9 more Mainers have died and another 3,556 coronavirus cases reported across the state
This story will be updated.
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
Nine more Mainers have died and another 3,556 coronavirus cases reported across the state, Maine health officials said Wednesday.
It’s the second day in a row when the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported an elevated number of virus cases as it grapples with a backlog of tens of thousands of positive virus cases, making the daily case counts less reliable indicators of the severity of the virus’ spread across the state. Other indicators, including falling hospitalizations and wastewater testing, suggest the coronavirus may be loosening its grip on Maine.
Wednesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 202,221, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 198,665 on Tuesday.
Of those, 148,220 have been confirmed positive, while 53,501 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
Nine men have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 1,858.
One was from Androscoggin County, two from Cumberland County, one from Kennebec County, two from Penobscot County, one from Somerset County, one from Washington County and one from York County.
Of those, two were in their 70s, two in their 50s, one in their 40s, two in their 30s and two in their 20s.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 25,122. 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 22,906 on Tuesday.
The new case rate statewide Wednesday was 26.57 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 1,510.91.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, while Mainers over 80 years old account for the largest portion of deaths. More cases have been recorded in women and more deaths in men.
So far, 4,188 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 31.29 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (19,822), Aroostook (9,710), Cumberland (42,685), Franklin (4,895), Hancock (6,048), Kennebec (19,244), Knox (4,945), Lincoln (4,412), Oxford (9,593), Penobscot (22,939), Piscataquis (2,509), Sagadahoc (4,313), Somerset (8,130), Waldo (5,094), Washington (3,493) and York (34,270) counties. Information about where an additional 119 cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
An additional 861 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. As of Wednesday, 983,487 Mainers are fully vaccinated, or about 76.8 percent of eligible Mainers, according to the Maine CDC.
As of Wednesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 78,039,888 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 925,560 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.