 Good morning. As many states across the country are struggling to contain this virus I'm grateful to Vermont for all you're doing to keep yourselves and others safe and to follow the restrictions and guidelines in place But it's important to recognize that even as we're seeing better results here in Vermont They can change quickly if we don't remain vigilant Be smart following the guidance keeping physically distant even during activities that are now allowed Wearing a mask in the presence of others washing your hands a lot is staying home when sick If we use common sense and take responsibility for ourselves We can continue to safely and methodically restart our economy without losing ground As I foreshadowed last week tomorrow, I'll extend the state of emergency for another month Because as I've said before it's the vehicle. We need to keep certain protections in place Control outbreaks as they come up so we can keep the economy open and manage this ongoing crisis But as long as the data stays consistent We'll stick with our efforts to incrementally lift restrictions and get closer to a point where this order is no longer necessary Now it may be a while before life truly returns to normal But we've shown we can reopen in a measured way and keep Vermont safe And it's important to remember how far we've come since March For example as Commissioner Pichek presented on Friday Our seven-day average positivity rate is a half a percent the lowest in the nation This is while some states like California and Texas are seeing surges and some states are beating their highest number of positive cases Just about every day What Vermonters have done has made a difference It's your vigilance that has allowed us to safely reopen most sectors But we need you to continue Because it's not time to let your guard down despite the low numbers we've earned here As we enter the fifth month of this emergency I want to thank everyone for what you've done had to deal with and what you've done and because of your efforts We're an outlier on the national level during this chat these challenging times As we continue to fight the virus We must also do all we can to support families and employers through this difficult time Today we're announcing two grant programs to help the health care and Agriculture sectors get through this pandemic Secretary Tebbets will provide more information shortly But s-351 Includes 35 million in federal funding for dairy non-dairy and forestry to help offset the impacts of COVID-19 Answered in his team at the agency are working to set these programs up and get the money out the door quickly And he will announce more on the launch of the dairy grants in a few minutes With more to come on the rest of the funding in the coming days and weeks We're also announcing this starting Friday Vermont health care providers can begin to submit applications for grants under the health care system stabilization grant program created in H 9 65 Under this program providers have until August 15 to submit applications The funding will be distributed based on need throughout the entire health care system Which is why we're keeping the application open longer than some of the other cares funded programs The legislature appropriated about 275 million for these grants Secretary Smith and his team have done a lot of work to be ready to start making these much needed payments Michael provide more information on that shortly With both these grant programs and the others we've announced to date. We know it's not going to be enough We had proposed more but admittedly even if we had received all we had asked for It wouldn't have been enough to offset the impact of this virus So the bottom line is we appreciate the legislature's Collaboration thus far and we know there'll be more work to do in august and beyond to recover from this pandemic With that i'd like to introduce secretary tebbets to talk more about the assistance for the vermont's dairy sector secretary tebbets thank you governor and Thank you governor for supporting agriculture and thank you for for monitors for supporting agriculture These dollars are needed because the virus has wiped out many important markets for dairy farmers Cheesemakers and value added businesses When the country shut down these small businesses that relied on restaurants Colleges schools and institutions for a paycheck They were lost income dropped Expenses increased for many Vermonters needed to act and vermoners did We are here to announce a relief grant program The total package is 25 million dollars for dairy These are grants for those who milk cows sheep or goats There is also financial relief for those that process milk Businesses that make a product like cheese butter yogurt ice cream or bottle milk are eligible 3.8 million dollars is a earmarked for dairy processors A total of 21.2 million dollars will be available for family farms Dairy farmers and dairy processors may begin applying for these grants on friday friday at noontime A few a few points about the dairy program There is time to apply All dairy applications must be received by october 1st October 1st is the deadline Who is eligible to apply? Dairy farmers and dairy processors who are operating as of march 1st All losses and costs must have occurred since march 1st And be related to the covet 19 public health emergency Some of the examples include milk price declines Other milk loss deductions loss of income Product losses additional costs The purchase of additional personal protective equipment Purchase of additional cleaning and sanitation supplies Workforce modifications to accommodate social distancing Worker housing adaptations to accommodate social distancing New markets or design services Purchase of new equipment and update in packaging materials or increase in shipping costs Where can you apply? You'll find an application on our webpage at the agency of agriculture food and markets agriculture.vermont.gov You also can send us an email if you have questions at agrcovidresponseatvermont.gov Or give us a call at 802-828-2430 We have organizations ready to help dairy farmers and dairy processors fill out the application Completing the application correctly and providing all the documentation will make the process Go much smoother Those who can help with the application will be listed on the agency's website How quickly after I submit my application can I expect a payment? Our review team will confirm the eligibility and all the information and once that is complete A check will be mailed by the Vermont Department of Finance and Management about two to three weeks after you submit your application and it's approved A few other notes We are also preparing a non-dairy relief program for farmers That application is being developed and finalized Five million dollars is part of that grant program Producers farmers markets and slaughterhouses are all eligible for that grant funding There will also be more dollars available through the working lands program And those two programs will be rolled out in the coming days We also have help on the way for fairs in field days The agency has earmarked $500,000 to help those groups Who had to close their fairs in field days because of the pandemic We believe all these dollars will help these small businesses get to a better place These are some of the most difficult times our farmers have faced We are thankful for the governor and the legislature making it a priority To help those who make their living off the land Farmers are essential to Vermont's future They provide Vermont, New England, New York, and the nation with fresh, wholesome food That is needed now more than ever Farmers feed us Agriculture also plays a critical role in bringing visitors to the Green Mountains We are also thinking of those in the hospitality business That are also hurting because of this pandemic We stand ready to help those critical businesses as well Also caught up in the pandemic was those that keep us healthy And take care of us when we are sick Now those healthcare providers need our help To explain more, I turn it over to Human Services Secretary Mike Smith Thank you Thank you, Anson Even before COVID-19, the COVID-19 emergency One of Vermont's priorities has been to ensure that Vermonters access to high quality healthcare and human services continues This became our primary focus when the governor declared a state of emergency in Vermont Because we want Vermonters to be healthy and well Connected to their communities and supported during a time Of uncertainty and crisis Today I will be first announcing information about the healthcare stabilization grant program And then just some updated information on new guidance We are finalizing about how long-term care facilities can begin the process of the easing restrictions That have been been in place since March 13th And beyond and what we recently announced We're going to be adding to those announcements in terms of loosening up some of those restrictions So first let's talk about the healthcare stabilization throughout the COVID-19 emergency We have been focused on the financial stability of our entire healthcare system Including providers and an array of social services The reality is that preserving access to essential services Requires buffering providers from the financial instability of business disruptions And increased costs resulting from the COVID-19 crisis It also means that we must identify the providers who are experiencing financial distress And offer financial assistance for those organizations To prevent providers from being forced to close their businesses The agency of human services focused on implementing multiple mechanisms To offer immediate financial assistance for providers in the early months of the emergency Through the retainer programs, payments to hospitals, financial assistance To designated and specialized service agencies Children integrated services, private non-medical institutions and nursing homes In all approximately $58 million in financial assistance Was provided and committed for Vermont's healthcare and human services providers However provider organizations across the care continuum Indicate that a minimum of $375 million in stabilization funding Would be necessary to maintain Vermont's healthcare system During and after the COVID-19 emergency Across the board provider types indicated that without further financial assistance Practices and organizations in Vermont would be forced to close The hospital system alone estimated that it needs $300 million To offset the business disruption and increase expenses For the period of March to December of 2020 Likewise the association representing most of Vermont's independent medical practices Estimates that 10 to 20 million would be required to support smaller practices To remain fiscally stable And the association for adult day services indicated that programs are incurring costs at approximately $800,000 per month or nearly $2.4 million a quarter just for fixed cost and personal expenses So now we are transitioning to administer the new healthcare provider stabilization grant program This program was established with $275 million of coronavirus relief fund dollars I want to personally thank both the Governor Scott for his leadership And the Vermont General Assembly for their support in establishing this program These cash grants will be made directly to Vermont providers And are essential in the next step to ensure the financial stability of our healthcare system We intentionally designed the application process to support provider organizations Of every size and type to ensure equity in the process And to encourage all eligible providers to seek funding Applicants will have four weeks to complete the application And grants will be awarded only after all applications have been received and reviewed If there are any emergency situations during this time Reach out to the agency and we will look at ways to address it We want to continue to meet the needs of providers during and after this time of crisis And we have heard for example that Vermont's smaller provider organizations Will really require adequate time to complete an application So we don't want these grants to be on a first come first serve basis We want to make sure