Grand Isle County hits 7 positive COVID tests

​By MIKE DONOGHUE
Islander Staff Writer

Grand Isle County has hit 7 positive tests for the deadly COVID-19 virus, according to the Vermont Health Department.

It was unclear where the latest case came from and whether it is due to increased local testing.
 

​For several weeks the state had reported Grand Isle County had 4 positive tests, but by Saturday morning the number was 6.

One of those two new Grand Isle County cases is believed to have been reported Thursday.  The other was new as of Saturday.

Either the fifth or sixth case was in the town of South Hero, according to the colored town-by-town map provided each week by the Health Department.

Before the 6th and 7th cases were reported, Alburgh and North Hero had no known reported cases in Grand Isle County.

Out of the initial four cases, the first three were in Isle La Motte.  The town of Grand Isle had the fourth positive test the first week of May.

COVID-19 is the name given to the pandemic that first started to affect people in Wuhan, China in December 2019.  The mild to severe respiratory illness was first reported in Vermont in March.

The Champlain Islands Health Care Center in South Hero has been established as a special test site for COVID-19.

It remains unclear whether having a local test site has led to the recent increase.

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