Maine marks another grim record with 247 new coronavirus cases and 3 deaths
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
Maine marked yet another grim milestone on Friday with 247 new coronavirus cases and three deaths reported across the state.
Friday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 8,639. Of those, 7,748 have been confirmed positive, while 891 were classified as “probable cases,” according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency revised Thursday’s cumulative total to 8,392, down from 8,395, meaning there was a net increase of 244 over the previous day’s report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the state’s cumulative total. The Bangor Daily News reports on the number of new cases reported to the Maine CDC in the previous 24 hours, rather than the increase of daily cumulative cases.
New cases were reported in Androscoggin (68), Cumberland (38), Franklin (5), Hancock (14), Kennebec (17), Knox (3), Lincoln (5), Oxford (4), Penobscot (27), Piscataquis (4), Sagadahoc (1), Somerset (9), Waldo (2), Washington (13) and York (34) counties, state data show. Information about where an additional three cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
Only one county — Aroostook — reported no new cases in the previous 24 hours.
The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 174.1, up from 165.6 a day ago, 137 a week ago and up from 30.1 a month ago.
Friday’s report marked another day of record-high coronavirus cases, surpassing the previous record of 206 set only a day earlier, Maine CDC data show. It comes as the state struggles with an unprecedented surge in virus transmission far outpacing that seen during the earliest weeks of the pandemic.
Health officials have warned Mainers that “forceful and widespread” community transmission is being seen throughout the state. Five counties are seeing high community transmission: Franklin, Knox, Somerset, Waldo and Washington counties.
There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 confirmed cases and that at least 25 percent of those are not connected to either known cases or travel.
The latest deaths involved two Androscoggin County residents and another from Penobscot County, bringing the statewide death toll to 162. Over the past two weeks, Maine has seen 15 deaths from the virus, the bulk of which have been reported since Saturday. That’s more than Maine saw in the two months prior combined. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.
So far, 566 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 66 people are currently hospitalized, with 18 in critical care and six on ventilators.
Meanwhile, 136 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 6,428. That means there are 2,049 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state, which is up from 1,944 on Thursday. It’s yet another record high for active cases.
A majority of the cases — 5,082 — have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.
As of Friday, there have been 735,872 negative test results out of 746,314 overall. About 1.3 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.
The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 3,138 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths — 70 — have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (1,149), Aroostook (82), Franklin (139), Hancock (151), Kennebec (542), Knox (158), Lincoln (97), Oxford (223), Penobscot (453), Piscataquis (23), Sagadahoc (113), Somerset (323), Waldo (188), Washington (139) and York (1,717) counties. Information about where an additional four cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
As of Friday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 10,569,558 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 242,477 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.