Hospitalizations in Maine for COVID-19 skyrocket over the weekend

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Maine accelerated over the weekend, as the delta variant tightens its grip on the state.

Dr Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tweeted Monday that “123 people in Maine are hospitalized with COVID-19. Sixty-one of them are in intensive care and 25 are on a ventilator. Just 72 hours ago (Friday), those numbers stood at 98 in total in the hospital, with 43 in intensive care and 17 on a ventilator. “

Hospital officials noted on Friday that the largest increase in COVID-19 patient numbers continues to be seen at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, which serves as the primary treatment center for the northern and eastern halves of the city. ‘State. Bangor hospital – which had no COVID-19 hospital patients for several days at the end of July – went from two inpatients on July 30 to 13 a week ago to 24 on August 19, the highest number since January 20.

More than 80% of those hospitalized patients go unvaccinated, and many come from rural areas with low vaccination rates, said Dr James Jarvis, incident doctor for EMMC’s parent company, Northern Light Health. .

“A lot of these people are too sick to stay in smaller hospitals and so are referred to EMMC,” Jarvis said. “We are assuming that this push is continuing and that we are up, not down.”

This story will be updated.

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