2019 Novel Coronavirus

March 7, 2020: Vermont Announces First Presumptive Case of New Coronavirus COVID-19

March 6, 2020: Vermont Department of Health Laboratory Testing for Novel Coronavirus(COVID-19)

March 5, 2020: Health Officials Announce New Guidance for Travel from COVID-19 Affected Countries

March 4, 2020: Patrons of the Engine Room in White River Junction determined to not be at risk for COVID-19 

March 3, 2020: VT and NH Health Officials Working Together to Trace Contacts of NH COVID-19 Case

February 28, 2020: Vermont Continues Preparation Efforts as COVID-19 Spreads Globally

Monitoring is for people who do not have symptoms and who have traveled to affected areas. It means checking your temperature daily, watching for symptoms, and for some people, staying home.

This follows guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is subject to change. 

Household members who did not travel do not need to be monitored and do not need to stay home, unless that person develops symptoms.

Travelers Returning from China and Iran

Returning travelers from China and Iran should stay home, practice social distancing and monitor their health for 14 days after returning to the United States. Social distancing means remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible. Call Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240 if you haven’t been in contact with them already. The Health Department will be in contact with you regularly during the monitoring period. If you develop symptoms:

• Call your health care provider right away.
• Before you go to an appointment, let your health care provider know that you are being monitored for novel coronavirus and your travel history.
• Call Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240.
• Avoid contact with others.

Travelers Returning from South Korea and Italy

Returning travelers from South Korea and Italy should stay home, practice social distancing and monitor their health for 14 days after returning to the United States. Social distancing means remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible. Call Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240 so we can provide guidance on monitoring. You'll take your temperature and watch for cough or shortness of breath daily. If you develop symptoms:

• Call your health care provider right away.
• Before you go to an appointment, let your health care provider know that you are being monitored for novel coronavirus and your travel history.
• Call the Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240.
• Avoid contact with others.

Travelers Returning from Japan

Travelers returning from Japan should call Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240 The Health Department is not asking you to stay at home, but to remain alert for symptoms for 14 days and to limit contact with others.

If you develop symptoms:

• Stay home, except for medical appointments.
• Call your health care provider.
• Before you go to an appointment, let your health care provider know that you are being monitored for novel coronavirus and your travel history.
• Call Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240.
• Avoid contact with others.

People in close contact with a person who tested postive for COVID-19

People who have been identified by the Health Department as a close contact to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 should stay home, practice social distancing and monitor their health for 14 days. Social distancing means remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible. The Health Department will be in contact with you regularly during the monitoring period. If you develop symptoms:

• Call your health care provider right away.
• Before you go to an appointment, let your health care provider know that you are being monitored for novel coronavirus.
• Call Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240.
• Avoid contact with others.

Close contact means being within six feet of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 for a long time. This happens when caring for, being intimate partners with, living with, visiting, or sharing a health care waiting area. If you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19: stay home, limit contact with others, and call Health Department Epidemiology at 802-863-7240 to discuss whether you need to see a provider and how you will monitor yourself for symptoms. When someone tests positive for COVID-19, the Health Department conducts outreach to close contacts of the individual. 

Close contact does not mean: being more than six feet away in the same indoor environment for a long period of time, walking by, or briefly being in the same room with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. In these situations, you should observe yourself for symptoms. You do not need to call the Health Department. 

Anyone who develops symptoms should stay home and call their health care provider.

You can read more about risk assessment in Table and Table 2 here.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infection. Person-to-person spread of the virus is thought to occur mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Much is still unknown about how the virus spreads. Take these everyday preventive actions to help stop the spread of germs:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

If you traveled to affected locations (see Guidance for Travelers on this page) within the past two weeks or have been in close contact with a person with COVID-19, and develop a fever, cough or have difficulty breathing, contact your health care provider right away.

Guidance for international travelers, including for business, is evolving. Stay up to date on the latest COVID-19 travel advisories from CDC. This page includes information for travelers and travel related industries, including by air and by ship.

You can also check CDC's FAQs for Travelers.

If you develop symptoms of shortness of breath, cough or fever, contact your health care provider right away. 

Travelers whose last day in China, Italy, South Korea or Iran was March 4 or afterwards should stay home and monitor their health for 14 days after returning to the United States.

Travelers returning from Japan should monitor their health for 14 days after returning to the United States.

All travelers who have returned from those countries in the last 14 days should call Health Department epidemiology and infectious disease staff at 802-863-7240 to discuss monitoring.

If you are ill, call your health care provider to find out if you should be seen for an evaluation and consideration of testing. Health care providers may decide to test the following people for COVID-19:

• A person who has symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and is hospitalized.
• A person – whether hospitalized or in an outpatient setting ­– who has symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and a travel history to an affected area or had close contact with another person who tested positive for COVID-19.
• A person who is ill and a health care provider believes their symptoms could be due to COVID-19.

Your health care provider will arrange for testing.

The state will ensure that anyone who meets the medical requirements for testing for COVID-19 can do so at no cost.

At this time the Health Department is not recommending closure or cancellation of mass gatherings or large events. It is reasonable for older adults and persons with underlying health conditions to consider not attending a mass gathering event. This guidance is subject to change based on the evolving situation.

