238 new coronavirus cases have been reported across Maine

Another 238 new coronavirus cases have been reported across the state, Maine health officials said Thursday.

Thursday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 11,265, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 11,027 on Wednesday.

Of those, 10,105 have been confirmed positive, while 1,160 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.

New cases were reported in Androscoggin (21), Aroostook (12), Cumberland (42), Franklin (4), Hancock (13), Kennebec (20), Knox (4), Lincoln (2), Oxford (8), Penobscot (44), Piscataquis (1), Sagadahoc (6), Somerset (7), Waldo (3), Washington (2) and York (47) counties, state data show. Information about where an additional two cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.

The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 221.4, up from 217.4 a day ago, up from 189.9 a week ago and up from 44 a month ago.

No new deaths were reported on Thursday, leaving the statewide death toll at 190. It’s the first time in 10 days when Maine hasn’t seen at least one new death. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

Health officials have warned Mainers that “forceful and widespread” community transmission is being seen throughout the state. Every county is seeing high community transmission, which the Maine CDC defines as a case rate of 16 or more cases per 10,000 people.

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.

There are now 108 known cases of coronavirus among more than 30,000 University of Maine System students, faculty and staff, according to spokesperson Dan Demeritt.

There are 94 cases with six new cases at the University of Maine in Orono. Three cases at University of Maine at Augusta; four cases at University of Maine Farmington; one case at University of Maine at Machias; three cases at University of Maine at Presque Isle; and three cases at University of Southern Maine.

The only campuses with no active cases of coronavirus are University of Maine at Fort Kent and University of Maine Law School.

Fifty students across the campuses were in isolation or quarantine at the system’s campuses over the Thanksgiving holiday, Demeritt said. The university system conducted approximately 6,300 safe departure tests before the Thanksgiving break that identified 40 asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday morning.

So far, 687 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Information about those who are currently hospitalized wasn’t immediately available Thursday.

Meanwhile, 199 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 8,791. That means there are 2,284 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state, which is up from 2,245 on Wednesday.

A majority of the cases — 6,719 — have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Wednesday, there have been 847,706 negative test results out of 861,445 overall. Just over 1.5 percent of all tests have come back positive, the most recently available Maine CDC data show.

The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 3,728 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths — 71 — have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (1,454), Aroostook (128), Franklin (208), Hancock (236), Kennebec (756), Knox (203), Lincoln (151), Oxford (325), Penobscot (802), Piscataquis (41), Sagadahoc (149), Somerset (434), Waldo (225), Washington (189) and York (2,229) counties. Information about where an additional seven cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.

As of Thursday afternoon, the coronavirus had sickened 12,831,168 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 262,849 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.