Covid 19

Update #5: Burlington schools to close; Mayor Weinberger addresses community at Telephone Town Hall

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Posted at 7:45 p.m.

The latest updates:

  • On Sunday afternoon, Governor Scott announced the cancellation of all schools in Vermont by Wednesday, March 18, and lasting through at least April 6. In response, Burlington Superintendent Yaw Obeng updated the community that Burlington schools will remain open on Monday and Tuesday to allow parents to make arrangements, but no student will be required to be in school on those days, and closed starting on Wednesday. The Burlington School District has created a coronavirus webpage with much more information: https://www.bsdvt.org/covid-19-coronavirus-prep-in-bsd/
  • Also on Sunday afternoon, Mayor Weinberger hosted a Telephone Town Hall on the coronavirus. The City used a service that dialed out to thousands of landlines across Burlington and invited them to listen in, and people were also able to join the Town Hall through a call-in number, an audio streaming link, or by watching the livestream on Facebook. The Mayor was joined at the Town Hall by Vermont Department of Health Deputy Commissioner Tracy Dolan, UVM Medical Center President Dr. Stephen Leffler, and Burlington Emergency Management Director and Fire Chief Steven Locke. Each of the four attendees shared initial updates about Vermont's and Burlington's response to the pandemic, and then took as many questions from phone calls and online comments as they were able to. We had more than 2,700 Burlingtonians join in across the phone lines and the online audio, with many more watching the livestream on Facebook, and attendees submitted hundreds of questions. 

    At the end of his initial update, Mayor Weinberger said: "Times of emergency always bring out the best in Burlingtonians and Vermonters, as we saw during hurricane Irene and during 9/11. In this emergency, even more so than in others, Vermonters need to make sure that the actions they take are not only the right actions for their household, but also right for the whole community. If we all take personal responsibility for each other, we will have a very different outcome here in Burlington than we are seeing elsewhere. This kind of community engagement and action is something we excel at here and I have full confidence that we will come together as needed in the days ahead."

    View part one of the Telephone Town Hall here and below:

    View part two of the Telephone Town Hall here and below:

     
    Read the full update that Mayor Weinberger shared at the beginning of the Telephone Town Hall below.

 

Full update from Mayor Weinberger:

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining this important Telephone Town Meeting

I am joined today by Vermont Department of Health Deputy Commissioner Tracy Dolan, UVM Medical Center President Dr. Stephen Leffler, and Burlington Emergency Management Director and Fire Chief Steven Locke. In a moment we will hear from each of them updates on how their organizations are working to slow the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19, and then we will take questions from callers.

First, however, I want to share with you the challenge we are facing as a community, as I see it, and describe how the City is and will be approaching that challenge in the days to come.

We are dealing with a global pandemic unlike any other that we have seen in recent decades. This pandemic began in Wuhan, China in late January and has now spread to at least 131 countries.

Some countries, particularly those in Asia that had to respond to the SARS virus in the early 2000s, were well prepared and appear to have kept the virus under control and have seen their rate of new infections stabilize.

However, many countries have not succeeded at containment and are now seeing virus infections grow exponentially.

One of the countries that has been hit hardest, and that demonstrates clearly what we are trying to avoid, is Italy.

In northern Italy, COVID-19 infections have grown from 3 confirmed cases on February 18 to over 21,100 as of this morning, a period of just a month. Those infections have now overwhelmed the health care system’s ability to care for everyone suffering from serious illness. Doctors there are being forced to make terrible decisions and triaging medical services the likes of which have not been seen in Europe since World War II. Not only are people dying from COVID-19 that could be saved if the system were not overwhelmed, doctors are struggling to provide other essential medical services to patients with other maladies.

Other European counties appear headed toward a similar outcome and many experts are concerned that the U.S., with confirmed virus outbreaks in 49 states, is on a similar path.

However, fortunately for the United States and Vermont, the virus got here later and we have some additional time. If we all understand this threat and take personal responsibility to flatten the curve, we can slow down the spread of the virus, create a different, flatter trajectory for this region, and keep the health care system functioning well throughout this emergency.

That is the City of Burlington’s top goal. We have been working closely with the UVM Medical Center leadership for weeks and, as you will hear from Dr. Leffler shortly, that is their goal. After talking with the Governor last night and getting further communications from the State today, I am confident that is the Governor’s goal as well.

The Vermont Department of Health is taking the lead in the government’s response to this crisis here in Vermont, and everything that the City is doing is intended to coordinate with and supplement their effort.

In this work, all of my decisions are being guided by three priorities: slowing the transmission of the virus within our community; continuing essential municipal services, and ensuring the safety and health of all City employees and Burlingtonians, with a special focus on the most vulnerable members of our community, especially the elderly and the chronically ill.

