New coronavirus cases across Maine fall to lowest point in months
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
This story will be updated.
Another 39 coronavirus cases have been reported across the state, Maine health officials said Tuesday.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 1,706. 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 1,866 on Monday.
That marks the lowest single-day increase in new cases seen since Oct. 24, when 38 were reported. It slipped below Monday’s low of 42 and follows a weekslong slide that has seen cases plumb lows not seen since before last fall’s dramatic surge.
No new deaths were reported Tuesday, leaving the statewide death toll standing at 825. It was the sixth straight day with no virus-related deaths.
Tuesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 67,819, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 67,780 on Monday.
Of those, 49,671 have been confirmed positive, while 18,148 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Tuesday was 0.29 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 506.72.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 99.4, down from 104 a day ago, down from 148.4 a week ago and down from 305.3 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, 2,022 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 Tuesday was 15.11 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (8,272), Aroostook (1,867), Cumberland (17,112), Franklin (1,339), Hancock (1,353), Kennebec (6,489), Knox (1,131), Lincoln (1,062), Oxford (3,574), Penobscot (6,165), Piscataquis (570), Sagadahoc (1,459), Somerset (2,189), Waldo (1,022), Washington (897) and York (13,317) counties. Information about where an additional case was reported wasn’t immediately available.
An additional 531 Mainers have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. As of Tuesday, 716,958 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 700,618 have received a final dose.
As of Tuesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 33,264,569 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 594,568 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.