Maine CDC reports 205 cases of COVID-19, two deaths

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday reported 205 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths, continuing an increase that took Maine’s rate of positive tests to 4.1% this week.

Just six weeks ago, the state recorded its lowest positive test rate since the start of the pandemic – 0.45%. But a summer flare fueled by the delta variant spread the disease quickly in Maine, and even faster across the country. The national average positive test rate is 9.5%.

Cumulative COVID-19 cases in Maine rose to 73,659 on Saturday. Of these, 53,427 have been confirmed by testing and 20,232 are considered probable cases of COVID-19. The seven-day average of daily new cases was 160.1 and the 14-day average was 168.1.

Nine hundred and twenty-four people have died from COVID-19 in Maine since the start of the pandemic. Demographic information on the two reported deaths was not available from the CDC on Saturday.

Gov. Janet Mills issued a mandate to vaccinate healthcare workers earlier this month in response to the outbreak, and opposition from those who are not vaccinated – around 20% of hospital staff – worries some providers as to staffing levels. Anti-mandate protesters over the past week have said they would rather quit their jobs or be fired than receive a vaccine, and some employers say they have heard the same from their employees.

But it remains to be seen how many unvaccinated workers follow through on these threats.

As of Saturday morning, Maine had given 832,723 people the last dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those aged 12 and over, the population currently eligible for vaccination, 70.32% are now fully vaccinated.

As of Friday, Maine had recorded 863 “breakthrough” cases, which occur when a fully vaccinated person contracts COVID-19. Unvaccinated people still make up the vast majority of new cases, and COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against serious illness, even if a vaccinated person catches the disease.

Cumberland County returned to the CDC’s “substantial” range of COVID-19 transmission on Saturday, joining Franklin, Hancock, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Washington and York. Aroostook, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset and Waldo counties have “high” transmission levels, based on new cases per 100,000 population.

County by county on Saturday, there had been 8,668 coronavirus cases in Androscoggin, 2,187 in Aroostook, 18,053 in Cumberland, 1,468 in Franklin, 1,543 in Hancock, 6,907 in Kennebec, 1,275 in Knox, 1 198 in Lincoln, 3,814 in Oxford, 7,093 in Penobscot, 686 in Piscataquis, 1,527 in Sagadahoc, 2,469 in Somerset, 1,401 in Waldo, 1,034 in Washington and 14,336 in York.

By age, 19 percent of patients were under 20, while 18.3 percent were in their twenties, 15.3 percent were in their thirties, 13.4 percent were in their forties, 14.4 percent were by their 50s, 10.2 percent were in their 60s, 5.3 percent were in their 70s, and 4.2 percent were 80 or older.

Globally on Saturday, there were 210.9 million known cases of COVID-19 and 4.4 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has recorded 37.6 million cases and 627,862 deaths.

This story will be updated.

” Previous

Related stories