Maine CDC reports 151 coronavirus cases, two more deaths - Press Herald

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday reported 151 cases of the novel coronavirus and two more deaths, a sixth day of new totals above 100 across Maine.

Health officials last week repeatedly warned that Maine – and the nation – were experiencing exponential growth in COVID-19 cases, a situation that threatens to overwhelm hospitals. Mainers can do their part to prevent the spread by wearing masks, experts said.

Maine’s cumulative cases rose to 8,944 on Sunday, a net increase of 153 cases since Saturday. Of those cumulative cases, 8,006 have been confirmed by testing and 938 are considered probable cases of COVID-19.

The reported number of new cases on Sunday – 151 – is less than the difference in daily totals because the Maine CDC revises its numbers of cumulative total cases based on how many “probable” cases later test negative, and on the results of contact tracing investigations.

One hundred sixty-five people have died with COVID-19 in Maine, and 6,681 have recovered from the disease. Maine had 2,098 active cases on Sunday, an increase of more than 500 over the past week.

A man in his 80s from Kennebec County and a woman in her 80s from Somerset County were the state’s latest fatalities, according to the Maine CDC.

Maine’s 7-day average of new daily cases reached 182.9 on Sunday – an all-time high. On Friday, Maine saw its highest single-day increase in cases – 243 – after two weeks that saw that record repeatedly broken.

Hospitalizations have risen precipitously as well, climbing to 67 across the state on Saturday. Many of these current hospital patients are in central and eastern Maine, however, compared to last spring, when southern Maine hospitals saw the brunt of the burden.

Meanwhile, the number of people collecting unemployment in Maine is higher than it has been in 17 years. Nearly 43,000 people are filing claims, more than during the 2009 recession.

The University of Maine System on Sunday reported 43 cases of COVID-19, three more in total than it had across its eight schools on Saturday. One new case was discovered each at the University of Maine in Orono and at the University of Southern Maine.

That leaves UMaine with 30 active cases, USM with three, the Augusta and Fort Kent branches with two each, and one case each at University of Maine Farmington, University of Maine at Machias and University of Maine at Presque Isle.

Six of those 43 active cases are among residence hall students, administrators said in their daily public update Sunday.

County by county in Maine since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 1,183 coronavirus cases in Androscoggin, 86 in Aroostook, 3,219 in Cumberland, 151 in Franklin, 167 in Hancock, 566 in Kennebec, 162 in Knox, 106 in Lincoln, 230 in Oxford, 483 in Penobscot, 24 in Piscataquis, 115 in Sagadahoc, 332 in Somerset, 194 in Waldo, 146 in Washington, and 1,777 in York.

By age, 12.8 percent of patients were under 20, while 17.9 percent were in their 20s, 15.1 percent were in their 30s, 13.2 percent were in their 40s, 15.7 percent were in their 50s, 11.5 percent were in their 60s, 7.4 percent were in their 70s, and 6.3 percent were 80 or older.

Women still make up a slight majority of cases, at just under 51 percent.

Updated hospital capacity data weren’t yet available as of mid-afternoon Sunday. Of the 67 patients with COVID-19 in Maine hospitals as of 11 a.m. Saturday, 23 were in intensive care and seven were on ventilators. The state had 108 intensive care unit beds available of a total 387, and 238 ventilators available of 315. There were also 444 alternative ventilators.

Around the world on Sunday, there were 54 million known cases of COVID-19 and more than 1.3 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States had 10.9 million cases and over 245,000 deaths.

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