2 more Mainers have died and another 61 coronavirus cases reported across the state
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
This story will be updated.
Two more Mainers have died as health officials on Wednesday reported another 61 coronavirus cases across the state.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 1,565. 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 1,706 on Tuesday.
It was the fourth straight day when new infections across Maine fell below the triple digits, though slightly above Monday’s and Tuesday’s case counts. But cases have largely held at levels not seen since last fall when Maine saw a dramatic surge in virus transmission.
A man and a woman in their 60s and 70s from Androscoggin and Somerset counties have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 827.
Wednesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 67,880, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 67,819 on Tuesday.
Of those, 49,704 have been confirmed positive, while 18,176 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Wednesday was 0.46 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 507.17.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 85.9, down from 99.1 a day ago, down from 141.7 a week ago and down from 306 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, 2,026 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 15.14 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (8,286), Aroostook (1,869), Cumberland (17,120), Franklin (1,339), Hancock (1,354), Kennebec (6,498), Knox (1,132), Lincoln (1,062), Oxford (3,576), Penobscot (6,176), Piscataquis (571), Sagadahoc (1,459), Somerset (2,190), Waldo (1,026), Washington (897) and York (13,325) counties.
An additional 1,035 Mainers have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. As of Wednesday, 717,993 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 703,634 have received a final dose.
As of Wednesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 33,287,577 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 595,213 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.