Another Mainer has died and 69 more coronavirus cases reported across the state
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
This story will be updated.
Another Mainer has died as health officials on Tuesday reported 69 more coronavirus cases across the state.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 1,199. 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 1,191 on Monday.
It’s the fifth straight day when Maine has seen new infections slip below 100. That comes amid a steep decline in virus transmission that has brought new cases to lows not seen in months after the springs stepped up vaccine drive.
A man in his 50s from Kennebec County has succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 840.
Tuesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 68,331, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 68,262 on Monday.
Of those, 49,983 have been confirmed positive, while 18,348 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Tuesday was 0.52 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 510.54.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 74, down from 69 a day ago, down from 98.7 a week ago and down from 307.7 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, 2,040 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 15.24 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (8,325), Aroostook (1,877), Cumberland (17,171), Franklin (1,353), Hancock (1,361), Kennebec (6,530), Knox (1,140), Lincoln (1,068), Oxford (3,610), Penobscot (6,251), Piscataquis (572), Sagadahoc (1,470), Somerset (22,47), Waldo (1,036), Washington (916) and York (13,404) counties.
An additional 883 Mainers have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. As of Tuesday, 725,689 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 723,970 have received a final dose.
As of Tuesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 33,378,148 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 597,952 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.