WEEK IN REVIEW
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MARCH 18-25, 2020
COURTESY OF BECKY BOUCHARD
COMPILED BY GILLIAN ENGLISH, SASHA GOLDSTEIN & MATTHEW ROY
HOLD IT
Suzie McCoy (left) and Paula Routly with their moms at the Converse Home
Vermont has closed its 16 interstate rest stops. One more reason to stay home.
GIVE NO QUARTER
Vermont U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan said she’ll prioritize cases involving COVID-19 scams or schemes. Stay alert!
REPORTING WITH CARE
Journalism in the time of the coronavirus can be tricky. This week our reporters “visited” nursing homes through closed windows, stood six feet away from people picking up hand sanitizer made at repurposed Vermont distilleries and kept an awkward distance from media colleagues at Vermont Department of Health briefings. We’ve reported a firehose of news: constant updates of COVID-19 cases and, eventually, deaths; more closures and restrictions; state and local government emergency legislation; bids to free Vermont inmates; rising food shelf demands; and plans for coping with a potential surge of patients. Between print issues, Seven Days has published more than 40 stories online at sevendaysvt.com, and the week’s
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not done yet. We’ve also run countless updates on what we call “rolling blogs,” letting you know, for instance, that the Vermont City Marathon & Relay has been postponed from May until October. We’ve written about layoffs, too, at restaurants, arts organizations and media companies — including our own. Seven Days laid off seven staff members on Monday because ad revenues have plunged. The hope, said cofounder and publisher Paula Routly, is to rehire those staffers in 10 weeks. We’re as committed as ever to bringing you the news you need, with safety in mind. So eat some kale, wash your hands and keep reading. There’s a lot to know. We’ve still got you covered.
FACING IT
Vermonters are making face masks for doctors and nurses. Yankee ingenuity.
GOING OVERBOARD Ferry service between Charlotte and Essex, N.Y., has been suspended. The Grand Isle to Cumberland Head, N.Y., route is still in service.
1 in 408
That’s how many Vermonters had been tested for COVID-19 as of March 24, according to the Vermont Department of Health. That’s 1,535 people in total.
TOPFIVE
MOST POPULAR ITEMS ON SEVENDAYSVT.COM
1. “Burlington Nursing Home Resident Tests Positive for Coronavirus” by Courtney Lamdin & Derek Brouwer. A resident of Burlington Health & Rehabilitation Center tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on March 17. 2. “Outbreak Spreads at Burlington Nursing Home” by Derek Brouwer. Last Friday, the day after a patient died, health officials said four more residents had tested positive for the virus. 3. “Vermont Reports 20 New Cases; Seven More at Burlington Nursing Home” by Derek Brouwer. On Saturday the Vermont Department of Health announced 20 new cases of coronavirus, including at least seven more residents of a Burlington nursing home. 4. “Scott Orders More Businesses — Salons, Barbers, Gyms — to Close” by Sasha Goldstein. Gov. Phil Scott ordered all “close-contact businesses” in the state to close by 8 p.m on Monday, March 23. 5. “Virus Claims First Vermonters: Nursing Home Resident, VA Patient” by Derek Brouwer. Two elderly Vermonters died last Thursday, Gov. Scott announced, including a resident of a Burlington nursing home.
tweet of the week Peter Brown @beerlington Honestly didn’t think “stay at home dad in a pandemic” would be my gig ten years later. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSVT OUR TWEEPLE: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/TWITTER
WHAT’S WEIRD IN VERMONT
RIGHTING A WRONG NUMBER who dis?
Over the past year, Aimee Eberle has returned to her Bakersfield home many times to find messages on her answering machine from people trying to reach the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans. She never thought much of it and never contacted the hospital. “I figure I’m just going to get passed around 10,000 times because it’s an institution,” Eberle told Seven Days. “I just haven’t had the emotional bandwidth to do it — or care.” Luckily for her, and people trying to reach
the hospital, the answer came a-callin’ — and just in time. Home from work last week because of the coronavirus pandemic, Eberle was finally around to answer a call intended for the hospital. The caller, Paddy Shea, let her know that she’d searched online for the medical center’s billing department and gotten Eberle’s number from an erroneous Google listing. Shea was concerned that other patients were having similar issues. Knowing that would be “especially bad” during the coronavirus outbreak, Shea sprang into action.
She informed the hospital’s information technology department. She then reported the mix-up to Google and posted a photo of the error to a Vermont-based coronavirus Facebook group, asking its members to post it, as well. Within hours, Google had fixed the error. Eberle said she hasn’t received a hospital call since Shea’s post last Thursday. Shea, who said she initially joined the coronavirus group because she wanted to find out how she could help, was pleased to hear that hers was Eberle’s last errant call. “Everyone should be doing whatever we can right now to be helping each other have access to health care,” she said. COLIN FLANDERS SEVEN DAYS MARCH 25-APRIL 1, 2020
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