3 more Mainers die as another 250 coronavirus cases are reported across the state
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
This story will be updated.
Another three Mainers have died as health officials on Monday reported 250 new coronavirus cases across the state.
Monday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 11,757. Of those, 10,487 have been confirmed positive, while 1,270 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The agency revised Sunday’s cumulative total to 11,507, down from 11,508, meaning there was a net increase of 249 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 (64), Aroostook (1), Cumberland (57), Franklin (3), Hancock (5), Kennebec (29), Knox (3), Lincoln (1), Oxford (9), Penobscot (10), Sagadahoc (4), Somerset (6), Waldo (1) and York (54) counties, state data show. Information about where three additional cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
Only two counties — Piscataquis and Washington — reported no new cases.
The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 174.1, up from 165.1 a day ago, down from 207.3 a week ago and up from 73.6 a month ago.
Two Penobscot County residents and a Somerset County resident have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 194. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.
Monday’s report marked the sixth time in the past 10 days when new coronavirus cases surpassed 200. That comes as Maine has seen coronavirus cases surge to unprecedented levels over the past month, hitting highs not seen in the earliest weeks of the pandemic.
Health officials have warned Mainers that “forceful and widespread” community transmission is being seen throughout the state. Every county is seeing high community transmission, which the Maine CDC defines as a case rate of 16 or more cases per 10,000 people.
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.
So far, 699 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Information about those who are currently hospitalized wasn’t immediately available.
Meanwhile, 146 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 9,098. That means there are 2,465 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state, which is up from 2,365 on Sunday.
A majority of the cases — 7,012– have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.
As of Wednesday, there have been 847,706 negative test results out of 861,445 overall. Just over 1.5 percent of all tests have come back positive, the most recently available Maine CDC data show.
The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 3,824 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths — 71 — have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (1,560), Aroostook (138), Franklin (215), Hancock (248), Kennebec (796), Knox (205), Lincoln (156), Oxford (340), Penobscot (866), Piscataquis (42), Sagadahoc (153), Somerset (451), Waldo (299), Washington (191) and York (2,338) counties. Information about where an additional five cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
As of Monday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 13,386,255 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 266,887 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.