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Vermont COVID-19 levels steadily increase as JN.1 becomes the dominant strain

A photo of at-home covid test cassettes with two lines indicating a positive test.
Patrick Sison
/
Associated Press File
COVID-19 cases are slightly rising in Vermont, but hospitalizations are still at low levels.

A new report from the Vermont Health Department shows COVID levels slowly increasing across the state, just as a new variant known as JN.1 is becoming the dominant strain.

Although cases continue to steadily rise, the health department says the number of overall cases this winter may be lower than it originally projected.

More from Vermont Public: State health officials not expecting a surge in COVID hospitalizations this winter

John Davy, an epidemiologist at the Health Department, says data based on hospitalizations, emergency room and urgent care center visits, and schools show that the number of cases is now at the higher end of the "Low" rating.

Davy says the new JN.1 strain doesn't pose any unusual problems. But he is encouraging Vermonters to take safety precautions — particularly if they plan to be around higher risk individuals.

"The same protective stances still work — staying home when sick, covering coughs, wearing a mask when appropriate," Davy says. "So we don't really — we wouldn't change our guidance based on the prevalence of JN.1 or any of the other currently circulating variants."

Davy is hopeful that the impact of COVID this winter in Vermont will be somewhat less severe than what officials anticipated.

"I think it's still possible that COVID and our other respiratory diseases will stay perhaps towards even in the lower end of what we were expecting to see," he says.

Davy says the COVID vaccines remain effective against the new JN.1 strain.

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Bob Kinzel has been covering the Vermont Statehouse since 1981 — longer than any continuously serving member of the Legislature. With his wealth of institutional knowledge, he answers your questions on our series, "Ask Bob."
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