that everybody has a chance to apply for these grants Funding awards will be determined in accordance with demonstrated need Which will require time for providers to compile the documentation And self-determine their need as part of the process completing their application Awards will be considered on a total demonstration need Subject to available funding and priority will be given in funding Depending on the impact of the applicant's sustainability The application will open on Friday July 17th And providers will have until August 15th to submit their information electronically There's going to be, there's anticipated to be two application cycles The first one that I just announced July 17th to the end of the period And one beginning in October Again July 17th to August 15th for the application process And that's for the time period of March 1st 2020 to June 15th 2020 Where your expenses were incurred during that time And another one beginning in October for the period June 16th 2020 to September 30th of 2020 If providers are not certain if they are eligible we want them to apply anyway We'll have a team working to support providers in this process Payment reform was an area of focus for the agency of human services before the emergency And is even more important now than ever if we are to achieve a sustainable healthcare system In the aftermath of the crisis We want providers to maintain participation in the value-based payment reform That we have established here in Vermont and to explore it As an option if they haven't yet considered it Because predictable monthly payments provide stability for the healthcare system in all circumstances But especially in these unprecedented times of public health crisis And we saw this as we were going through the height of the pandemic It's important to remember that while 275 million in grants to the healthcare system alone Seems like a lot of money and it is And it goes to one sector of our economy The financial stability of the healthcare system influences Vermont's economy economic health So these grants awards will also help Vermont's economy overall Healthcare spending in Vermont constitutes roughly 20 percent of Vermont's gross state product The state will continue to work to support the financial stability of the healthcare system We remain committed to ensuring Vermonters have access to the healthcare services they need And that our provider organizations are financially stable So they can focus on providing those essential services during and after the public health emergency I do want to turn to long-term care Visitation and guidance because we're going to be releasing that guidance either today or tomorrow I think it's probably today I now want to just take a moment and provide an update on the latest guidance to long-term care Back on June 19th we updated our guidance to long-term care residential facilities To allow for up to two visitors per resident per day While those outdoor visits have gone very well Our long-term care facilities have operated under very strict restrictions Relative to the congregate activities and visitations And we all know the reason why our most vulnerable population are mostly in these facilities And we are acutely aware of how difficult these restrictions have been And continue to be on residents and their families With the exception of two very tragic and deadly outbreaks Vermont has managed to avoid the devastation By COVID-19 in many of our long-term care facilities We believe that is due to adherence to the facilities district standards of care To the willingness of residents to do their part And to the many families across the state who followed those restrictions Putting the safety of every resident of our long-term care facilities first Today we are releasing comprehensive guidance to restart our long-term care facility This guidance represents a thoughtful Intentional approach to ease restrictions Improving quality of life for residents And slowly introducing opportunities for more visitation I want to emphasize that slowly introducing opportunities for more visitation It is informed by recommendations from both CMS and CDC And with the input of VDH Dale and other groups that are representing our long-term care facilities This does not mean that every facility will immediately resume To the activities and visitations that they previously had enjoyed Instead it creates a framework for nursing homes and other residential settings To utilize in determining how to ease the restrictions On these activities and slowly ease restrictions on visitation to their families The pace of the easing of restrictions in long-term care facilities Is slow and steady and it needs to be that way We are proceeding with caution knowing that these facilities again Support are most vulnerable for monitors The guidance creates incremental phases Of reduced restrictions to address quality of life for residents And still recognizing our desire to protect these residents The phases of restart apply to all of our long-term care facilities The phases outline guidance around what is allowable for activities Non-essential personnel entering the building Trips outside the building and visitation Facilities should move through the phases as outlined in the guidance Assessing their own level of readiness and working with Dale and VDH To identify what phase they are currently in To move through the phases all facilities will need to take into account What is happening in Vermont and their local communities within their own building In terms of COVID-19 new onset cases For nursing homes testing is required in order to move through those phases Every phase corresponds to a level of testing For residents and staff for all other facilities such as residential care homes Therapeutic community residents assisted living facilities Testing is optional for moving through the phases But there are still restrictions as you move through the phases Testing for any resident who or staff who shows symptoms will continue to happen As it is happening now and in conjunction with VDH If the situation in Vermont changes if local community experience shifts In the number of cases if a facility sees new onset cases within the building The phase that a facility is in can change and restrictions will be reimposed The phases are fluid and the guidance is designed To prioritize the health and safety of residents VDH will be working with facilities to identify a mechanism For the baseline testing of nursing homes And both VDH and Dale will support facilities to develop longer-term plans for ongoing testing We anticipate that the baseline testing will occur between July and September It is important to note that VDH and Dale will continue to be involved For any outbreak response coordinating closely with the facility To ensure safety and infection prevention and control for both residents and staff Current outdoor visitation guidelines will not be impacted by this guidance Facilities have been enacting outdoor visitation for up to two visitors at a time And that should continue In closing I just want to say I would like to offer my gratitude To the providers who continuously care for Vermonters Their commitment to the most vulnerable is just amazing And during this public health emergency And they really did put the most vulnerable first And put everything else second to respond to this emergency One other thing I just want to mention before I turn it over to Dr. Levine Who will be talking about what we know as of today Of a possible outbreak in the Manchester London Dairy Region Let me just say this before I introduce Dr. Levine As a general warning That may pertain to this case in this potential outbreak But also to others Do not travel out of state to a region that is not within our trusted travel designation Then fail to quarantine upon your return But instead of quarantining, attending social events or gatherings That are bound to have close contacts All I'm trying to do here is deliver a reminder to Vermonters That we all need to do our part That we continually need to be vigilant And we have to do our part to contain this virus And risky behavior can lead to outbreaks So with that, I'd like to introduce Dr. Levine for some updates to To what he is seeing in Vermon Thank you I'm going to talk a little bit about the data today Talk a little bit about outbreaks and introduce you to a yet another test called an anthogen test And continue my discussions that I've had with you about levels of risk So here's the most up-to-date data in terms of numbers You'll notice we continue to increase numbers of cases by small amounts per day And thank goodness we do not increase our deaths by any amount per day And the slope of our curve has not markedly changed at all This is the slide I want to dwell on today because this really talks about New cases within the course of a day And our experience currently is really just up and down in terms of positives You may note that it was less than two weeks ago. We had another of our Zero days We've had zero days scattered throughout time. Most states can't talk about that at all But then we have days and you don't see the numbers here, but we're in the mid to upper teens And everything in between That is our new normal These cases represent Isolated cases scattered around the state Sometimes they represent household clusters Sometimes there's an isolated an adult in a child care setting Sometimes there's an adult or a camper in a camp setting Sometimes there's a positive in a work site Other times there's even a positive in someone connected with health care None of these amount to Huge numbers of cases by themselves, but obviously on a given day they get represented in our data We told you all along that as we open up we expect cases It's impossible for that not to happen as we bring people together With one another One thing that Is really not getting emphasized well nationally that I want to just mention is if I could use the word disruption The assumption is of most of these cases They're fine. You know, they're good over it. Nothing much happens and that's the end of it. Well, thank goodness for the majority people who are ill They get through it. We shouldn't look at illnesses like trivial though I mean that illness is actually taking that person And sometimes they feel quite bad actually even though they didn't need to be hospitalized Um, and they're suffering on that day perhaps due to a random exposure that was beyond their control Or was within their control And we tell people to then isolate And if you're a contact we tell you to quarantine Those are pretty daunting words And I just want to point out again That's a disruption in somebody's life Could be for 14 days could be for seven days, but None of us want our lives disrupted. We'd like to feel we have some control over what we do And what risk we put ourselves to so I just want to point that out that There's been a lot of attention on the national scene to That doesn't doesn't mean much. Well, it means a real lot and even if it's a younger person Who has much less risk of dying? They're still ill their life has still been disrupted In terms of our outbreaks, it's been over 10 days since we added any cases to the Burlington-Linuski outbreak It's been over 20 days since we added any cases to the outbreak in Fairhaven and um You've heard From secretary smith that there's another outbreak that we are now investigating in windham county I know there's been a lot already put into print um, and I'm not going to be able to add much more to that because of a curious phenomenon known as a presumptive case versus a confirmed case So a number of residents of that county got tested in manchester Add an urgent care that offers an antigen test Now in the past I've talked about two kinds of tests first has been The pcr test which we use for active infection That's the nasal swab The second has been the blood test called an antibody test or a serology which looks for past infection The antigen test is also a nasal swab and it just looks at a different component of the virus specific component but not as Global as what the pcr test looks at It's considered a pretty good screening test to start to identify people who might actually End up having