Fifty more Mainers have died and another 4,011 coronavirus cases reported across the state, Maine health officials said Friday.
It’s the fifth day in a row when the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported an elevated number of virus cases as it grapples with a backlog of more than 30,000 positive virus cases, making the daily case counts less reliable indicators of the severity of the virus’ spread across the state. Other indicators, including falling hospitalizations and wastewater testing, suggest the coronavirus may be loosening its grip on Maine.
Friday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 213,770, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 209,759 on Friday.
Of those, 156,483 have been confirmed positive, while 57,287 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The statewide death toll now stands at 1,960. The 50 deaths reported today occurred between Jan. 9, 2022, and Jan. 22, 2022, according to Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long.
Ten were from Androscoggin County, six from Aroostook County, eight from Cumberland County, one from Franklin County, two from Kennebec County, two from Knox County, one from Lincoln County, three from Oxford County, seven from Penobscot County, one from Sagadahoc County, two from Somerset County, two from Washington County and five from York County.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 32,760. 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 up from 29,844 on Friday.
The new case rate statewide Friday was 29.97 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 1,597.20.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, while Mainers over 80 years old account for the largest portion of deaths. More cases have been recorded in women and more deaths in men.
So far, 4,255 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.
Of those, 231 are currently hospitalized, with 63 in critical care and 23 on a ventilator. Overall, 69 out of 359 critical care beds and 255 out of 328 ventilators are available.
That’s the lowest number of hospitalizations since Nov. 13, 2021, when 240 Mainers infected with the virus were in the state’s hospitals. They are down by 47 percent from the pandemic high of 436, set on Jan. 13.
The total statewide hospitalization rate on Saturday was 31.79 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (20,766), Aroostook (10,397), Cumberland (44,940), Franklin (5,233), Hancock (6,440), Kennebec (20,167), Knox (5,422), Lincoln (4,733), Oxford (10,239), Penobscot (24,136), Piscataquis (2,664), Sagadahoc (4,531), Somerset (8,560), Waldo (5,428), Washington (3,636) and York (36,228) counties. Information about where an additional 210 cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
An additional 879 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. As of Friday, 985,107 Mainers are fully vaccinated, or about 76.92 percent of eligible Mainers, according to the Maine CDC.
As of Friday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 78,422,294 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 934,414 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
