Maine sees significant drop in new cases amid surge across state

Fifty-one coronavirus cases have been reported across the state, Maine health officials said Sunday.

Sunday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 7,693. Of those, 6,843 have been confirmed positive, while 850 were classified as “probable cases,” according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency revised Saturday’s cumulative total to 7,642, up from 7,603, meaning there was a net increase of 51 over the previous day’s report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the state’s cumulative total. The Bangor Daily News reports on the number of new cases reported to the Maine CDC in the previous 24 hours, rather than the increase of daily cumulative cases.

New cases were reported in Androscoggin (2), Aroostook (3), Cumberland (3), Franklin (1), Hancock (7), Kennebec (5), Knox (7), Lincoln (3), Oxford (3), Penobscot (8), Piscataquis (1), Sagadahoc (1), Somerset (4), Waldo (1) and York (2) counties, state data show. Information about where two additional cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.

The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 144.6, up from 140.6 a day ago, 73.3 a week ago and up from 30.9 a month ago.

There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 confirmed cases and that at least 25 percent of those are not connected to either known cases or travel.

The statewide death toll stands at 152. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

So far, 525 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 42 people are currently hospitalized, with 14 in critical care and four on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 29 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 5,935. That means there are 1,606 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state, which is up from 1,545 on Saturday. It’s yet another record high for active cases.

A majority of the cases — 4,550 — have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Friday, there had been 678,574 negative test results out of 687,475 overall. About 1.2 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.

The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 2,942 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths — 70 — have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (954), Aroostook (77), Franklin (125), Hancock (101), Kennebec (449), Knox (141), Lincoln (80), Oxford (194), Penobscot (370), Piscataquis (18), Sagadahoc (97), Somerset (273), Waldo (175), Washington (104) and York (1,591) counties. Information about where two additional cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.

As of Sunday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 9,863,891 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 237,126 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.