Another Mainer has died and 162 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 Wednesday reported another 162 coronavirus cases across the state.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 2,546. 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 2,686 on Tuesday.
That marks a sharp rebound in infections following a dayslong slide when new cases slipped below 100 for the first time in months, reaching lows not seen since last October. It’s not yet clear whether the current downward trend represents an overall decline in transmission with more than half the state’s population fully vaccinated.
But the general decline from the late winter surge has many in the state feeling optimistic about a full economic recovery ahead of the start of Maine’s summer tourist season this weekend. A former epidemiologist told the Bangor Daily News that another surge is unlikely barring the emergence of a new variant or “something really untoward.”
A woman in her 70s from Cumberland County has succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 825.
Wednesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 67,294, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 67,132 on Tuesday.
Of those, 49,298 have been confirmed positive, while 17,996 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Wednesday was 1.21 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 502.79.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 142.7, down from 148.7 a day ago, down from 225.6 a week ago and down from 360 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, 1,989 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 14.86 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (8,207), Aroostook (1,837), Cumberland (17,049), Franklin (1,331), Hancock (1,333), Kennebec (6,422), Knox (1,123), Lincoln (1,048), Oxford (3,543), Penobscot (6,072), Piscataquis (555), Sagadahoc (1,454), Somerset (2,169), Waldo (1,011), Washington (876) and York (13,264) counties.
An additional 2,905 Mainers have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. As of Wednesday, 706,853 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 682,978 have received a final dose.
As of Wednesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 33,166,879 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 590,950 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.