Maine reports 249 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, three more deaths – Press Herald

 

 

Maine reported 249 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and three additional deaths, continuing a trend of higher case counts.

The seven-day daily average of new cases stood at 174.1 on Monday, compared to 205.4 a week ago and 65.7 a month ago.

Dr. Nirav Shah, Maine CDC director, will brief the media at 2 p.m. today.

Overall, there have been 11,757 COVID-19 cases in Maine, and 194 deaths.

As cases increase nationally, officials with a second COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Moderna, said they would apply on Monday for Food and Drug Administration approval for emergency use of the vaccine, according to news reports. Pfizer applied earlier in November and will go before a panel of FDA scientists on Dec. 10, while Moderna is expected to go before the same panel a week later, on Dec. 17.

If both are approved, distribution of the Pfizer vaccine could begin around Dec. 15, with Moderna starting on Dec. 21, company officials have said.

“It was the first time I allowed myself to cry,” Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, told CNN on Monday. “We have a full expectation to change the course of this pandemic.”

Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have effectiveness rates of about 95 percent, according to late-stage clinical trials.

Full rollouts of the vaccines are expected in 2021, with public health officials racing the clock against a worsening pandemic that’s filling up hospitals across the country. Maine is doing relatively well compared to most other states, but only because the pandemic is surging less in Maine than in most states. Maine’s seven-day average of daily cases was 12.3 per 100,000 residents, the third-lowest in the nation, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. Hawaii had the lowest virus prevalence in the nation at 6.9.

Forty-five states had virus prevalence rates at least double Maine’s, and Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota had rates approaching 10 times Maine’s or higher.

As conditions worsen, more people seek care in hospitals.

Several Maine hospitals last week reported record numbers of inpatients with COVID-19, many of them in central and eastern Maine. On Monday, 139 people were in Maine hospitals for COVID-19, with 51 in intensive care and 18 on a ventilator.

Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor treated an average of 22.2 COVID-19 inpatients each day for the six days ending Wednesday – the highest COVID-19 patient load in the state. MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta and Central Maine Medical Center  in Lewiston also broke their own records for COVID-19 patients.

York County also has seen a surge in hospitalizations, with Maine Health Care Medical Center in Biddeford and York Hospital reporting record highs.

This story will be updated.

 

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