a positive pcr And it can provide very rapid results, which is why it can be very popular in settings like an urgent care setting These antigen tests are pretty specific Meaning if the test comes back positive It's probably a reasonably good likelihood that when you do a pcr on the same specimen it will be positive They're not as sensitive unfortunately So if you used it as a screening test and it was negative You actually might be a false negative and might if you have Symptoms want to actually go on and have a pcr test to see if you truly were negative over if you really are positive Currently if a person tests positive on the antigen test They are not considered To be a lab confirmed test and they don't actually get included in vermont's number of cases We're grateful that the urgent care actually notified us that they had a number of positive tests So we consider them a presumptive positive But just because we've called them a presumptive positive doesn't mean we don't go through all of our usual counseling and advising And isolate out those who've tested positive begin to contact trace and Lotify those who are contacts But at the same time We need to actually get them to be tested So there's been reports of over 30 positive antigen tests in that region We are encouraging all of them as well as others in the region who want to be tested to come to a pop-up tomorrow In london dairy at the floodbrook school I will say that many of the people Who i'm talking about right now have actually gone to the urgent care to get testing and apparently there was a line yesterday Many of those were not symptomatic But we know that within These cases that have been Reported to us that many have been symptomatic as well So until we get more information and confirm the diagnosis That's all i'll have to say on that particular episode if you could go to the positivity slide I just again don't want to point out Maybe by the end of the week we will actually have a bunch of positive cases We continue to have So many tests done per day in vermont that a percent of those cases that are positive Tests remains as the governor said at one day it was quite low below 0.8 percent, but certainly well below 2 percent Compare that to the states that are having the biggest surges now Where the numbers are in the 20s and higher percent? Last topic is very quickly. I've I've provided some discussion in the past regarding an exposure budget Um, sort of don't spend your whole exposure budget at one time Because um, you may regret it first of all, but second of all you need to actually think about what you're doing each day So that you don't put yourself at unnecessary risk for contracting covet 19 Along with the exposure budget comes a topic that i'm going to introduce you to today and show you something more pictorial At the end of the week and that's really understanding of risk in general And if you think of risk of low degree medium degree or high degree That'll keep it simple. So let's look at the continuum of exercise If you want to do low risk exercise Take a walk outdoors get on your bike Go for a run Not on a crowded bike path, but you know Isolated from a lot of people Or maybe even play golf If you want to be more moderate in your exercise You may end up going to the gym That's a medium to high risk If you want to have the highest risk exercise That would be a contact sport like basketball or football That might actually be Watching a contact sport like basketball or football In a crowded stadium Let's talk about the continuum of dining Cooking for yourself or take out is low risk And most of the restaurants That are doing takeout understand how to keep that risk low and they're very proud of it If you want to get a little higher in risk to maybe medium level Eat at a restaurant outdoors If you want to get to a higher level of risk medium to high You might eat at a restaurant indoors and then just to Follow through on some non dining and non exercise ideas If you like to shop Going to the grocery store with your mask on Going to a retail establishment that is actually abiding by all of the rules that we have said in the guidance We've given for health is not a very high risk Endeavor it's actually quite low If you want to get your hair done That's considered more medium to high If you want to drive your own car Pretty low risk except if you put somebody in it that you're not really that familiar with If you take a taxi that's Raising your risk a little higher If you decide to fly Or you decide to take a train or a bus you're now on a much higher risk level that you've chosen to do And then finally Just to call them out because they are at the highest risk level things like attending religious services indoors Especially singing during those services Going to a bar Attending some kind of event like a concert um That would be indoors and not well spaced out So like I said, I'll have more to show later in the week on those but I wanted to introduce those topics Now I'll turn it back to the governor Thank you, dr. Levine. Well now it'll open up to questions All right, it's about 1145 and we do have 22 folks in the queue. So just be aware of that Calvin you start with you. All right So I think this question is probably for secretary smith and maybe the secretary have us as well So there's some 275 million dollars for providers You said that we need maybe 375 At minimum I'm wondering I guess what other revenue sources and revenue streams the state is looking at to fill that hole And if we can't How many providers could close I think as the governor mentioned, we're never going to have enough Um, we're going to have to live with what we've got Um, and nothing, uh, something is better than nothing I mean the 275 million is nothing to sneeze about and it's a lot of money It's going out to the whole sort of health care industry, uh, you know from You know long-term care facilities to hospitals to dentists to All sorts of providers That are out there that are eligible for this. That's why I said, please apply as as we move forward But I think as the governor mentioned, um, there's never going to be enough money And we'll just what we're here to do is help as much as we can And we'll we'll see what the impact is at the end of this process And do you have any sense of since march how many providers or Some partners or really any sort of health care industry? How many flows are needed home farms? Yeah, probably a better indication would be for the farms, but as I said we had We had put out over Over 50 million dollars 58 million dollars in order to avoid closure and keep health care facilities open during the the height of the The pandemic I I don't have any knowledge of health care facilities closing But I do know that we did provide a lot of money to keep health care facilities operating I can speak to the statistics on the farmers and farms closing And as of today the the figures are pretty Pretty sobering Since march 1st, uh, we've lost 25 dairies So, uh, that's in four months. We've lost 25 and the sort of the rolling average Before the covet was about 1.5 farms lost per month So you can see this has been a Direct result of what happened when the markets Went away for our dairy farmers As of now we have 636 cow dairies We have 47 goat dairies and we have five sheep dairies a total number of 688 So we encourage all those to apply for these grants And it speaks to the the need out there to get these dollars back To the farmers so they can pay their bills And that's one thing that to remember this money is not going to stay on the farm very long It's going to go out to the the businesses that rely on dairy farmers For their support, so it's going to go to the feed dealers. It's going to pay the grain bill It's going to pay People that supply them it's going to pay the veterinarian So we encourage all our dairy farmers and processors To apply beginning at friday at noon. Thank you Governor, yesterday you signed a number of things including the Bill to address racial bias and excessive force by law enforcement Your letter indicated yours. You see some shortcomings in the bill Can you tell me though what you hope this bill will do to improve the situation and what you'd like? Well again a lot of the initiatives that are in the bill are some that we contemplated and forwarded and Are intended to do The body cameras for instance. It was an initiative that we had put into place in my even in my budget address We talked about that So there were a lot of good things in the bill. There are some again some shortcomings We would like the legislature to take another look at I know that they rushed to get it through for A worthwhile reasons, but but we think when they get back It'd be worthwhile to take a take a second look to make sure that we get it right Um, I might refer to commissioner shirling to see if there's anything else he could offer on that You've covered the bulk of it Time was short. Uh, the set of complicated issues that the committees were working on We think there's a couple areas where, uh, language could be improved when they come back for a short session in august and september and uh, we put forward together with A variety of community leaders and law enforcement leaders at 10 point strategy Uh in june in addition to the modernization strategies, we put forward at january when we think there's additional room Uh for policy work in those areas as well And if I could follow up, um, the large news paper in canada is reporting that the canadian board will remain I'm wondering, you know Are we pros and cons that sparse code is concerned? What do you think the effect of Extended closure will have? You know, there are our largest trading partner. Obviously important to us in many different areas Um, hospitality is something that has been strained as a result of coated 19 And we have a lot of visitors from kebac coming back and forth and us visiting there as well So I think that's uh, the ramification that i'm most concerned About, uh, but i've watched their numbers and actually they're getting quite better And I think they may be more concerned You know, maybe if they could just come to vermont, that would be fine But what they're seeing probably across the nation right now gives them pause So, um, i'm not surprised that they're keeping it closed, but I'd hope that we'd be able to open Some more trade more tourism in the coming months, but but again, um, what I've heard from those in the in the islands in the on lakeshine plain and the marinas and so forth is that Vermonters and others have somewhat backfilled and and there's a lot of activity In the in that region. So that's the good news But we look forward to the time when the border is reopened and we can welcome back our our friends to the north All right moving to the phones. We'll go to chris roy at the new part daily express Yes, good morning. I'm just wondering if the funding that's available for farmers is available for the Fund that has to actually close And if the funds who receive money if they have to commit to stay open um Yeah, I think a comment on that please um, yes chris, um Eligibility begins on march 1st or if you were you were farming on march 1st. You're eligible There is a requirement A good faith effort, and I don't know the exact language on it that the legislature put in But they want to see an opportunity for Farm dairy farmers to re-enter if they can and what steps they're taking to possibly Reenter of shipping milk, but that's part of the equation as well And if the funds have to close for some reason do they have to return the money or is that because of the good faith effort they want? I'm not aware of they they would have to if if you're talking about if they're closing From from now to when they receive the grant or when the march began with the march date the march 1st date began You know I'm talking about after they receive the funding I don't believe there's anything in the legislation that requires them to Return the money Mike down to you the islander Thank you, rebecca delighted secretary Smith comments about self-quarantining coming back out of state to Just a follow-up from last week. Back to Levine. Is there any update? from friday's questions about the health department Contact racing for