4 more Mainers die as another 340 coronavirus cases are reported across the state

Another four Mainers have died as health officials on Sunday reported 340 more coronavirus cases across the state.

Sunday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 33,559, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 33,219 on Saturday.

Of those, 27,511 have been confirmed positive, while 6,048 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.

Two Cumberland County residents, a Somerset County resident and a York County resident have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide toll to 511. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

Sunday marked the lowest number of new cases reported since Monday, when Maine saw 313. It followed a week that saw four days with new cases above 700 — including three above 800, as well as a new single-day record high of 824. New cases slipped to 438 on Saturday.

That follows a trend of lower cases reported over the weekend. The previous weekend Maine saw new cases slip into the 200s. Such weekend slumps have been followed by a return of higher new daily cases during the week.

Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 610.9, up from 601.7 a day ago, up from 529.7 a week ago and up from 433.4 a month ago. Before this surge began in late October, Maine’s seven-day average was hovering in the 30s.

The Maine CDC continues to report widespread high levels of community transmission, defined as a case rate of 16 or more per 10,000 people, even in counties once largely spared the worst of the pandemic.

So far, 1,244 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Of those, 205 people are currently hospitalized, with 66 in critical care and 26 on ventilators.

Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long said Sunday that 66,314 Mainers have been vaccinated against the virus, with 11,720 who have received two doses.

A majority of the cases — 19,972 — 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 have been 1,328,905 negative test results out of 1,368,816 overall. Nearly 2.9 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 9,794 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths — 126 — have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (3,612), Aroostook (1,024), Franklin (564), Hancock (683), Kennebec (2,606), Knox (485), Lincoln (393), Oxford (1,560), Penobscot (2,894), Piscataquis (163), Sagadahoc (614), Somerset (942), Waldo (428), Washington (494) and York (7,296) counties. Information about where an additional three cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.

As of Sunday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 23,775,293 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 395,896 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.