19 in Vermong, 184 tested positive and 10 died.
MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Department of Health today, Thursday, March 26, reported that a total of 12 Addison County residents had tested positive for COVID-19, up from the nine confirmed cases yesterday.
Statewide, 158 Vermonters have tested positive for the coronavirus thus far. Nine Vermonters have died from the disease. Another 325 patients are being monitored. The Vermont Department of Health had conducted 2,008 COVID-19 tests as of today.
In Middlebury, Porter Hospital is caring for two positive cases in its Medical/Surgical unit. There are no cases at Helen Porter Health Care and Rehabilitation, according to Porter spokesman Ron Hallman.
“We are caring for all of our patients and meeting their needs, and our clinical staff is adapting incredibly well to many new protocols, precautions and tools (like telemedicine) which we are using in all clinical settings now,” Hallman told the Independent. “The drive through screening site is working well and our community is being amazingly supportive and adaptive.
“We are busy both preparing and caring for our patients,” he added.
In preparation for a possible large number of patients needing emergency evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Porter Hospital on Wednesday placed a tent in the Emergency Department parking lot. This will allow the hospital to evaluate patients in a warm, lighted area immediately adjacent to the Emergency Department. Expanding the capacity of Porter’s Emergency Department is part of the medical center’s work to increase its capacity to triage, evaluate and potentially treat larger numbers of the population seeking care.
On Thursday afternoon, the Vermont Department of Health said Chittenden County has reported the most coronavirus cases in the state, with 75. Windsor County has the second most, with 17, followed by Addison County’s 12, and then 11 in Bennington County.
Essex and Grand Isle remain the only Vermont counties without a positive test result to date.