Cavendish Update 12/24/21: Elections/News/Christmas
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VIEW THE CAVENDISH VT FACEBOOK PAGE DAILY FOR THE LATEST NEWS
12/24/21
1. Cavendish Info
2. Cavendish Open Election Positions
3. Covid update
4. Events
Transfer Station Closed Saturday, Dec 25 and Saturday, Jan 1
Church services appear in Events Section
NORAD Santa Tracker is live.
Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 10 pm tonight to 8 am Sunday
Merry Christmas
1. CAVENDISH INFO
• Cavendish Christmas Ghost Story 2021: Enjoy this year’s Christmas tale of what the Cavendish ghosts have been up to at the CHS Blog.
• Ludlow Rotary Tornado Relief Effort:: The Ludlow Rotary is collecting donations to assist those in Kentucky who were impacted by the recent tornados. From now until January 12, the following items can be dropped off at Cota & Cota or Benson’s in Ludlow: Coats, socks, non-perishable foods, diapers, can openers, towels, feminine products, cleaning supplies, shoes, water, baby formula and bottles, batteries, blankets, personal care items, pet care items, and under garments. For children, toys, books, art supplies, stuffed animals, Legos. Items should be new or very gently used. FMI: Kate Lampert 802-228-4000
• New Executive Director for Mount Ascutney Regional Commission (Regional Planning): Tom Kennedy is stepping down as Executive Director of MARC and will be the Director of Community Development effective January 1st. Jason Rasmussen, currently MARC’s Director of Planning, will replace Kennedy as MARC’s executive director.
• Free Efficiency VT Kit: Efficiency Vermont is offering Vermonters a free kit of general purpose LEDs and water-saving devices. Get your FREE kit today and start saving money on energy bills. This offer is only available for a limited time. This kit contains one (1) 60w Tuneable Wifi LED A19, five (5) 60w LED A19, three (3) 40w LED A19, two (2) 75w LED A19, one (1) 1.5 GPM fixed showerhead, one (1) kitchen aerator, and one (1) bathroom aerator. A $34 value, it’s free. Order by going to the Efficiency VT website. Note this does not apply to second home owners.
• VT Everyone Eats Program Extended: Vermont Everyone Eats, a program that addresses food insecurity by providing a weekly meal to residents through the state, has been extended through April 1, providing an additional three months of meals from its originally scheduled conclusion at the end of this year.
2. CAVENDISH OPEN ELECTION POSITIONS: The list of open elected positions for the Town of Cavendish is available below. Please call the Town Clerk’s Office at 802-226-7292 if you are interested in filling out a petition to run for any of these positions.
• One year position: Town Moderator; Town Agent; Auditor, Select Board (2 vacancies); Town Grand Juror; Trustee of Public Funds; GMUSD Director
• Two Year Position: Auditor
• Three Year Position: Auditor; Select Board; Trustee of Public Funds; GMUSD Director
• Five Year Position: Library Trustee
3. COVID-19 UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including those for people with Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.
WEEKLY DATA:
Cavendish & Surrounding Towns: Cavendish had 7 new cases (87 total) this past week, Ludlow 5 (165 total); Chester 39 (360 total); Springfield had 104 new cases (1,188 total) and Weathersfield 25 (1761 total).
Schools: The VT Dept of Health’s school report for Dec. 20, reports 1 new case for CTES (3 total) and 1 at Green Mountain Union High School (18 total). There were no new cases at Chester (15 total) or Ludlow Elementary (8 total) schools. There were 278 cases last week in Vermont schools and 3,003 cases since the start of the school year. Note-there will be no school data until after the new year.
State: Tuesday’s modeling showed a decrease in cases, 16% over the last 14 days. It is anticipated that the combination of the holidays and omicron will send cases soaring, potentially reaching 1,000 or more new cases a day. Nationally, omicron is now the dominant strain in the USA, having reached that status in just a few weeks. Though VT reported its first case of omicron on Dec. 18, it’s been spreading since early December.
Those 18-64 and not fully vaccinated were 46X more likely to be hospitalized over the last 6 weeks than those fully vaccinated & boosted. Those not fully vaccinated were 34X more likely to die from Covid-19 over the last 6 weeks compared to those fully vaccinated and boosted. Hospitalizations by vaccination status for this age group are as follows: For not fully vaccinated 112, hospitalizations per 100K; fully vaccinated but not boosted 12 hospitalizations per 100K; fully vaccinated & boosted 2.4 hospitalizations per 100K
Seropositivity (percentage of tests that are positive) has dropped from 4.8% to 4.3% in the last week. Vt has had 60,265 cases, 460 deaths with 53 people in hospital, 17 in the ICU.