the Vermont fire academy where fire fighter failed his self-quarantine He returned from out of state and Ended up going to a class of firefighters who had to be notified later About they might have to self-quarantine. What what is the health department determined on that since friday? I don't have any details for you on that today, Mike Any idea when you might Let's say at friday's conference before we'll try to get a hold of you independently Yeah, I sent some information on to your spoke person. I didn't I was asked for This thought we'd have a response today I believe Thanks, Rebecca. I have some additional detail on that Mike And the reason that health may not have information is because it may not have been actual exposure as this was relayed the fire academy was Hosting a class outside the person in question was there for less than 15 minutes and left the students Folks had an indication that there had been travel. So Of course, leave it up to the contact tracing team whether they consider that to be an exposure A letter was sent by the fire academy only as a precautionary informational message As a result of that so That's the that's the requisite detail that is available right now Okay, and have you made any progress on on getting a list of police fire and rescue agencies that haven't self-reported their own COVID-19 cases Over the last four months We've not again, we have a standing voluntary option for folks to report if they've had COVID impacts, but We have not had reports of substantive COVID impact standing first response agency Okay Governor Scott my question today is A lot of your fellow governors are having bad times with COVID-19 cases exploding some Because they opened to Worley By all accounts, you're at the opposite end of the spectrum with a measured response Just wondering how many governors have reached out to you in the state of Vermont for any ideas about best practices That they could be following for the other governors rumbling when you're on the conference calls that That Vermont is Going too good a job. Yeah, I have not heard from any other governors I do in terms of what we're doing. I had have had some conversations with Governor Sununu in particular About their strategy and what our strategy has been So we're comparing notes and and trying to do what's best for our states Having said that, I mean other states are in different positions than we are We took a very cautious and measured approach as you it stated as we've been talking about There's been a lot of criticism probably a month ago about The need to open quicker. I remember some from the media some on this call Asking why we weren't opening quicker and I and I think that we can see Why we weren't and I and I believe that we took this this approach In a very strategic way and and and I said at the time that we would learn from this and that we It may not be the best approach. Maybe the other governors had it right But but from my perspective from what I'm seeing today I think we're doing it the right way. We'll continue to watch the data Listen to the experts dr. Levine dr. Kelso and and and make any turns of this picket With that in mind making sure that we're watching the states around us and so It's a It's difficult for all of us for all the governors to make Decisions because there really isn't anything to go by In this second potential wave or whatever is happening throughout the country right now We'll we'll learn from this as well and make sure or hopefully not make the same mistakes So again, we'll learn from from others. Hopefully they'll learn from us And we'll get through this but from my standpoint just watching the data With the commissioner p-check And developing the the modeling dr. Levine and dr. Kelso giving us guidance from a health perspective has been essential Just to confirm governor qualmall has not reached out No, I have not heard from governor quomo Okay, thank you very much ever Will send me a beat um, hi a couple of questions about um Mike our secretary spit his comments about the potential of bennington county health break As compared to what the dr. Levine was saying Mike you seem to hit that uh, there was some out of state travel perhaps that wasn't followed up by the judicious ice self-isolation or quarantining that has been recommended for a long time Can you expand upon that a little bit and separately the A positive antigen test is it automatically followed with the the more reliable PCR tester with a patient Have to return to the testing site for another one and then The third part of this is what's going on in la boille county um, it's not a lot but it has been any and now it's 10 new cases in the last two weeks and that might not sound like a lot of the grand scheme of things But it's a big upward swing from where it has been Anyway Wilson let me take the first one and then i'll turn uh for number two and number three Over to dr. Levine dealing with the testing and la boille county Just remember i'll just i'll put this in context. We're doing a lot of testing out there. Um, so we're We're we're picking up, you know more cases and as we have said and as dr. Levine has said The more that we open up the expectation We're meeting our expectation that we're going to see more cases through throughout vermont I've been looking sort of at the data over the past week and it's no specific case. It's just a Some random cases that i've seen including Some recent ones where i've seen travel to what i would call hot spots um and then returning to vermont and then Not quarantining and that is uh something that's of concern as we move As we move forward because that one person Can have a significant impact on Other vermonters especially if they don't quarantine and then socialize You know quite a bit and you know that is that's a pattern that i just wanted people to be aware of That i was seeing over the last few weeks in terms of travel And one of the things that i just urge people to do Is just Just as a reminder Be vigilant We put these things in place Because they they work they mean something they protect other vermonters We put the quarantine policies in place because they and the isolation policies in place because they protect people So if you're going to travel To a non safe designated area when you return to vermont quarantine You get tested either at seven days or if you're uh symptom free at 14 days and you are free to Move about but it is a pattern that i'm i'm starting to get a little concerned about Not that Vermonters have been very good at keeping their guard up and i understand that Over keeping this sort of On guard presence is difficult, but it's important as we move forward. So i'll stop there And uh go to dr. Levine on the The team the test and levoil county Thank you Good morning. All right. I guess we're afternoon now. Um Just to follow up on what the secretary was saying You know, we've got a lot of uh communications from vermonters worried about what other vermonters are doing or are doing Worry about out-of-state plates. What are they doing or not doing? You know, there are people who are clearly not abiding by What we would love for them to abide by but there are also people who are And what we lack in both of these is a denominator So to just sort of characterize a group of vermonters or a group of people from another area as Compliant or non-compliant is really challenging to do because we don't really have the true denominator And i suspect if we did we'd find it's a very small percentage. It's like our test positivity rate You know, it's in the low numbers as opposed to everybody is doing the wrong thing But again all it takes Unfortunately is a mistake here a mistake there or ignoring Our guidance here or there and you have an outbreak Doesn't take much. So that's why we try to have people be vigilant with regard to the question on antigen tests To become a confirmed case and not a presumptive diagnosis Requires you get the pcr At some settings where antigen testing is done. They will actually obtain two swabs And if the antigen one is positive, they'll send the other one off to get a pcr done But that would be the Process and then lamoille county You know, you're you're you're correct that there have been A few more cases in lamoille county though on any given day We never see more than a couple It's not like they all came at once on our on our graph We have meetings Pretty much seven days a week going over all of our outbreaks and all of our clusters And there's been nothing in there regarding lamoille county in terms of Something I can put my finger on and say this is where those cases are all coming from So I would hope they're coming from people getting tested Either because they are symptomatic or because they're interested based on some exposure. They might have had But I can't really give you any more than that Okay, thank you very much Greg the county courier hi back. We've been I wanted to just start with a couple follow-up Beginning with a follow-up from Friday Uh, I asked about the insurance and connection that FVs and FDIs were on the rise Uh, you indicated that you were going to try to get some information on that Uh, do you have any new information or data from the health department on if that's true info on Greg, I believe I was copied on an email to you with that information from doctor help, uh, Dr. Veen's con scene Okay, I had not seen that so I will come back and look for that um I guess I'll move on to my next follow-up here. Uh, in regards to Mr. Smith's comments on travel uh How many cases are you talking about or our percentage of vermont's current cases? Can be attributed to out-of-state travel or at least Attributed to picking up from someone who traveled out of state into the quarantine uh, and Is state going to be working on some sort of enforcement measure? For those who are are not following these guidelines Greg this is Mike Smith. Just let me put things in perspective remember where we are in terms of the united states We're in pretty good shape I did not I just looked at a Now a couple of weeks ago some trends that I'm seeing in the data I don't think it's an alarming trend, but it's a concerning trend So I don't have specific where we've done complete analysis on Remember we haven't done analysis on any of this. It's just me looking at the various data that I see on a nightly basis and Understanding the various cases as dr. Levine says we go over just about every case or a bunch of cases every day and And saying we just got to be a little bit more careful here That's all I'm trying to I don't want to overemphasize it, but I want to make sure that we remind ourselves What is happening in other states? And despite the fact that we're doing well here I'm making sure that we just keep that level of Caution so I don't have any stats for you. I just It's just me eyeballing some of the data that I've seen in the last couple of weeks What would it be safe to say that there's more than one or two? I mean, I would make one or two you'd be like, okay. Well, that's an outlier in order to see a pattern and and kind of make an announcement about Concern I would think there'd be a number of that all it takes is one or two. And that's what concerns me And I I would say it's a handful that I've seen over the last few weeks, but at the same time The potential of what a handful of cases can do Can have can have an effect on where we are and what our numbers are in the future Okay, and is there an enforcement mechanism That the state is working with here. I think it would be I I'm trying to think I mean, I think it would be almost Unenforceable like you would have to sort of close down our borders in order to do that We have been reluctant in the past to do that So the answer is we we don't have an enforcement mechanism at the same time Vermonters have been very good and very vigilant in adhering to the guidelines and making sure that They travel to safe areas And as dr. Levine said the majority of people use the precautions that they do But again, I just want to emphasize all it takes is one or two cases and we've got an outbreak Understand, uh, and then I want to move on to question. I plan for today. Uh, and that's for dr. Levine Yesterday the health department And I believe it may be that