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BELFAST, Maine – Waldo County recently saw stubbornly high numbers of COVID-19 diagnoses with no signs of slowing transmission, leading to an increase in mask wear and rumors of unfounded outbreaks.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has not opened any investigation into outbreaks associated with the county, and case investigations continue to indicate that the new diagnoses are due to spread in the community, the spokesperson said on Wednesday. lyrics by Robert Long.
“Be careful and wear a mask in indoor public spaces,” he said.
Waldo County maintained by far the highest rate of new cases in the state on Tuesday after 29 new cases were reported there that day. The county, with a population of just under 40,000, recorded 146 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, making it the only county in Maine to be designated as having “high transmission. “.
It is one of five counties in Maine with COVID-19 transmission rates high enough that the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention recommends universal indoor mask wear. The others are Penobscot, Lincoln, Somerset and York.
The high transmission in Waldo County is a disappointment and a surprise to some in the county, where nearly 62% of people have received at least one injection of the vaccine. But it also comes at a time when summer visitors are thronging the streets of Belfast, outdoor gatherings, shops and restaurants.
“This whole Waldo County peak, it’s surprising and it’s not. People are here in huge numbers, ”said Brenda Bonneville, Belfast city councilor and city center merchant, on Wednesday. “It just makes me feel a little disheartened.”
Unlike earlier moments in the pandemic, there is no clear mask mandate from Governor Janet Mills, which makes it “a little fuzzy,” she said. When people walk into the Belfast city center boutique of Bonneville, Ambiance, most often they are not wearing masks.
“I have a little spiel. I try to be nice to this. My question is, do you have a mask or do you need it, ”she said. “I have a mask for you if you forgot yours. It’s a little embarrassing… I’m just going back to what we were doing when COVID first hit. ”
In the town hall and other buildings belonging to the city, it is mandatory that people wear masks, regardless of their vaccination status. Bonneville said that during a 5.5-hour marathon city council meeting on Tuesday night, councilors wore masks.
“We are just trying to lead by example,” she said.
Ryan Otis, the owner of Belfast’s famous restaurant Rollie’s Bar & Grill, said the new recommendations hadn’t seemed to affect business so far. The restaurant is still operating with fewer seats than usual as it did not have the staff to fully open when it was allowed to do so, he said. Staff are also continuing the heavy-duty cleaning practices first implemented last year. While it planned to add real plates and silverware to the restaurant’s operations, the county’s growing COVID-19 figures mean it will continue to use take-out boxes and single-use silverware for the moment.
“We’re doing our best to weather the storm,” Otis said.
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