THE GOOD NEWS: Two large new studies-from the UK and South Africa-were published on Wednesday. They found that people who get COVID-19 infections caused by the Omicron variant are less likely to need hospital care, compared with those infected by the Delta variant. The first analysis found that overall, people infected by Omicron had about a 20% reduced risk of needing any hospital care for their infections and a 40% lower risk of an overnight hospital stay, compared to those infected with Delta. The second study, compared to people infected with the Delta variant, those with presumed Omicron infections were about 70% less likely to have severe disease.
This week the FDA granted emergency use authorization of two new antiviral pills, Merck’s molnupiravir and Pfizer's ritonavir plus nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) to treat people with symptomatic COVID-19 and who are at high risk of death or hospitalization. It is available by prescription only and should be taken as soon as possible after diagnosis and within 5 days of the start of symptoms.
Omicron in South Africa appears to be subsiding just as quickly as it grew. It’s expected that other countries will follow a similar pattern.
TESTING FOR THE HOLIDAYS: The state is preparing for holiday testing with 16 pop-up clinics. If you want a free PCR or LAMP test at a Health Dept. site, you will need to register on-line. More testing options will be added based on demand, so check the state site frequently.
Free Rapid Antigen Take Home Tests are available on the following dates and in various location. Below are the sites closest to Cavendish. There is no registration for these tests as they are distributed on a first come, first serve basis. Plan in advance for high demand and wait times. Yesterday’s test allocations were distributed within the first hour or two of opening. Each kit contains 2 tests. For Agency of Transportation sites, there is a limit of two kits per household. For other public test sites, it’s one kit per person present.
• Rutland: 275 Stratton Road 11 am -5 pm Dec. 30th
- Rutland Regional Medical Center 160 Allen St. 9-10 and 4-6, Dec. 30
• Springfield 51 Pearl St., Level 2 10-4 Dec. 30th.
• White River Junction, Agency of Transportation, 223 Beswick Drive. 8-Noon Dec. 24, 28 and 29th
• Windsor-Mt Ascutney Hosp. 289 County Rd 9-12:30 and 1-4:00 Dec. 30th
• Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, 417 Canal ST. 2-6 pm Dec. 30th
• Manchester Northshire Rescue (6041 Main St.) Dec. 24, 27 and 28 from 8-Noon.
For other locations, check the state website.
If you test positive on a home test-Isolate and call your primary care provider. Do not go to the emergency rooms for PCR testing. ERs are being filled with asymptomatic Covid + people looking for a PCR test and it’s having a negative impact on patient care.
GATHER SAFELY: To help slow the spread, below are ways to protect yourself and others:
• Vaccinate and/or get your booster shot
• Have the vaccination/booster conversation with those you plan to gather with
• Stay outdoors when you can
• Keep groups small and with people who you know
• Wear a mask in-doors in public setting or around people who may be at higher risk. Avoid crowed spaces
• Test before and after an event
UPGRADE YOUR MASK: Check With omicron, you need a mask that means business, to learn more the masks that will help protect you from this new variant. Time to ditch the cloth mask for an N95.
4. EVENTS
DECEMBER 24 (FRIDAY): Christmas Eve Town Office Closed
- Cavendish Baptist Church Christmas Eve service will be at 6 pm. In-person and virtual via Facebook Live. If you attend in-person, please wear a mask and practice physical distancing. FMI: www.CavendishBaptist.com or 802-226-7131
- St. James Methodist Church (Proctorsville)-7 pm service
- Annunciation Catholic Church (Ludlow): Services at 5 pm and 9 pm.
- For other area Christmas services
DECEMBER 25 (SATURDAY): MERRY CHRISTMAS Cavendish Transfer Station Closed.
- Annunciation Catholic Church (Ludlow): 10 am
DECEMBER 26 (SUNDAY)-DECEMBER 31 (SATURDAY): HAPPY KWANZAA
DECEMBER 31 (FRIDAY) New Year’s Eve Town Office Closed
JANUARY 1 (SATURDAY): HAPPY NEW YEAR! Transfer Station Closed
JANUARY 17 (MONDAY): Martin Luther King’s Day Town Officer Closed
CA❤︎ENDSH VAXXING & MASKING TO PROTECT SELF & OTHERS