Dave Harley wipes down his chair with disinfectant after giving a haircut in Chelsea, Vt., Wednesday, July 22, 2020. After 40 years of barbering, 26 of those in Chelsea, Vt., 72-year-old Harley has decided to retire earlier than planned due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on his business. He reopened two-and-a-half months after restrictions went into effect and said he had one steady week before business dropped off and he found he would not be able to make his rent payment. Walk-ins made up the majority of customers before, and patrons have been slow to switch to making appointments. “It’s changed the habits of my customers,” he said. “You can’t associate with people who just want to talk sometimes.” Some are reticent to wear masks. “I’ve had longtime customers storm out because they have to wear masks,” he said. “I believe that the mask is the only thing that can make the difference.” Richard Guild, of Williamstown, Vt., came in for his final cut with Harley on Thursday. “It’s like changing doctors almost,” said Guild of losing his longtime barber. “They’re not only customers,” Harley said. “They’re friends. We know each other's lives, my customers and I.” Harley will close the shop on July 31. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Dave Harley wipes down his chair with disinfectant after giving a haircut in Chelsea, Vt., Wednesday, July 22, 2020. After 40 years of barbering, 26 of those in Chelsea, Vt., 72-year-old Harley has decided to retire earlier than planned due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on his business. He reopened two-and-a-half months after restrictions went into effect and said he had one steady week before business dropped off and he found he would not be able to make his rent payment. Walk-ins made up the majority of customers before, and patrons have been slow to switch to making appointments. “It’s changed the habits of my customers,” he said. “You can’t associate with people who just want to talk sometimes.” Some are reticent to wear masks. “I’ve had longtime customers storm out because they have to wear masks,” he said. “I believe that the mask is the only thing that can make the difference.” Richard Guild, of Williamstown, Vt., came in for his final cut with Harley on Thursday. “It’s like changing doctors almost,” said Guild of losing his longtime barber. “They’re not only customers,” Harley said. “They’re friends. We know each other's lives, my customers and I.” Harley will close the shop on July 31. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: James M. Patterson

MONTPELIER — The Vermont Department of Health will no longer recommend public indoor masking for all Vermonters as of March 14, officials said at a news conference Thursday.

“As our statewide hospitalization rate is low, and hospitals are no longer facing the COVID-related strains of the recent surge, we’re ready to plan for the next step,” state epidemiologist Dr. Patsy Kelso said.

That includes abandoning mask guidance in all K-12 schools, an expansion of the Feb. 28 guidance that said schools should drop mandates if 80% or more of their students were vaccinated against COVID-19, Education Secretary Dan French said.

The loosening guidance applies to all Vermonters, but Kelso said “the decision to wear masks will be up to each person based on their own circumstances.”

Ben Truman, a spokesperson for the health department, said via email that people at higher risk may want to take additional precautions, such as wearing a mask or having rapid COVID-19 tests on hand. “These are not separate recommendations but decisions that are up to the individual,” he wrote.

Kelso did not specify whether the new masking guidance would apply to congregate settings such as long-term care facilities. Truman said more details will be released in the coming days.

Masks have been required in schools since the start of the school year in fall 2021, and the state began recommending masks in public spaces amid rising COVID-19 cases in November.

Gov. Phil Scott’s announcement in February that highly vaccinated schools could unmask was met with mixed reactions. Some experts cautioned that research didn’t back claims that unmasking was safe, but some schools have welcomed the chance to roll back restrictions, already ending mask mandates even if they hadn’t met the 80% threshold.

On Wednesday, Montpelier High School students protested the decision, saying they wanted mask mandates to protect themselves and high-risk members of their households.

In response, Scott said on Thursday, “They should wear a mask.”

“There should be no stigma surrounding them, and we should be accepting of people who want to wear masks,” he said. He said masks protect the wearer as well as others, although experts agree masks are most protective when universally used.

The state’s decision is also somewhat at odds with newly released guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC created a new rating system for the risk of virus transmission at a county level, using hospitalization and hospital capacity along with infection rates.

Using that system, 12 Vermont counties are at “low” or “medium” risk, but Bennington and Rutland counties remain at “high” risk on Thursday evening, meaning the CDC recommends that COVID-19 mitigation measures such as masking remain in place. But Kelso said the state wanted to take a more “consistent” approach.

“We’re going to look at this holistically — the entire state of Vermont, instead of by county, because we’re so intertwined with everyone else,” Scott said. “There are folks from rural parts of the states who have to drive into a heavily populated region, that work in those areas, and socialize in those areas, or shop in those areas. We’re moving around a lot.”

Kelso added that, with case counts declining, she expected high-risk counties to move out of that range in the coming weeks. (Already on Thursday, Addison, Orange and Washington counties moved from “high-risk” to “medium-risk” over the course of the day.)

She said the department would also simplify its isolation and quarantine guidance. Close contacts, even those who are not up to date on their vaccines, no longer need to automatically isolate for five days after exposure to COVID-19, but should still get tested.

Anyone who develops symptoms should also get tested, she said. Vermonters who test positive should stay home and isolate themselves for five days.

She urged Vermonters to stay up to date on their vaccinations, and to consult the list of high-risk conditions and discuss with their providers if they match that list.

Scott said he had not yet had a chance to review President Joe Biden’s “test-to-treat” plan, which would provide antiviral pills at pharmacies, along with COVID-19 testing.

“Having the ability for individuals to get the antiviral treatment that they need in a quick fashion makes sense to me,” he said, but he would want health care professionals to weigh in on it. “They will know much more about it than I do,” he said.

The health department reported 177 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, for a seven-day average of 158 cases per day. That’s down from 198 cases per day last week.

As of Thursday, 32 people were hospitalized with the virus, including four in intensive care. The department also reported two more deaths. In total, 604 people have died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.