Another Mainer dies and 401 more coronavirus cases are reported across the state
This story will be updated.
Another Mainer has died as health officials on Wednesday reported 401 more coronavirus cases across the state.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 3,705. 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 3,503 on Tuesday.
That significant jump in cases includes more than those reported in the past day, because Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah said Tuesday that the positive test results sent to his agency “exceeds what we are able to review and analyze within a 24-hour period.” He said new cases could include those from 72 hours earlier or older.
A woman in her 70s from Penobscot County has succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll now to 747.
Wednesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 52,677, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 52,276 on Tuesday.
Of those, 40,092 have been confirmed positive, while 12,585 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Wednesday was 3 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 393.58.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 313, up from 290.9 a day ago, up from 231.3 a week ago and up from 165.9 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, 1,711 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 12.78 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (5,640), Aroostook (1,444), Cumberland (14,414), Franklin (1,016), Hancock (1,109), Kennebec (4,532), Knox (832), Lincoln (692), Oxford (2,676), Penobscot (4,784), Piscataquis (394), Sagadahoc (1,037), Somerset (1,466), Waldo (731), Washington (789) and York (11,117) counties. Information about where an additional four cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
An additional 7,975 Mainers have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. As of Wednesday, 471,638 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 325,522 have received a final dose.
As of Wednesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 30,847,926 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 556,529 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.