For more information see Resources for Large Community Events & Mass Gatherings (CDC)

Results from the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory will be available in 24-48 hours. Test results will be reported by the Health Department Laboratory to the hospital or clinical lab where the test was collected. Individuals should wait for their health care provider to notify them of their test results.

Tips to Help Keep Illness from Spreading in Arabic | Burmese | Chinese | English | French | Kirundi | Nepali | Somali | Spanish | Swahili | Vietnamese

Translations in Simplified Chinese:

• Symptoms (CDC) 症状
• Prevention & Treatment (CDC) 预防与治疗
• Preventing 2019-nCoV from Spreading to Homes and Communities (CDC)  预防 2019 年新型冠状病毒 (2019-nCoV) 传播给家庭和社区中其他人的暂行指南
• Travel Health Alert Notice (CDC) 健康预警：来自中国的旅客请注意

The Health Department can not provide documentation for people to go to work or to stay home.  

The Health Department can discuss this with you if:

• you traveled to an affected country or had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and
• have completed monitoring. 

Protect yourself and your community from getting and spreading respiratory illnesses like coronavirus disease 2019. Everyone has a role to play in getting ready and staying healthy. Learn how to prepare and take action at home, school, large community events and more by following CDC guidance below:

Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities

Ask all ill presenting patients about recent travel.

If a patient with a fever or respiratory illness traveled to affected locations in the 14 days before symptom onset:

• Give the patient a surgical mask.
• Notify facility infection control personnel immediately.
• Use standard precautions, contact precautions, airborne precautions, and use eye protection when entering the room.
• Evaluate the patient in a private room with the door closed, ideally in an airborne infection isolation room.

Report all suspect cases immediately to the Vermont Department of Health Infectious Disease Epidemiology by calling 802-863-7240 (24/7).
If you have questions about PPE, email HCSupply@vermont.gov.

Lab Testing

• Vermont Health Alert: Laboratory Testing for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) - March 6, 2020
• Instructions for Collection and Packaging of Specimens for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Clincal Test Request Form

Receive Alerts

The Health Department periodically sends advisories to health care providers through the Health Alert Network (HAN). The following groups should expect to receive HAN messages:

• Dental providers
• DAIL facilities
• EMS
• Hospitals (defined positions by hospital)
• Providers (licensed through the Medical Practice Board)
• Pharmacies
• Practices
• Schools
• Town Health Officers
• Veterinarians

If you are a member of one of these groups and have not been receiving HAN messages, please email VTHAN@vermont.gov.
If you are not a member of one of these groups, all HAN messages are available to review here and COVID-19 related messages are in the "Alerts and Resources" section below. 

FOR HOSPITALS: You may want to ask visitors to help protect others by answering a few questions: Download the COVID-19 Visitor Screening Tool

Posters for health care settings

• Patient Travel Poster for Clinical Settings
• COVID-19 "Stop the Spread of Germs" Poster (CDC)

Alerts and Resources

• March 10, 2020 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Guidelines for Death Certification and Disposition of Remains for Health Care Providers/Facilities
• March 5, 2020 Health Advisory: Preparing for Community Transmission of COVID-19 in Vermont
• February 21, 2020: Slides from the Vermont Department of Health COVID-19 Webinar for Providers
• February 13, 2020 Health Advisory: Preparing for Novel Coronavirus – Update for Vermont Health Care Providers
• February 11, 2020 Health Advisory: Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Provider Update
• January 23, 2020 Health Advisory: Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

The general strategies CDC recommends to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities are the same strategies these facilities use every day to detect and prevent the spread of other respiratory viruses like influenza. Please follow the Vermont Health Department and CDC guidance below:

Vermont Health Advisory: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Long-Term Care Facilities (March 5, 2020) 

CDC: Strategies to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 in Long-Term Care Facilities

You may want to ask visitors to your facility to help protect others by answering a few questions: Download the COVID-19 Visitor Screening Tool


Useful Posters
Caring May Mean Not Visiting
Keep Germs from Spreading

We understand staff, parents, and students may have questions and concerns about the novel (new) coronavirus disease (COVID-19), particularly if you have staff or students with ties to or recent travel to a country with a COVID-19 outbreak. We are not currently making a recommendation that events or extracurricular activities be canceled. As always, we recommend that people stay home when sick, cover their cough, and practice good hand hygiene. These recommendations are especially important during cold and flu season.

The State of Vermont has formed a task force to ensure communications and resources specific to Vermont will be available throughout all sectors of the public, including businesses, schools, emergency responders and local government.

• School Closure and Dismissal During a Novel Coronavirus Outbreak: Technical Guidance for Local School Officials
• Early Childhood Care and Education Programs Closure And Dismissal During a Novel Coronavirus Outbreak: Technical Guidance for Child Care, Head Start and public and private Prekindergarten Education Programs
• Interim Guidance for Administrators of U.S. Childcare Programs and K-12 Schools to Plan, Prepare and Respond (CDC)
• Resources for Institutes of Higher Education (CDC)
• COVID-19 "Stop the Spread of Germs" Poster (CDC)
• Guidance for Boarding Schools and Colleges