you Put out a a little note about some UVM professors that have published a Peer reboot study on Students going back to school and and the Assumption that transmission from Child to child or child to adult is and I quote in your in your email being frequent And I I'm asking about this purely because in March We were advised by your office and the governor Please donate your mask to hospitals They're not effective for the public And then a month or two later We're being told wear masks For many months we're told Six feet away It's adequate and then in the past two weeks that's been changed to You know, you could have airborne droplets. They can travel a lot further. We're we're learning more Given that you've had to walk back a lot of your flights several different times now Um, how are you so confident that it's safe to send 80 000 vermont children back to school in the fall? And and why not take a more cautious approach and wait till We get closer to the school year starting or We do some sort of limited opening Yeah, so let's let's go into some detail on that. Okay, so You're right an editorial just came out Um, you may recall at a press conference a number of weeks ago Um, I actually recited the current literature known about How adults are most likely the ones who gave the infection to kids and not vice versa And most of the editorial actually Cited those studies again But had the benefit of yet two more additional new studies That also came out with similar conclusions so The data in the literature is again supportive of making sure that We don't fear the fact that we have a lot of young children together As the vectors of disease to the adults And in fact a lot of literature is being written now Just making sure the adults are aware That is their behaviors That determine How well the school year may or may not go whether the adult works in the school or whether the adult is the parent of a child Thinking again about those risk behaviors. I mentioned earlier in the press conference Trying to make the right decisions because in the end You're contributing to a healthier environment in the school That'll be less prone to having any outbreaks of covid in it the you know I'm going to push back on you just a tiny bit with the The the state or the department has had to walk back a number of things Because I'd like to view the messaging as been as being very consistent over time So very consistently over time. I've said that We know that respiratory droplets are probably accountable for a lot of transmission hence the person wearing facial covering is being altruistic and Lessening the risk to those that they are around of contracting infection There's been a lot of controversy about the finer droplets, which we'll call aerosols and A couple of press conferences ago I brought this letter to the attention of the public that Over 200 scientists have written to the world health organization Trying to have them Ease up on there being so negative about aerosols being a possible transmission and saying Start looking more at the science that we're Uh putting on the table for you and the world health organization actually walked back a little bit and at least is now entertaining That is a possible mode of transmission So That's out there. I think we've told you all along since march since february The science is evolving on a day-to-day basis We will always have new facts to present because we're dealing with a new virus that we actually knew very little about Um, essentially nothing about and have gained incredible knowledge in just several months time Which is really quite amazing in itself And then finally lastly with regard to the uh the schools um You know, we believe the guidance that we've provided is really uh to enable a very safe reopening of schools And it does involve social distancing. It does involve wearing a facial coverings By all sides young and old Um, and we believe um, it is very measured and appropriate For a state that has The kinds of virus conditions vermont has at this point in time And just to piggyback on secretary smith's comments We are going to have you know tens of thousands of college students coming back to vermont And though it's not enforceable It is actually enforceable that they will all quarantine and they will all be tested And all of the colleges have agreed to both a quarantine policy and a testing policy Upon the arrival of these students in mid mid august or later Depending on their opening date And that will be enforceable because every student coming back Is going to be signing a special contract Which clearly details the expectations of the student the expectations of what the college or university will provide In terms of trying to prevent outbreaks on campus But also it will detail the possible penalties For Not behaving well in one way or another Thank you All right, we'll move to shawn at the chester telegraph Thank you. This is for uh, commissioner labine Um, do you have a number on proposed on presumed positives for testing yesterday in manchester? And is there any statewide number of such presumed positives that don't show up in the publicly released numbers? So the first question, um We've been alerted to 30 positives that was before yesterday There weren't a lot of people tested yesterday, and i'm not sure we have a handle On what their results were but they were tested on the same platform the antigen test So once tomorrow has come to pass and we've gotten Further pcr testing On all those who want it We may also find that many that we've already talked to on the phone have gone on to have their pcr test We'll have a much better idea of the number Um, so i i can't give you any precision about that now at all Um, and in terms of uh having a handle on you know, this is only the second instance of the use of one of these antigen platforms that i'm aware of Um, so we're very happy actually that um the manchester Medical center actually alerted us to these Because it's not in the normal pathways of information passage that we would normally understand positive pcr results in So i'm just delighted that they've been engaged with us and are working with us in this way but Because they are One of only two that i'm even familiar with that doesn't mean there aren't more Um We don't have a total list for you of presumptive positives that have occurred through this route We're breaking new ground here The pop-up for tomorrow in london dairy filled up very quickly and we learned of exposures at the dairy at this london dairy town office At chestertown pool and i'm wondering what are the plans for more testing in the root 11 corridor? Yeah, so obviously we'll assess How many people have signed up and and are taking care of if there are walk-ins if there's unmet demand There's also other modalities of getting testing within the region Though i do understand from what you're saying some people might be driving a little further and we don't necessarily want that to happen so With any outbreak we pretty much tailored our response to the magnitude of what it should be so Give us time to figure that out Based on tomorrow's testing. Oh, we're going to get plenty of phone calls From people who will tell us they they need access to testing and didn't have it so I assume we'll know that during the course of the next several days I'll let you know that where would they call and and then i have a question for uh Yeah, so when so when people want to call for a for an appointment at a pop-up There's a number on the website and they get connected with somebody in our phone tree And so they will automatically be known as somebody who either couldn't be fit in because It was filter capacity Or uh, they'll be recommended other places that they can go to so And and for secretary smith the travel comment that you may believe any of the What's going on in the london dairy situation? It's related to london dairy in other places as well There you is Yeah, I Just when I don't want to go down that road because we'll start identifying people at that point So, I'll just leave it at uh, it's london dairy in its other places Thank you, I had a question for the governor relates to math And this is a question from a listener who Has appreciated your reliance on data as you develop policies around this virus But she wanted to know what's the scientific basis for the sort of the voluntary masking? And education That that you've been advocating as opposed to mandate Yeah, are there studies that say that's more effective Uh, john, I don't think there's a study on either side at this point It really is about compliance and I just want to make it perfectly clear I believe everyone should wear a mask when they're in the presence of others and can't Distance themselves physically. It's a good idea. It's altruistic. It's it's something that every maronner Should try and do and that's why we're we're trying to To establish more education Trying to do more Marketing in some respects Because we had really good compliance with everything else We've done thus far and we're in a pretty good position when when I talked about us being the lowest in the nation In terms of a positivity rate That doesn't happen by accident When I look at the numbers again on a daily basis, we've we've gone from about we were Fifth lowest at one point in terms of the number of positives Today we're we're number two Hawaii is number one or within Uh, probably 60 or 70 cases of being number one in the nation So we're doing something right. I think for monitors want to do the right thing We just want to make sure uh, that uh, that we get the compliance. I think everyone has the same goal You know, how do we get people to wear masks when it's appropriate? I don't think making a mandatory makes it so But having said that I'm not afraid to admit if I'm wrong if we go through this And we come come to a point where we have to make mass mandatory. I'll do so But right now the numbers aren't backing that up Because again when you see the lowest positivity rate in the country Second lowest Number of positives in the country It leads me to believe that something's going right here And that we can all because for monitor doing the right thing So I'm asking them to do a little bit more making again making things mandatory doesn't make it so We have we have we have it's mandatory that you quarantine when you come into the state from a region That's not safe Is that being done? I'm not sure. You know, I'm not sure that it is. I don't think it is in every case So again, uh, trying to provide the guidance of as to why why it's important for all of us if we want to keep the economy Open if we want to get back to some sort of normal wear your mask Yeah, I was in the store on saturday very crowded. Uh, no one wore a mask including the clerk Um, and wouldn't it be easier for businesses to You know for those situations not to happen if there was some sort of mandate. Well, john, I'll ask you What's what's the penalty? What's the enforcement? What do you want to see? I mean california again. I'm just going to push back a little bit california has had A mandatory mass for quite some time Their numbers are growing by 10 000 positive cases a day What what's the important enforcement mechanism you'd like to see? Thank you. There are two questions This first one is about updating the interstate travel map Some of them honors who had lodging reservations for summer vacation in in the wells of unquit main area Found out last week that your county had two many cases per million to return without a quarantine to improve planning and communication could accb work with Other states to provide a daily rather than a weekly update of this essential travel information Yeah, that might be a better question for friday, but but I am trying to get the I'm not sure if I understand the question somebody from vermont went to Wells and could not return to vermont, but No, we Uh, it has been discovered by by the time they they made the reservation and then uh a day or two before planning to leave The map was updated apparently on a weekly basis And said oops shouldn't go there and so They they didn't do But if if it were Updated more frequently even even daily Uh, perhaps planning could be Uh, a little more smooth. Yeah, I'm not