The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday as well as an additional death.
The total number of confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 in Maine stood at 3,912. To date, at least 123 Mainers have died after contracting the disease caused by the coronavirus.
A pedestrian crosses Spring and Union streets in Portland on Monday. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
The Maine CDC was reporting 428 active cases Friday after accounting for the total number of deaths and the 3,361 individuals who have recovered, an increase of seven since Thursday. There have been 3,499 confirmed cases of the virus and 413 probable cases.
Maine continues to have among the lowest infection and death rates in the nation from COVID-19, according to daily tracking and analysis by The New York Times.
As of Friday, Maine had an infection rate of 289 cases for every 100,000 residents, which was lower than every other state except Hawaii and Vermont. By comparison, the states that currently have the highest infection rates, Louisiana and Arizona, had 2,465 and 2,348 cases for every 100,000 residents, respectively, according to The New York Times.
Still, Maine continues to have one of the worst disparities in the nation when it comes to the racial and ethnic breakdown of who is contracting COVID-19.
While Blacks make up only 1.4 percent of all residents in Maine, they account for roughly 22 percent of all COVID-19 cases in which the race of the individual is known, according to the most recent figures from the Maine CDC.
On Thursday Gov. Janet Mills announced $1 million from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund will be provided to organizations working in immigrant and minority communities to provide education, prevention and support services. Mills also announced $5 million in rental assistance to help prevent evictions and counter the loss of a federal unemployment benefits program set to expire Friday.
This story will be updated.
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