UVM reports nearly 80 cases since spring semester started
- Feb. 18, 2021 11:33 AM EST

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The University of Vermont has reported nearly 80 confirmed COVID-19 cases among students during the first two weeks of the spring semester.

The school sent an email to the UVM community on Wednesday after 46 students tested positive for COVID-19 in one week, the Burlington Free Press reported.

“We write now both to put that number in perspective, but also, importantly, to remind everyone of the critical importance of all COVID protocols,” said the email from Patricia Prelock, provost and senior vice president, and Gary Derr, vice president for operations and public safety.

The school reported a total of 99 student cases last semester from Aug. 7 to Nov. 24.

University spokesperson Enrique Corredera told the newspaper that the school anticipated higher case counts this semester due to trends locally and around the country.

In other pandemic-related news:

MARATHON POSTPONED

The annual marathon in Burlington has been rescheduled from May to October because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizers of the People’s United Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay announced the move on Wednesday.

“We would like this race to be a celebration of our freedom to run and share that joy with our entire community," Peter Delaney, executive director of RunVermont, said in a written statement. “We’re optimistic that we’ll be in better shape to make that vision a reality with a few additional months to let COVID conditions settle out.”

Last year, the marathon was rescheduled and then canceled.

Many of the runners who had signed up deferred their race registrations to this year so RunVermont will not immediately accept new registrations for the Oct. 24 race, organizers said. The 2020 registrants will be contacted with instructions to reregister for this year's marathon and relay or to defer until spring of next year, they said.

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THE NUMBERS

Vermont reported 131 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday for a statewide total since the pandemic began of more than 14,140.

Two new deaths were reported for a total to date of 193.

According the Vermont Department of Health, 38 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 13 in intensive care.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Vermont did not increase over the past two weeks, going from 135.71 new cases per day on Feb. 3 to 124.86 new cases per day on Feb. 17.