Another 2 Mainers have died and 147 more coronavirus cases reported across the state
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
This story will be updated.
Another two Mainers have died as health officials on Wednesday reported 147 more coronavirus cases across the state.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 2,219. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. That’s up from 2,176 on Tuesday.
In recent days, Maine has seen new coronavirus cases stabilize in the low triple digits. That comes after Maine saw an accelerating decline in confirmed virus transmission from mid-January when cases reached a record-high 830 through mid-February when they slipped below 100 for the first time in months. Since then, Maine has seen active cases tick up and the seven-day average climb.
Two men in their 50s and 70s from York County have succumbed to the virus, bringin the statewide death toll to 705.
Wednesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 45,091, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 44,944 on Tuesday.
Of those, 35,411 have been confirmed positive, while 9,680 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Wednesday was 1.10 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 336.90.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 171.6, down from 173.6 a day ago, up from 148.6 a week ago and down from 294.4 a month ago. That average peaked on Jan. 14 at 625.3.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers in their 20s, while Mainers over 80 years old make up the majority of deaths. More cases and deaths have been recorded in women than men.
So far, 1,545 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.
The total statewide hospitalization rate on Wednesday was 11.54 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (4,849), Aroostook (1,288), Cumberland (12,647), Franklin (909), Hancock (918), Kennebec (3,674), Knox (658), Lincoln (585), Oxford (2,239), Penobscot (3,963), Piscataquis (303), Sagadahoc (890), Somerset (1,251), Waldo (595), Washington (725) and York (9,593) counties. Information about where an additional four cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
As of Wednesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 28,719,860 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 516,616 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.