aware that we went the other way in terms of the situation in main by the way I think We've just been opening up areas. I think we're we're one more county Away from opening up the whole state. So i'm not sure that we closed any counties down, but I don't know commissioner p check Oh secretary curly, uh, if you're on the line, but I think this is more about the updated map and Commissioner p check updating that on a daily basis and I'm not sure I'm just not sure that we can do that Hi, this is this is secretary curly, and I can give a little bit of insight Um, we feel it's a weekly because if if we start changing it every day It does give people a lot of start and start and stop So I I didn't I wasn't aware that we had a county bump up I I think your county has been uh, maybe in the yellow or yes in the yellow for a while At any rate, uh, what our hope was is if people made reservations And traveled within a relatively reasonable period of time if the county had a little bit of a flip back We weren't expecting people to cancel their reservations. We were just asking them to be in thoughtful Mindful of the fact that they are going to an area that maybe has a little bit of a bump And to think about, you know when they come back think about Had they possibly been around, you know an area where they were concerned and maybe could lay low a little bit But we really did want to avoid having the map seen too frequently to have people You know going through that like stop and start thinking they're going and having to back it out. So We kind of settled on the week our minds are open as the governor says, you know, if we got something wrong We're always willing to keep an open mind on it. That's where we settled at this point Okay. Well, thank you. That's very helpful You bet My second question governor on students attending UVM online And you cannot set foot on campus are still being required to pay the entire 2600 dollar comprehensive fee for use of a library athletic facilities the Davis Center about this Has your administration discussed this seemingly unfair fee with UVM? I have not at this point in time and I'm not sure that it's come up anywhere within the legislative process either, but But maybe it will at some point we have Some other opportunities within the state for those who we don't want to go that route Some of our state colleges have a pretty good pretty good deal right now as well Okay, thank you very much Beth local 22 Hi, everyone. I think my question is more towards Dr. Levine We've noticed of course on the net on a nationwide scale that Labs are scrambling to keep up with the onus of testing It's causing delays and results being received Sometimes significant delays. So how does that lag and result in effect from on the testing strategy? How are you working around any lags and then Also, can the state still allow people to get out of quarantine at day seven? After negative test results if the testing results on asymptomatic people are taking longer to come back Yeah, all good questions I've seen some direct interviews with health officials in some of these states you're talking about And generally it's been with the commercial labs that because of the Major upsurge and testing being done in the affected states Uh are getting literally overwhelmed. And so the number of days is increasing For getting test results back in vermont right now The majority of our tests well many A significant portion of our tests are done at the public health lab where we have no such lag A significant portion of our tests are done through the uvm Platforms where we don't have the similar problem either And then a number of tests are sent out to boston to brode And uh, don't believe, uh, there's been a problem with any of them either However, there are office-based Clinicians who are sending labs off in some hospitals to some of the commercial labs We have much less control on that pathway So if there's a lag in reporting time It's not always within our sphere of influence to be able to impact it But as i've said at many of these, uh, conferences We really want to have a diversified portfolio of testing platforms Because there's so much going on in the nation right now With testing and so many states are trying to catch up and get to the level that they should be at That it's taxing the systems all over And that could mean problems obtaining collection kits Could mean problems obtaining the reagents to do the actual tests in the lab So we want to have again as many possible platforms to do our labs on So that we don't get dependent on one And we put at risk for Suddenly having Lack of some of the resources we need to do it Did that answer your question? Yes, it did and then just the the follow-up about Allowing people to get out of quarantine at day seven following a negative result. Um, it's asymptomatic Right Patients aren't seeing results as quickly as they could or should Yeah, so, you know We should try to deliver on that because obviously If you don't want to wait 14 days and we've told you you can get tested on day seven I would hope you wouldn't have to wait Beyond day nine or day 10 at the latest to get your result That still keeps Others safe And it keeps you, uh, still having the opportunity to reduce your quarantine Um, I think that's probably the number one thing I hear about Um, because a lot of times people have trouble even getting that test ordered Because they're by definition not symptomatic So they're not high on the priority list And sometimes they have trouble turning to someone and saying please order me a test so I can try to get out of quarantine We've had some really fruitful and successful discussions with our partners in the health care sector Both the medical centers the federally qualified health centers and primary care And we're seeing much more of a movement now towards Including this group of uh potential Patients in the group that they would order tests for and try to get the results back to them in a time The way so I think it's very promising and things are moving the right way Probably not perfect yet, but but clearly Going the right direction. Okay. Thank you, dr. Louis Pat wca I have a question also for dr. Louis We said the outbreak was in windham county the test site of forces in london dairy Manchester those in bennington county and we know some cases were reported there I got to clarify which county is this outbreak centered in or are we looking at potentially a multi county outbreak I can answer that question when I have more definitive data. So I don't want to Just quote what's being quoted in a newspaper article And until I have confirmed results It would be not prudent for me to just say oh, it's all of southern vermont Because I really can't put a handle on that. I know that people in london dairy Have to go to manchester to get their tests done So the site of their testing would be in manchester at this urgent care I also know that people london dairy sometimes go to bennington For a schedule test so again Where they're getting tested doesn't necessarily reflect where the cases are active But again, I I really Can't give you what you're asking for until I really have these cases in front of me to deal with and can be very definitive about Who's involved in where they live? And I'll ask my follow-up even though I imagine it will be roughly the same answer In the brollington new ski outbreak health department was able to identify the family social circle where this outbreak was Is there any early obvious connection between these new cases that could help guide some of those residents in southern vermont about how Urgently they should consider getting tested My understanding is that Through the positives that have already occurred there's been enough Communication amongst the community down there that people Literally lined up a hundred people to get tested yesterday So I think maybe some of them might have just been concerned because they heard there was Positive cases, but I suspect a majority of them were somehow connected or informed by others Um, and that's why they showed up. So I think that's already uh begun to happen And while this allen bt digger Hi, this is a question for secretary tevitz Um, secretary the numbers about dairy farms the clothing that you described were pretty alarming Um, so what's your prognosis for the rest of the year? I know that nobody knows who's sure what's going to happen But given what's happening with the national infection rate and therefore with what's happening with the economy Um, do you expect that rate to continue of closures? Um, thank you, man. Um, we just don't know. Um, you are correct It is uh discouraging and it's alarming with 25 to go out in just four months There has there's been some positive developments. Um, you know during this America rediscovered the kitchen again And they learned to bake and cook and they bought butter and cheese and milk But it wasn't enough to make up for, um, you know, the restaurant's closings Um, also, schools play a major role in this Colleges play a major role If if if they don't get opened up again In the fall and the winter again those markets aren't going to be there. They're probably not going to be as robust as they were pre-covid So it's it's tough to say The price Forecast indicates it to the dairy farmer is rebounding a little bit But still below the cost of production And that's why these these grants are so important We need to get these dollars to farmers so they can hold on and survive And maybe, you know by the fall or early winter Things will rebound enough. Also, the world is opening up again a little bit People are buying more dairy than they were That's another factor in this is the world trade So it's it's really difficult With this one, but we need to get these dollars to our processors and as farmers as soon as we can so we can At least stop the bleeding How do you expect farmers to use the money? I suspect the farmers are going to pay the bills immediately They may have been stacking up and and they need to do it. They may be able to use You know, it has to be losses. So they're going to be using the money to pay those You know marks market disruptions And try to catch up and hope that the the price that they're going to be paid Will rebound and things will stabilize over the next few months All right, thank you. Thank you Tim from our business magazine I wanted to ask the governor about the electric bus and truck Agreement design today, I guess it was But it occurred to me that during this conversation with Secretary Smith was talking about Uh, quarantine bringing the virus potentially from out of state I've heard a couple of cases in which people have quarantined for two weeks and then got on a plane to travel here I mean on an airplane to travel here. Does that wipe out the quarantine period? It would you then have to quarantine again once you've got here? I'll let dr. Levine answer that You stated it absolutely correct and You've negated the value of the quarantine by Going through airports coming on planes You'll recall they're in my high risk group Not to discourage people from traveling when they need to travel, but at the same time That's a higher risk enterprise We are telling travelers though who drive to vermont Um, who have quarantined in their home location That as long as they get in their car and drive to vermont possibly stopping for a bathroom break Or stopping at a takeout window or to get gasoline and then getting back in their car and driving here That's still allowed as part of their quarantine But taking mass transit of any sort would negate the value of having done the quarantine Okay, great. That's been a question that's been out there uh governor You know, I was wondering about the the cost of this electric electrification the um As you know, the burlington bus that's in vermont transit has two electric buses When you factor it in to not the cost of million dollars a piece How do you see the the the cost of this being? Possible, but you know something that can be afforded by the transportation Industry yeah, this is to drive industry to move towards electric vehicles as I you know use in my State of the state address and budget address. I talked about my enthusiasm for electric vehicles