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Maine reported 614 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, continuing an upward trend in the number of cases as the virus causes a record number of hospitalizations.
There were five more deaths.
The seven-day average of new daily cases stood at 480.9 on Wednesday, up from 444.1 a week ago and 162.3 a month ago. The prevalence of the virus in Maine is now much closer to the national average, at 35.8 cases per 100,000 population per day average, compared to 40 nationally, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. Alaska and West Virginia currently have the worst virus rates in the country at over 100 per 100,000, while Connecticut is the lowest at 19.4.
In Maine, the number of cases on Wednesday was led by York County with 150 new cases, followed by Penobscot County with 122 and Cumberland County with 90.
Since the start of the pandemic, Maine has recorded 85,156 cases of COVID-19 and 1,007 deaths. On Tuesday, Maine marked the grim milestone of crossing 1,000 deaths since the pandemic reached the state in March 2020.
“Almost 19 months after the start of this pandemic, today marks a dark and undesirable stage,” Governor Janet Mills said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mills, Jeanne Lambrew, Maine Health and Human Services Commissioner, and Dr. Nirav Shah, Maine CDC Director, will brief the media at 2 p.m. today.
Shah said in a statement that the state honored those who died by “continuing the work of striving to keep the people of Maine safe and healthy.” Vaccines are our best tool in these efforts. They are safe, free, and available throughout Maine. For yourself, your loved ones and your communities, please get vaccinated. “
At the same time, the number of patients in Maine hospitals, including those in intensive care units, hit record highs on Wednesday as the delta variant wave continues to strain the country’s healthcare system. State.
Most people hospitalized with COVID-19, and almost all of those who are critically ill, have not been vaccinated.
MaineHealth has 40 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 73% of them are not fully vaccinated, the health network posted on Twitter on Wednesday. Of the 23 patients in intensive care, 87 percent – or all but three – are not vaccinated.
Hospitalizations have been rising steadily for weeks and continued to set new records on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Maine tied the previous record of 207 hospitalizations – set at the peak of the wave last winter when only a fraction of the population had been vaccinated – to surpass it on Monday with 214 hospitalizations. On Tuesday, the record was eclipsed again, with 225 people hospitalized in Maine, including 82 in intensive care.
Wednesday’s totals rose further, with 226 hospitalized, 88 in intensive care and 40 requiring ventilators for respiratory support.
“These are records that no one wants to set,” Shah said in a tweet Tuesday.
On the vaccination front, the state announced Wednesday that 874,508 people in Maine have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, representing 65% of the state’s 1.3 million people.
This story will be updated
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