One death and 159 new coronavirus cases reported in Maine
By Lynne Fort, Bangor Daily News Staff
Another Mainers has died as health officials on Saturday reported 159 new coronavirus cases across the state.
Saturday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 8,791. Of those, 7,882 have been confirmed positive, while 909 were classified as “probable cases,” according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency revised Friday’s cumulative total to 8,632, down from 8,639, meaning there was a net increase of 248 over the previous day’s report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the state’s cumulative total. The Bangor Daily News reports on the number of new cases reported to the Maine CDC in the previous 24 hours, rather than the increase of daily cumulative cases.
One new death was reported, bringing the statewide death toll to 163. Over the past two weeks, Maine has seen 16 deaths from the virus, the bulk of which have been reported since last Saturday. That’s more than Maine saw in the two months prior combined. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.
New cases were reported in Androscoggin (18), Aroostook (4), Cumberland (34), Franklin (6), Hancock (14), Kennebec (14), Knox (2), Lincoln (6), Oxford (5), Penobscot (22), Piscataquis (4), Sagadahoc (2), Somerset (1), Waldo (4), Washington (2) and York (21) counties, state data show. Information about where an additional case was reported wasn’t immediately available.
Only one county — Piscataquis — reported no new cases in the previous 24 hours.
The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 174.3, up from 173.9 a day ago, 143.1 a week ago and up from 27 a month ago.
The state continues to struggle with an unprecedented surge in virus transmission far outpacing that seen during the earliest weeks of the pandemic. Health officials have warned Mainers that “forceful and widespread” community transmission is being seen throughout the state. Five counties are seeing high community transmission: Franklin, Knox, Somerset, Waldo and Washington counties.
There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 confirmed cases and that at least 25 percent of those are not connected to either known cases or travel.
So far, 572 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 66 people are currently hospitalized, with 18 in critical care and six on ventilators.
Meanwhile, 169 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 6,597. That means there are 2,031 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state, which is down from 2,049 on Friday.
A majority of the cases — 5,189 — have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.
As of Friday, there had been 735,872 negative test results out of 746,314 overall. About 1.3 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.
The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 3,172 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths — 70 — have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (1,167), Aroostook (86), Franklin (145), Hancock (165), Kennebec (556), Knox (160), Lincoln (103), Oxford (228), Penobscot (475), Piscataquis (23), Sagadahoc (115), Somerset (324), Waldo (192), Washington (141) and York (1,738) counties. Information about where an additional case was reported wasn’t immediately available.
As of Saturday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 10,746,996 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 244,403 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.