COVID-19 hospitalizations across Maine have fallen below 300 for the first time since last November.
It’s the latest sign suggesting a waning of the omicron surge that’s gripped Maine since December.
Hospitalizations fell to 294 on Friday, down from 308 the day before, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, hospitalizations are down more than 32 percent from the pandemic high of 436, set on Jan. 13.
The last time Maine saw hospitalizations below 300 was on Nov. 23, 2021, when 298 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state.
Fewer Mainers infected with COVID-19 also are in critical care and on ventilators — 64 and 31, respectively — than weeks earlier, state data show.
Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah said at a Wednesday press conference that the daily average for positive COVID-19 tests has fallen to 1,057, down from 1,165 last week. Meanwhile, wastewater monitoring also suggests that the virus’ spread is declining across the state.
That falling level of infection is a spot of good news for Maine’s hospital systems, which was hit over the winter with the twin crises of skyrocketing hospitalization rates and staff shortages.