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AUGUSTA, Maine – COVID-19 hospitalizations in Maine rose 66% over the past week to their highest level since mid-May, with unvaccinated patients continuing to constitute a large majority of those admitted in the hospital.
The large increase reflects the wide reach of the virus in Maine with the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. As of Saturday, 123 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 here, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, down from just 74 a week earlier and 25 a month ago. Almost half of the patients currently in hospital are in intensive care beds, while a fifth are on a ventilator, according to state data.
Hospitalizations remain significantly lower than last winter, when more than 200 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19. But the strong upward trend now reflects how Maine’s high vaccination rate has failed to prevent the spread of the delta variant, which now accounts for the vast majority of new cases in the region, according to the Centers for Disease. Control and Prevention of the United States.
The increases were most notable at several hospitals serving more rural areas, while large hospitals in southern Maine did not see sharp increases. At Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, 29 patients were hospitalized on Monday, more than double the total a week before and halfway through the hospital’s record of 55 patients in January, according to Dr James Jarvis, who helps to lead Light Health’s Northern COVID-19 Response. Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast has had nine patients, up from three a week ago.
Jarvis said the influx of patients to Bangor hospital prompted authorities to open a third intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients because the other two were at full capacity. That number changes weekly but shows a worrying trend emerging with the sickest patients, he said.
“We’re open to all activity right now, but it’s taking a toll on our system,” Jarvis said.
Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 remain mostly unvaccinated. Since the first Mainers were fully immunized, people who have not received the full course of immunization represent 95.9% of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, according to state data. About 64 percent of Mainers are fully vaccinated at this point.
High vaccination rates among residents and nursing home staff have largely limited the transmission of the virus in long-term care facilities, once the cause of many deadly epidemics, but the virus is still spreading widely in communities in Maine, with masks recommended in most counties in Maine, according to the US CDC.
BDN writer Caitlin Andrews contributed to this report.
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