Warning that “more people will die,” Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday ordered Mainers to stay home except to shop for necessities or to go to jobs deemed essential through April, putting Maine among a majority of states to take similar action to fight the coronavirus.

One additional new program available to people in the region who are self-isolating at home or anyone who is having trouble doing grocery shopping due to concerns about risk, illness or disability is called Community Pulling Together. This is a program funded partly with a small grant from The New England Grassroots Environment Fund COVID-19 response program awarded to The Commons Energy Collaborative.

Hospitals across Maine are steeling themselves for a possible spike in patients with the coronavirus by stocking up on equipment and freeing up beds and workers. But while those efforts are critical from a public health perspective, they could make it harder in the long run for rural hospitals to sustain their current operations when many of them are already struggling to pay the bills. 

State courts in Maine will again cut back the hours they are open to the public Monday to help limit the community transmission of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland announced March 27 that Holy Week and Easter services will be online and not open to the public due to the regulations currently in place in Maine as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced Friday, March 27 that many credentials issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles that expire within the current state emergency period will be extended.

Gov. Janet Mills and Commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services Commissioner Kirsten Figueroa announced that the state will extend the deadline for Maine income tax payments from April 15 to July 15. The change aligns with the federal government’s recent extension of the federal tax filing deadline to July 15.

As hospitals across the country enter a period of turbulence because of the novel coronavirus, the Brewer-based health care system that includes Northern Light Mayo Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and Northern Light C.A. Dean Hospital in Greenville has appointed its chief operating officer to serve as the system’s next head.

A mild winter is giving emergency management officials one less thing to worry about: The spring flooding risk is reduced in New England.

Rep. Norm Higgins, I-Dover-Foxcroft, left, and Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville presented a Legislative Sentiment to Ethelyn Treworgy and Jeanne Hamlin in memory of Charles Edwin Treworgy.

Under the authority granted to her during a State of Civil Emergency, Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday issued an executive order mandating that all non-essential businesses and operations in Maine close their physical locations that are public facing, meaning those that allow customer, vendor or other in-person contact. The order also closes non-essential business sites that require more than 10 workers to convene in a space where physical distancing is not possible. Non-essential businesses and operations may continue activities that do not involve these types of in-person contact and convenings, and should facilitate the maximum number of employees working remotely.

All five school districts in the region and most across the state have extended closures for at least another month. Closures initially slated to last for two weeks until the end of March will now last through the normally scheduled week of April vacation.

With the novel coronavirus reaching pandemic levels, everyone has been stockpiling for the Centers for Disease Control’s recommended social distancing, self-isolation and self-quarantine, which could last for several weeks. That’s led to stores running out of products like hand sanitizer, hand soap and toilet paper.

State and federal courts in Maine are reducing operations to help reduce community transmission of the coronavirus and to protect employees who interact with the public. Courthouses will remain open and sufficiently staffed to ensure access for those who request protection from personal violence and whose liberty interests are at stake, according to a statement issued Sunday by the judicial branch. 

For the second year in a row students from across the region wanting to make a difference in their schools and communities came together to share what they are doing and brainstorm ideas to carry forward at the Positive Action Team Summit on March 6 at Dexter Regional High School.  The day-long event featured about 100 pupils from student-led teams representing high schools and/or middle schools in Dexter, Greenville, Guilford and Milo.

Luffas make bathtime a little more fun. The fibrous natural sponges -- not to be confused with the plastic puffs of the same name -- gently exfoliate the skin and give your whole body a deep, sudsy clean. Contrary to popular perception, though, luffas are not sea sponges. They come from gourds that you can grow in your own home garden. Brooke Isham, co-owner of lomah farmstead in Sangerville, started growing luffas two years ago to sell alongside her homemade soaps. 

Puritan Medical Products Co., which is a part of a Guilford manufacturing business with about 550 employees, is one of the top two makers of the specialized testing swabs that are desperately needed in areas hit by the virus, according to Kaiser Health News. 

Schools in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties will remain closed for at least another month, through the normally scheduled week of April vacation.