Another four Mainers have died as 160 coronavirus cases have been reported across the state, Maine health officials said Saturday.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 3,095. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. That’s down from 3,446 on Friday.
Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah warned earlier this month that a resurgence in virus transmission is possible if new virus variants appear in Maine, which is still seeing new caseloads well above where they were prior to late October. Here is what you need to know about the new strain after it was detected in Maine earlier this week.
A resident of Kennebec County, a resident of Franklin County and two residents from Penobscot County succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 647.
TRACKING THE CORONAVIRUS IN MAINE
Saturday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 42,419, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 42,259 on Friday.
Of those, 33,823 have been confirmed positive, while 8,596 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Saturday was 1.2 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 316.94.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 195, down from 208.9 a day ago, down from 271 a week ago and down from 581.4 a month ago. That rate has been steadily falling since Jan. 14, when it peaked at 625.6.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers in their 20s, while Mainers over 80 years old make up the majority of deaths. More cases and deaths have been recorded in women than men.
For a complete breakdown of the age and sex demographics of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, use the interactive graphic below.
So far, 1,476 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. One hundred Mainers are currently hospitalized with 27 in critical care and nine on a ventilator. Currently, 113 of 393 critical care beds and 244 of 319 ventilators are still available. Of alternative ventilators, 446 are available.
The total statewide hospitalization rate on Saturday was 11.03 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (4,593), Aroostook (1,221), Cumberland (11,934), Franklin (866), Hancock (847), Kennebec (3,453), Knox (603), Lincoln (539), Oxford (2,111), Penobscot (3,674), Piscataquis (241), Sagadahoc (847), Somerset (1,205), Waldo (562), Washington (691) and York (9,032) counties.
For a complete breakdown of the county by county data, use the interactive graphic below.
As of Friday, 1,682,310 tests have been administered and the statewide positivity rate is 2.98 percent.
An additional 11,263 Mainers have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours. As of Saturday, 169,429 Mainers have received a first dose of the vaccine, while 68,018 have received two doses.
As of Saturday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 27,492,955 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 480,902 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.