In a press conference Tuesday morning, Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced that the cross-state travel map would be suspended and all travel outside of the state would require quarantine.
“The fact is, along with social gatherings, travel to and from other states without the proper quarantine continues to be one of the common denominators of our rising case count,” Scott said.
Any nonessential travel outside of the state or to the state will require a 14-day quarantine or a 7-day quarantine with a negative COVID-19 test result.
The Critic reached out to NVU Dean of Students Jonathan Davis about how this will affect the NVU community. “We have been warning about any travel to a quarantine county since students and employees began signing the NVU Pledge before the fall semester began. The announcement by Governor Scott… to suspend the travel map did not change that thinking or approach with so few ‘green’ counties to travel to anyway,” he said.
Positive COVID-19 cases have forced the hand of many schools in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to move to remote learning. Some schools never returned to in-person instruction. Northern Vermont University students have considered themselves lucky to be able to return to campus.
Governor Scott agrees that in-person instruction is important and he askes that Vermonters do their part to ensure schools can remain open. “We need to think carefully about the decisions we make; think about our wants versus our needs… What we need to do is keep our kids in school for in-person learning.”
In-person classes continue at NVU until Friday, November 20, followed by a Thanksgiving break and a remote final exam week.
Governor Scott took time to address skeptics of the travel restrictions, mask policies, and other COVID-19 protocols when he said “I understand this may seem inconvenient, and from your point of view, unnecessary, unfair and difficult. But simply refusing to do your part is dangerous for the rest of us.”
“The bottom line is if you don’t need to travel right now, don’t,” Scott said, a thought that is echoed by NVU President Elaine Collins in her emails to the NVU community.
Davis says that compliance with COVID-19 guidelines is something NVU students and employees have “done an incredible job with.”
“Words cannot express our appreciation for that effort to keep our two campuses safe,” Davis said.
Feature Photo || Vermont Governor Phil Scott addresses the public during his press conference on Tuesday, November 10.