What Vermont and Its History Might Teach The Nation about Handling the Coronavirus

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-vermont-and-its-history-might-teach-the-nation-about-handling-the-coronavirus

From article:
Indeed, Vermont has had the fewest cases of COVID-19 of any state in the country: fourteen hundred and two, as of Monday. The state’s hospitals currently house just one confirmed case. Only fifty-six people have died of the disease in Vermont—even though the epidemic raged in neighboring states—and the last of those deaths came more than a month ago, in mid-June. Some of the explanations for the low numbers are obvious. There aren’t many Vermonters to begin with, and the population is always among the healthiest in the country. (Vermont is also among the most homogeneous states, which, given the pandemic’s outsized impact on people of color, is worth noting.) On the other hand, we also have one of the oldest demographics in America, and we have a Republican governor, both of which, in recent weeks, have shown to be potential risk factors. So, at the risk of jinxing our current standing, there might be a lesson to be learned from Vermont.



COVID-19 took a toll in the state fairly early—the first two deaths were confirmed on March 19th—and it soon became clear that terrible outbreaks were under way at a couple nursing homes. But action came early, too. Governor Phil Scott began closing things down that week—it wasn’t long before bars and restaurants were shut, followed by schools and pretty much everything else. Even construction jobs quieted, as the state shut down nonessential work. All of this came at a cost, of course. Vermont’s economy sunk like a stone. The average income here is below the national average, and the tourist trade is a big part of many people’s living, but with hotels and campgrounds closed quaintness suddenly had no cash value. People really suffered and are suffering still. When the National Guard organized food distribution, the lines of cars stretched for depressing miles.

But that suffering didn’t put much political pressure on the governor to reopen the state. When Vermont Against Excessive Quarantine called for an April rally outside the statehouse in Montpelier, VTDigger reported that a crowd of “between seven and 10 protesters” appeared, many of them wearing masks, and their rhetoric was not exactly fiery. “I think it is commendable but at the same time foolish to shut the economy down,” a man from St. Albans, in the far north, said. “I feel like the repercussions of shutting the economy down will probably be far worse than the actual virus.” Another explained, “There’s reason to be nervous—maybe a little edgy about this—I’m not denying there’s not anything out there that could hurt somebody. . . . But just use some common sense.” (By contrast, a few weeks later, five thousand people turned up at the same spot for a Black Lives Matter protest.)

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