in general and uh use the Mustang as an example of what With all the horsepower it has and it's pretty exciting in some respects. I see the same you know, I came from the trades I came from the heavy industry world and And I see that there's a lot of benefit in the future to electric electrification of heavy vehicles heavy trucks Maybe even equipment at some point. So I think it's exciting in some respects. This is a long ways out To to try and adapt to that But we have to drive industry so the price will come down It's the only way it's going to happen if if we just sit back and allow The industry to continue to to build these Internal combustion engines We're still going to have carbon emissions and they and it's a high prevalence of carbon so I think it's a good approach to take again It's it's measured and just tries to to push the industry a bit to develop these vehicles You think there'll need to be some sort of federal It's just a financial assistance without like there is with solar panels and that sort of thing You know, maybe maybe eventually but this is in the early stages We don't really even know with the what this would take So again having a seat at the table trying to Engage with the industry. I think it's going to be helpful in this dialogue. So if we want to we truly I want to reduce the carbon emissions Transportation electric vehicles is the answer All right, great. Thank you very much Aaron verification on the Manchester outbreak is the state waiting to find out the present is positive And there are true status before starting contact tracing and getting the understanding of, you know, the potential source provider I'll let I believe we've started contact tracing, but I'll let dr. Levine answer that Yeah, I did maybe didn't catch it in my opening comments. I did say that we're acting as if they were Confirmed cases even though they are still presumptive diagnoses so that we could begin the isolating and contact tracing process So We're basically talking with everyone that was identified through the antigen testing as positive Is there any information yet about any kind of like mutual source for the outbreak like a workplace facility a You know common social events that people might have attended that might be You know potential cause of the outbreak spreading there Yeah, so I'd like to you know wait on that because we do need to get a better handle on it all But I can say that We know that When you get an outbreak like this That there's a lot of social connectivity that occurs So I I believe that would probably be true, but that's about all I could say Okay, and then one last note Is there any word from ancestor businesses or Manchester officials to You know kind of close down or take more social distancing measures in the area specific to the outbreak in Manchester and you know nearby towns Of course that might be seen cases themselves Right. I am not aware Um at this point doesn't mean they haven't but I'm not aware Which probably shouldn't we probably shouldn't label it the the Manchester outbreak either yet Because we don't actually have a good enough handle on Place of residents of people versus place of testing. So we'll just call it an outbreak in in that region for now I understand. Thank you. Thank you Darren the Manchester Journal There's a lot of frustration in the in the Manchester community and throughout the the north shire right now with the lack of of information and I understand Commissioner Levine where um, you know the methodology of the testing requires that you wait, but Even coming out of the Manchester Medical Center, uh, there's concerned that there's numbers like 40 2 this morning at the number 42 positives and potentially as many as 30 false negatives Waiting for for confirmation and get the status being zero That that's causing a lot of consternation in the community Is there any concern about the the reporting methodologies that the state uses and being able to Count out of state or visitors who maybe those those stats will Follow them versus Vermont stats Yeah, so again, I want to reiterate That everyone identified through the antigen test Is being connected with or has already been connected with So again, uh, I can understand that people get Concerned when they hear there's an outbreak in a region that they happen to live in But it does not mean that they are directly somehow connected to that and at risk And of course, we don't want to create a situation where people who aren't at risk think they're at risk When that would be unnecessary, so we have to be very careful This is the first instance. We've really recorded of this antigen test being used on a On a wide basis and We can't help that that's the way it's turned out and that's how it began from the start So we have to deal with the deck of cards we were dealt But certainly we're not trying to conceal anything from anybody in the community or in the region And we're just trying to follow up on the findings that this medical center This urgent care has found to this point in time And again and again, you know and publicizing the fact that There is other testing that's being made available Which I know I'm sure Local news media are all doing for us as well and with us You Follow up on an earlier question and in your answer about the pop-up testing sites Uh, the the pop-up site in at bloodbrook school It filled up afternoon mid afternoon yesterday And the people are looking for protesting options and it's so far hasn't been announced So I I appreciate that answer earlier. Do you have other than folks calling in? To express need for testing. Do you have any advice for people who would like to be tested? Soon and and not able to find an appointment place Yeah, so I'm sure that not everybody who lives in that part of vermont Uses the urgent care as their primary care site So obviously if they have health care providers that they're linked to That is one way to immediately Ask for testing and find out where that provider usually Refers people either to their own office setting to a Hospital or another site So that would be my first recommendation For people if there are actually people who don't have a primary care because they're not Full year-round Vermonters because they've come to that region for vacation or for whatever reason They can still call the number that they would have called to make the appointment And be given other advice about alternative modes of testing Okay, thank you. Thank you for governor scott Living in an area to reliance on tourism also puts you at risk of that tourism a lot of a lot of visitors are coming from areas with high concentrations of infection and not all Visually are following all the protocols a lot of people don't have time to Quarantine and such so they come in they're not particularly truthful on their forms And they're in the community There are that I know of three or four restaurants that have closed their doors Before a few days to a week Many other businesses that have reverted to curbside Services again, but basically the community itself in in large regard and that's not just Manchester But I think the wind hall and limited area as well are are reverting back Is there any concern about having open up too quickly? I know that's the opposite of what most people are asking But is there any concern about that or any consideration as if this grows that you might need to roll back some of that Yeah, I again we were Asked repeatedly by the industry and many from the media About why we were moving so slowly in the beginning Why didn't because we our positive cases were down and we should be open up the economy a lot faster than we were And we took a cautious methodical approach, which I'm I'm grateful that we did And of course, I'm concerned about what we're seeing, you know across the country in particular And what this could mean and when you said the person didn't or the Family or whoever didn't Didn't have time to quarantine I would say that they they didn't take the time to quarantine. They're putting others at risk And it's very difficult as I've said, you know, when we were talking about mass earlier and mandatory making the mandatory This quarantine is mandatory as well, but tough to enforce and I don't Unless Someone has an idea on how to do that. We can't close down our borders. We can't check IDs and and and determine whether they've They've quarantined or not. So this is, you know, it's it's difficult We're we're relying on the goodwill of those coming to our state and those leaving our state to go to other places That aren't safe either and then coming back. So it's not just people coming in It's us leaving the state verminers leaving the state and going to places that aren't safe. So That's why the message has been today To be vigilant be smart use common sense We'll get through this a lot quicker if we all do our part pull together Because if we let this fray if we let this go We will be in trouble and we will have to to roll things back And it's been, you know, my goal all along To do this methodically strategically slowly So that we do not do not have to retreat That we continue to move forward And right now we're okay. We're again second lowest number of positives in the country Low lowest positivity rate in the country. So we're doing we're doing okay, but but as you Acknowledge, I'm starting to see people get a little lax in that respect So this is a reminder to everyone do your part where you mask keep socially distance Wash your hands a lot and if you're sick stay home So that's that's all we can do at this point And we we hope that people will take that Take that advice Okay, thank you. Uh, one more question for secretary fray With this Great, um, I mean right now, I think if you had the numbers of you could be looking potentially six seven Positives in a fairly small area. Obviously not all those are going to be local individuals, but Is there any Moving into the opening of the school School year how this might be playing into that No, thanks for the question. Um, you know, I think as dr. Lee said there's open remarks Moved into our history with managing the wouldn't be Fair haven outbreaks You know, as long as we have the ability to successfully manage these types of outbreaks I think that we can continue to plan Re-opening school for in person instruction It really depends on everyone working together to maintain that discipline That allows us to keep the rate of the virus of very volatile progress Okay. Thank you very much All right, we're at one o'clock and we still have six people in the queue Uh, we'll go to joe with the barton conical who has been trying to reach the state to um get some information about The better roads project and some other issues um, he told us that he called Uh EIT's main number called the district tried the governor's hotline the lieutenant governor's hotline all without, um Getting any response. I understand that covert has Disrupted the way people work but, um Is it possible that people will soon be able to reach the state? Well, they should Be able to reach the state right now Um, just because they may not be there physically. We're working remotely So that's unfortunate. They haven't been able to get through joe if you could If you could send the name of your reader to rebecca We'll make sure that someone gets back to them. I would be glad to do that Um I want the same lines The court system Is also Um, it's probably so about covid but that means, um That access to files is extremely limited and Um, is there any thought being given to ways that this Both work for me. It's a live jam Can be uh broken sometimes in the near future Again, we're just trying to do everything in a safe manner. The court system The court administrator is doing um what they can Might be a better question for them in regards to the the courts. They're a separate branch of government And um, they're they're I know they're trying to do all they can but uh, I would uh, I would say call the court administrator Okay, thank you very much Any tv? Um, hello, can you hear me can? Uh, thank you governor Dr. Levine I got a couple for dr. Levine if I may On dr. Levine, I had a question from a viewer He said that the uh, the testing are being listed as coronavirus or covet 19 testing