Maine sees new coronavirus cases fall to lowest point in more than 3 months
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
This story will be updated.
Two more Mainers have died as health officials on Monday reported another 92 coronavirus cases across the state.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 2,863. 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 down from 2,985 on Sunday.
That marks the lowest single-day increase in new cases and the first day when cases slipped beneath the triple digits Maine has seen since Feb. 16 when only 91 were reported. The February ebb in cases preceded a spring surge in infection that again carried case numbers north of 200 even amid a vigorous push to distribute vaccines.
Two women in their 60s and 80s have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 822.
Monday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 67,071, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 66,979 on Sunday.
Of those, 49,170 have been confirmed positive, while 17,90 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Monday was 0.69 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 501.13.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 166.9, down from 182 a day ago, down from 245.9 a week ago and down from 389.7 a month ago. That average peaked on Jan. 14 at 625.3.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, 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, 1,982 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 Monday was 14.81 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (8,185), Aroostook (1,827), Cumberland (17,021), Franklin (1,329), Hancock (1,329), Kennebec (6,389), Knox (1,116), Lincoln (1,039), Oxford (3,530), Penobscot (6,030), Piscataquis (547), Sagadahoc (1,445), Somerset (2,165), Waldo (1,002), Washington (866) and York (13,251) counties.
An additional 1,770 Mainers have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. As of Monday, 701,715 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 673,858 have received a final dose.
As of Monday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 33,117,923 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 589,893 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.