The Vermont Department of Health has increased the total number of COVID-associated deaths during the pandemic.
The department says there were an additional 86 COVID deaths during the pandemic that had not been reported. It brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Vermont to 877 as of January 6th.
The additional deaths, most from 2022, were identified following a recent review of data. The health department says deaths reported by the Chief Medical Examiner’s office must be manually entered into the state’s data system but several reports had not been entered. It cites reduction in staff and incorrect processing for the discrepencies.
The Health Department says the state’s COVID-19 death rate remains the lowest in the Continental U.S.