Last night the second resident of Chittenden County tested positive for COVID-19. The fact that this is just the second positive test, and that more than 350 have tested negative in Vermont, is an indication that we are still in the early stages of community transmission here in Chittenden County.

At the same time, we should not be overly reassured by how small this number is. The positive tests should be understood to mean that the COVID-19 virus is here in Chittenden County now, and there is a high likelihood that there are more individuals – probably many more individuals – in the region that are already infected but do not know it and are at risking of spreading the virus.

It is now time for us to ramp up our organizational and personal efforts to slow the transmission of the virus.

In the last hour, the Governor has ramped up the state’s efforts.  On Friday the Governor declared an emergency and announced initial measures including a ban on assemblies of groups over 250 people and new restrictions for long-term care facilities. Since then, he, his team, and Vermont’s superintendents have been working through the weekend on this emergency considering additional measures, and he has just released additional direction regarding the schools that I know the public is very interested in.

I will have more to say about the Governor’s decision regarding the schools and how the City will assist in responding to this decision. 

Here is what the City is doing and will be doing in the days ahead:

We have already taken steps to reduce the possibility of virus transmission in City facilities.

These steps include instructing City workers who can work from home to do so starting tomorrow, and likely for an extended period, in order to create more space and lessen the spread of germs within City buildings. These steps also include increased our cleaning of all high-touch surfaces, and signs asking people who are sick to stay out of City buildings.

We have opened an Emergency Operations Center (or EOC) at the Police Department to coordinate the City’s response. The EOC is under the direction of me and Chief Locke, our Emergency Services Director, and has a top objective of continuing the City’s essential services throughout the pandemic. The services are: electric and water service, the maintenance of public streets, and emergency fire and police services.

Also, we have begun the planning to curtail non-essential City services. While all City buildings will be open tomorrow other than the Police Department, the public should expect that at some point this week that will no longer be the case and non-essential City services are likely to suspended.

In addition, a major City goal will be to assist the schools in their challenges in the days and months ahead.

I have offered to Superintendent Obeng – and he has accepted -- City assistance to the schools to continue the safe provision of meals to families that need it, and to support ongoing learning in any way we can. I expect to deploy City staff from non-essential City services to assist in this effort, and the coordination necessary for this has begun.

Similarly, the City has also begun offering City assistance to senior organizations that are caring for the most vulnerable members of our community.

The City has created a communication channel with these organizations and on Friday had our first call with them. The City is working to answer to get these organizations all the information and support they need to carry out their critical work.

Now, the critical intervention to slow the transmission of this virus is what’s known as “social distancing,” or literally creating more physical space between ourselves.

In his executive order on Friday evening, Governor Scott suspended all non-essential mass gatherings of more than 250 people for social and recreation activities.

The curtailment of City services that I mentioned before we are planning is also a social distancing strategy.

We are likely to need to take further steps in the days ahead.

In the coming days and weeks, many other things that we expect as part of daily life are likely to change.

The public should expect further action soon from the City of Burlington to do what we can with the tools available to me to support social discancing.

The public should also know that we are very aware that requiring social distancing will have an impact on vulnerable communities and on our local small businesses that are such a vital part of our community, and the people who they employ.

I applaud the many local businesses who are already finding creative ways to serve Burlingtonians during this time.

Meanwhile, CEDO has  taken the lead reviewing all of the tools and programs that we can use to offer relief to residents and local businesses during this challenging time, and will have more information to share in coming days.

Finally, what should Burlingtonians do?

All of us have some control and responsibility over how we can implement physical distancing measures. This is the compassionate thing to do, and what we need to do in order to protect not just ourselves but also those who may be vulnerable.

My family has begun practicing physical distancing measures and I call on all Burlingtonians who can to do that as well. In a minute, Deputy Commissioner Dolan will share more information about what physical distancing looks like in people’s lives.

Also, I know many people want to help, and there is going to be a need for help. There will be volunteer needs in days ahead delivering meals to vulnerable families, assistance combatting social isolation – especially for seniors. Please look out for additional information in coming days on the City website at burlingtonvt.gov and my Facebook page at facebook.com/MiroBTV about volunteer efforts and other updates.

Times of emergency always bring out the best in Burlingtonians and Vermonters, as we saw during hurricane Irene and during 9/11.  In this emergency, even more so than others, Vermonters need to make sure that the actions they take are not only the right actions for their household, but they are right for the whole community.  If we all take personal responsibility for each other, we will have a very different outcome here in Burlington than we are seeing elsewhere.  This kind of community engagement and action is something we excel at here – I have full confidence that we will come together as needed in the days ahead.