Another 714 COVID-19 cases but no additional deaths reported in Maine – Press Herald

State officials reported 714 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday as the delta variant continues to spread across Maine, particularly in some rural areas of the state.

While the latest surge of COVID-19 appears to be easing in some areas of the country, Maine is still experiencing some of the state’s highest case numbers for the pandemic as well as record-high hospitalizations. The seven-day average of new cases remained relatively flat at 467 as of Friday, up slightly from an average of 456 two weeks ago but exponentially higher than the few dozen cases being reported daily in June and early July.

There were no additional deaths reported on Friday.

Maine’s virus prevalence is slightly below the national average, at 35 cases per 100,000 residents on an average day, compared to 38 nationally, according to data compiled by the New York Times. Maine has the second highest infection rate in the northeast behind Pennsylvania, which is reporting a daily average of 36 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days.

 

 

Penobscot County continues to experience the highest case numbers in the state, with 137 new cases reported on Friday. The counties with the highest transmission rate over the past seven days are Penobscot, Piscataquis and Somerset counties, although all 16 of Maine’s counties are currently designated as experiencing “high” transmission rates under federal criteria. As a result, masking is recommended — but not required — in all indoor, public settings for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

The counties with the highest transmission rates are among the counties with lowest vaccination rates.

Overall, Maine continues to have one of the highest vaccination rates in the nation, as well as among the lowest COVID-19 case and death rates.

The state on Friday was reporting that 64.5 percent of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, compared to 55 percent nationwide.

Maine’s vaccination rate appeared to drop this week because the Maine CDC’s count of second doses had previously included some of the booster shots administered to people who had already been fully vaccinated.

On Thursday, the agency started breaking out the number of booster shots into a separate category, which totaled 10,210. Maine’s percent fully vaccinated went from 65.06 percent on Thursday down to 64.49 percent Friday after the data was corrected by CDC.

Meanwhile, schools across the state are reporting a growing number of cases in students and staff, resulting in quarantines and some districts switching back temporarily to virtual instruction.

On Thursday, the Maine Department of Education reported that a total of 2,080 cases of COVID-19 had been reported by schools across the state over the past 30 days, up from 1,390 cases one week ago. The department also reported 72 outbreaks in schools in the past 30 days compared to 52 outbreaks last week.

Maine has about 710 schools, with an enrollment of roughly 172,000 students and 47,000 school staff members. Despite higher case numbers than last school year, state and local officials have said in-person learning can continue as long as schools follow the proper health and safety protocols such as requiring masks indoors and encouraging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated.

While health care workers statewide will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or else lose their jobs next month, there is no similar vaccination mandate for teachers or staff in Maine for schools. Likewise, decisions about whether to require masks in schools is a local decision.

To date, the Maine CDC has tracked 86,586 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 since the coronavirus was first detected in the state in March 2020. At least 1,009 deaths have been linked to the viral disease.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Maine hospitals remains at near record levels and well above what the state experience during last winter’s surge. As of Friday, there were 225 people hospitalized statewide with COVID-19, 77 of whom were in critical care and 36 connected to ventilators.

Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, which is the largest hospital serving northern and eastern Maine, averaged 54.6 COVID-19 patients each day for the week ending on Thursday, which was a new record for the hospital.

“EMMC is still quite full, not just with COVID patients but also with other individuals,” Dr. James Jarvis, senior vice president at EMMC and the COVID-19 incident commander for Northern Light Health, said on Thursday. “That’s always our concern that if any of our smaller critical access hospitals had a need to send a patient for a higher level of care, would we continue to have the space for that, and that continues to be a concern of ours.”

This story will be updated.

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