Uh, is there a difference? They asked so The virus itself Is the sars co v2 virus Which is what the test tests for Covid 19 is the illness the virus causes so Whatever way they're seeing it. I'm sure the meaning is still testing for active covet infection For that specific version Yeah Okay, and um, I was wondering if you were or uh, I believe the secretary french had uh seen the Three or four day old uvm study that was published in pediatrics Uh, they concluded that children infrequently transmit covet to each other or adults Uh, it came out on the 20th. Have any has anybody uh checked out this study? Yeah, so We actually discussed it earlier in the press conference It's not actually a study. It's an editorial compilation. It's yeah, correct. It's an editorial by Are our two uvm pediatric infectious disease experts Um, and it is an actual compilation of the existing literature I was written because I believe in the issue of pediatrics the journal that it was in Uh, the newest study had come out So it was in response to putting that in perspective with all the previous studies But again, they they are pretty consistent in Um, their approach of Seeing the adults as those who May bring the infection into the child's setting as opposed to vice versa Okay, thank you. Now governor, is there uh, is there any word on on on debates with any of your Challengers for the upcoming election No No, I see All right, steve, we still have four callers Steve, we still have four callers And It's a yes-no question. He could answer it Sure, uh Secretary tibis, is there is there any way we could uh Somehow persuade some of these uh these uh dollar stores that proliferate throughout the state To sell vermont milk. I mean they The stuff that they're getting seems to be coming from Tennessee Is there no way we could ask them or persuade them to maybe buy vermont milk? Thank you, um, you know, we're always encouraging, you know every retailer to buy as much local product as they can If consumers, um, you know want to know where if it's vermont milk, there's a code on it. It's called code 50 So if Someone wants to, you know, make sure that they're buying vermont milk Look for the code 50 and it will be it will be a bottle than this in the state of vermont Great. Thank you all very much I know it's only been a little assistance mortgage Uh this program opened. I was just wondering if there's been any idea of the interest that Started whether there's been a lot of application Kind of a brief look at that Yeah, we don't have that information right here, but we certainly could have the commissioner hand for it to get in touch with you Okay, thank you. Thanks Andrew Caledonia record Uh, yeah, good afternoon governor. Uh, thanks for hanging in there till uh, nearly the end. Um, hopefully it's not too bitter Um, dr. Veen earlier touched on the data supporting reopening schools and it sounds like there's a strong commitment to that So my question is around reopening plans that some schools and districts Are starting to unveil And they cover a wide spectrum Some schools say they intend to have the full student body for a full day Others have announced that they're looking at half the student population at any given point and then We've even heard from one that says a quarter of the student body in schools per day Was part-time schooling what you and your team had in mind as a starting point when you went out schools could reopen And uh, did you anticipate a possibility of of this type of scattershot approach? Even within communities and school districts. Yeah, that's uh, secretary french answer some of that But I just wanted to say Our goal is to get kids back into school. We think it's essential To to them their livelihood They're many of falling through the cracks And uh, we just think it's really important. So we're trying to be as flexible as possible And asking school districts and schools To get creative as well and do it a safe way Secretary french Yeah, um, yeah, we're certainly our intention is to aim for a real thing for in-person instruction Uh, we will be putting up some guides later this week got the issue of hybrid learning Which is potentially I give the schools to build simultaneously offering for in-person instruction and hybrid instruction Um, so certainly the focus I think for the reasons the governor mentioned needs to be on in-person instruction As we discussed earlier in the press conference I think, you know, we we we do have evolving conditions and we feel constant that These managers operate this way And that's what we need for districts to have some flexibility and how they navigate that. So I think in particular The issue of hybrid learning will be taken up by many districts But I think, you know, our goal is not only can we open school for in-person instruction But also maintain or open up for in-person instruction If not for in-person instruction That's going to require some flexibility below the level to manage the dynamic nature of the whole country So The hybrid model is that something that you anticipate as being appropriate for as a starting point? Um, or Would you encourage schools to look for ways to get as many students as possible on campus for full day? Okay Yeah, I think that the question really points to how each school district will implement our guidance, which is focused on 100 percent in-person instruction But each school district has different aspects in terms of their physical infrastructure Their ability to offer instruction online and so forth So it's the translation of the sort of state level guidance to do the practical application of the UD district Setting is what we're seeing starting to emerge local level now So we'll we'll work closely with districts on the implementation side of things These are issues and you know, your questions are indicative of a lot of the hard work that needs to occur now at the school district level That will will necessitate the engagement of parents teachers students themselves school boards So work on these issues that are committed remains the same For the reasons that governor outlined that you know, there's there's significant Uh need for us as a society to reopen school We think we can do that safely in the current context of how we're managing the virus as a society Um, so we need that it remains committed to try and do that as best we can And I'm not to take too much more time But issues of equity if you have a school that's opening with only half You know, you get to go for a half day and then five miles of the road that school district is Has the whole student body for the whole day are their concerns about how that might play out Yes, I think so, I think that you know, this is uncharted territory for all of us We have to we have to navigate issues of equity and quality Um at the same time, you know, once you make this is unprecedented sort of experience So we have to I think at this point acknowledge that we're going to need to Retain as much flexibility as possible and approaching what no doubt will be a very dynamic So math Okay, thank you very much Katie vt digger Governor scott and dr. Levine You said that A couple days ago that you wanted to expand testing in the northeast kingdom and ask for pharmacies to step up But now I'm hearing that they don't have enough PPE and supplies To do so What is the status of the PPE supply overall and what do you see as the state's role in allocating it to private clinics or companies? Um Yeah, we we've given an update the other I think was on Maybe on um Friday about the PPE status here in the state and we feel pretty good about the supply We have for our own needs and and those in the health care field In terms of PPEs Needed for some of the private commercial enterprises. I haven't I haven't heard that there's an issue in obtaining those but uh, maybe Dr. Levine has more information Oh Commissioner shirling if you're still on the line, uh have you Is there a problem getting PPE for this need? I am on the line governor at first. We've heard of a need in a pharmacy arena relative to testing It's not something that we had envisioned having to support but given that it is supporting ongoing testing efforts I think it's something that we would uh, we would entertain. We'd be interested in the conversation So, uh, if you can refer whoever has the recommended detail, um Over to us at public safety. We can facilitate a conversation about that Okay, thank you Kevin seven days. Can you hear me governor? I can Thanks so much for taking the question. Um, I have two questions. One's for you governor and one is for secretary smith um governor, I've spoken to some folks in recent days who have some concerns about the fact that the uh Recovery grants that the state is now offering exclude sole proprietors With the exception of uh, sole proprietors ships that are owned by women and minorities In the state do you support that? uh, those parameters for that program and uh, can you understand how some folks who are excluded? Um, who don't fall in either of those categories might be frustrated. Yeah, I'm concerned about that as well Um, as you know, we did receive less money than we'd hoped Trying to distribute it as best we can Hopefully we'll be able to go back in and and get the fill that need as well I might ask if Either secretary curly or commissioner gulstein might be on the line That could help answer that Yeah, hi, this is secretary curly You know when we initially proposed to the legislator a plan there was One a bucket of money that would have covered my Businesses, uh, any business with five or fewer employees And that didn't make it over the finish line So the governor said no, we didn't quite get what we asked for ultimately. We're grateful for what we did get and we're looking forward to um Coming back in august with the legislators and having a discussion about the businesses that You know do do have a need that that were um, arguably kind of want to say overlooked But but their their need wasn't met the first time around So we were all interested in having that conversation. Okay. Thank you very much My next question is very similar and it is my last question. Um, but it's for secretary smith and it's about the grant Not being doled out on a first come first serve basis as other grants have been Managed both at the federal level and at the state level was Secretary smith was that is that being done in recognition of the fact that a first come first serve basis is not entirely fair To the health care system it isn't because we had we in this particular grant and the way the legislation was written And the way that we promoted The legislation being written. This was a wide variety of various providers coming in from From one person shops to UVM medical for example just So we didn't think it would be in this particular instance Given the wide variety of people who would be applying to Not have an open process To allow the one person shop the same ability at the at the money as And I don't want to pick on UVM, but it's a large facility. So like a UVM. So the answer is yes Well, if I could push back on that a little bit though, I think it's you could certainly argue that the variety And sweep and scope of the types of businesses that are applying for other programs is wider Um, they they range To every type of business in the state whereas the ones you're Going to be managing in a not first come first serve type basis are solely in the health care industry. Isn't that right? That's right But you you've got to realize how many one person operations are out there that we're looking at um, and look at the the number of Of entities that we're serving with this grant. I'll push back just a little bit I would I would say that the The disparity Is wider in in what we're looking at. So I think this is the fairest way for us At least in the health care in the health care arena to be distributing the funds now. We have a hazardous pay um, sort of Mandate that we have to get out as well, which I'll be Talking about probably in a few weeks That hazardous pay will be until the money runs out. I appreciate your time. Thanks very much everyone. Thank you Well, thanks again for tuning in and we'll see you on Friday We'll be talking about modeling as we do every friday. Thank you