MONTPELIER— A school district in Orange County is concerned about families not complying with quarantine rules after a cluster of COVID-19 cases turned up in the district that serves Randolph, Braintree and Brookfield.
The Orange Southwest School District has moved to remote learning but is encountering apathy from some people it’s contacted during contact tracing, WCAX-TV reported. Superintendent Layne Millington estimates about a third of the families that were called discounted concerns about possible exposure or exposing others to the virus that causes COVID-19.
“Didn’t care, is probably a good expression for a lot of them,” Millington told WCAX-TV. “And then, we had at least one family that had positive cases that said they were going to be noncompliant with the quarantine.”
Gov. Phil Scott says the state can impose penalties for people unwilling to comply with contact tracing requirements but he’s reluctant to do that.
“We don’t want to use our limited resources in public safety to go after people,” he said. “We’re asking people to tell the truth to protect others. I don’t think it’s tattling on anyone, and I am not sure it’s all about the kids. The parents play a role in this as well.”
On Tuesday, Scott announced that when children return to school next week after Thanksgiving, they will be asked whether they attended gatherings outside their households. Any students who attended events with more than just their immediate household will be required to take online classes for a two-week quarantine period, or to quarantine for a week and then have a negative COVID-19 test, Scott said.
CONCORD — New Hampshire legislators are working on a bill to offer price protections for adult vaccines, such as those pending for COVID-19.
Rep. Jerry Knirk, a Democrat from Freedom, tells WMUR-TV that by expanding a New Hampshire nonprofit association that pools insurance company money to buy vaccine doses in bulk, the savings to the state and patients could be immense.
The process is already done in New Hampshire for pediatric vaccines, he said. The bill would expand the New Hampshire Vaccine Association, which purchases vaccines for children under 19, to all adults.
“In the pediatric program, we purchase about $38 million worth of vaccines for about $28 million,” Knirk said. “The savings is roughly about 26%. For the adults, it is estimated it should be very similar in terms of the degree of savings.”
The state Health Department provides oversight to about 250 provider offices for the children’s program; an additional 350-400 would be enrolled to accommodate adults, according to a similar bill that passed the House this year, but didn’t go any further.
The federal government is expected to pay for a COVID-19 vaccination, but the bill could come in handy if gaps in funding arise next year or suddenly states find themselves in the position of trying to obtain more vaccine.
The Vermont Department of Labor is urging Vermonters filing for unemployment insurance to watch out for a phishing scam that uses texts and emails touting fraudulent COVID-19 related benefits.
The senders of the messages have fraudulently stated that “eligible workers” could “receive COVID-19” benefits from the department, officials said Tuesday. The messages wrongly state that the department will pay eligible workers $3,750 for COVID-19 benefits and compensation and provide links to register.
Officials urged Vermonters applying for benefits to only use the department’s website and sub-pages.
The Labor Department said it was working with the state information technology security team, the Vermont attorney general’s office, state police and multiple federal law enforcement agencies to deal with the phishing attempts.
Vermonters are urged to report any fraud to the Labor Department and attorney general’s office.