Maine CDC reports 1 death and 339 coronavirus cases across the state

Another Mainer has died as health officials on Monday reported 339 new coronavirus cases across the state.

Monday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 19,285. Of those, 16,721 have been confirmed positive, while 2,564 were classified as “probable cases,” according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency did not change Sunday’s cumulative total from 18,946. 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.

The latest death was a woman in her 80s from Cumberland County. The statewide death toll now stands at 293. No additional information about the death reported Monday was immediately available. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

New cases were reported in Aroostook (6), Washington (3), Hancock (1), Penobscot (13), Piscataquis (1), Somerset (11), Waldo (1), Lincoln (2), Sagadahoc (2), Franklin (4) Androscoggin (62), Kennebec (55), Oxford (11), Cumberland (107) and York (47). Information about where an additional 15 cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.

Only one county — Knox — did not report any additional cases on Monday.

The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 425.7 down from 437.7 a day ago, up from 364.3 a week ago and up from 190.4 a month ago.

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.

So far, 980 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Currently, 170 are hospitalized, with 44 in critical care and 18 on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 43 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 10,837. That means there are 8,155 active confirmed and “probable” cases in the state, which is up from 7,860 on Sunday.

A majority of the cases — 11,364 — have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Monday, there had been 1,089,701 negative test results out of 1,115,129 overall. About 2.2 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.

The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 5,852 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths — 84 — have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (2,213), Aroostook (420), Franklin (389), Hancock (475), Kennebec (1,453), Knox (296), Lincoln (237), Oxford (880), Penobscot (1,576), Piscataquis (92), Sagadahoc (290), Somerset (640), Waldo (336), Washington (301) and York (3,820) counties. Information about where an additional 15 cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.

As of Monday afternoon, the coronavirus had sickened 17,923,881 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 318,563 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.