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A National Guard member sets up a cot at a “surge” medical center at the Collins Perley Sports and Fitness Center in St. Albans on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. VNG photo

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This article was updated at 6:17 p.m.

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The Vermont National Guard says it is working to establish three medical “surge” sites around the state to help hospitals deal with an expected increase in patients due to COVID-19.



Those Guard facilities would be located at the Gutterson Fieldhouse at the University of Vermont in Burlington, the Barre Civic Center in Barre, and the Collins Perley Sports and Fitness Center in St. Albans, according to Capt. Mike Arcovitch, a Guard spokesperson.



The first three locations were selected because they serve areas with the highest current number of patients with the coronavirus, the Guard said in a statement. The sites will be used for “low acuity patients who can be moved from a hospital facility safely.”



All three sites are expected to be established within the next three days, with work already taking place at the Barre Civic Center and fitness center in St. Albans, according to Arcovitch.



The “surge” facility in St. Albans is outfitted with 50 cots. VNG photo

While the Guard is working to establish the sites, the entities that will operate the facilities are currently being determined,” according to Mark Bosma, public information officer for the Vermont Covid-19 Joint Information Center.



“UVMMC is staffing the facility at Gutterson,” Bosma wrote in email, “the others are yet to be determined, the State Medical Surge Task Force is working with the hospitals in Berlin and St. Albans on figuring that out – it’s still in process.”



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The Vermont Department of Health reported that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had increased from 52 on Sunday to 95 by Tuesday. That number includes seven people who have died, five of those elderly residents of the Burlington Health and Rehab Center.



The state is planning eight temporary surge sites around the state, according to Michael Schirling, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety. Other sites could include hotels and colleges. Each site will have space for 50 patients, he said. The Gutterson site in Burlington, however, is expected to have space for 150 patients.



The commissioner said Saturday that the sites will be located near medical facilities and will be geographically distributed around the state. At this time, no sites have been selected in southern Vermont.



Forty-eight soldiers and airmen with the Vermont National Guard have been activated: 25 from the Vermont National Guard Quick Reaction Force and 16 more soldiers from Company C (Medical), 186th Brigade Support Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team reported for duty Tuesday.



“We will also be providing medical personnel to assist the University of Vermont Medical Center in screening patients,” Brig. Gen. David Manfredi, director of the Joint Staff, Vermont National Guard, said in the release. “These efforts support the Department of Health to increase medical capacity.”

The Vermont National Guard is handling logistics for the sites and is working in concert with the Vermont Department of Health and the State Emergency Operations Center.

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