Maine CDC reports 30 deaths and 444 new cases of COVID-19

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday reported 444 cases of the novel coronavirus and 30 new deaths, ending a week in which Maine recorded days with more than 800 new cases, as well as further delays in vaccination from the federal government.

The cumulative number of cases in the state has risen to 33,219. Of these, 27,249 have been confirmed by testing and 5,970 are considered probable cases of COVID-19.

Five hundred and seven people have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in Maine. It was not yet clear whether the 30 deaths reported on Saturday had all occurred recently or may instead have been newly attributed to COVID-19. Information on those believed to have died on Saturday was not immediately available from the Maine CDC.

Meanwhile, Maine has given at least 70,228 people the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But states that expected a further increase in their vaccine supply were disappointed this week, when they learned from federal officials that a reserve stock intended to be released by the Trump administration was already empty.

The two vaccines licensed in the United States require two doses for full effectiveness, and the administration’s initial policy had been to withhold additional injections to ensure that those vaccinated received both doses. But Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccination program, stopped stockpiling these doses late last year.

Some states had planned to expand vaccine eligibility due to a planned dose increase following the release of this stock. These plans will now have to be scaled back, as the government takes vaccine doses directly from the production line to send them to states.

In Maine, Governor Janet Mills recently increased the priority of vaccines for people 70 and older, as well as for those with high-risk health conditions. Now state officials say they don’t know whether vaccine production will follow their plans.

State medical networks, which include large hospitals such as the Maine Medical Center, are also planning large-scale vaccination clinics in case large quantities of the vaccine are available for general distribution to the public. MaineHealth, the parent of Maine Med, has already vaccinated 22,000 healthcare workers and is preparing to open clinics outside of its healthcare practices across the state.

Meanwhile, the virus is increasing among the unvaccinated population. Maine reported 823 new cases on Friday and Saturday, the seven-day average of daily new cases reached 602.

County by county in Maine since the start of the pandemic, there have been 3,563 cases of coronavirus in Androscoggin, 1,011 in Aroostook, 9735 in Cumberland, 561 in Franklin, 680 in Hancock, 2535 in Kennebec, 479 in Knox, 393 in Lincoln, 1549 in Oxford, 2535 in Penobscot, 162 in Piscataquis, 613 in Sagadahoc, 938 in Somerset, 428 in Waldo, 492 in Washington and 7222 in York.

By age, 14.3% of patients were under 20, 17.9% in their twenties, 14.5% in their thirties, 13.1% in their forties, 15.5% in their fifties, 11.9 % in their 60s, 6.9% in their 70s and 6.1% were 80 years or older.

Updated figures for hospital capacity were not yet available on Saturday morning. One hundred and ninety-three patients with COVID-19 were in hospitals in Maine on Thursday, the last day for which data was available. Of these 193 patients, 63 were in intensive care and 23 on ventilators. The state had 88 intensive care unit beds out of a total of 386 and 228 out of 320 ventilators. There were also 443 reciprocating ventilators.

As of Saturday, there were 93.9 million known cases of COVID-19 and more than 2 million deaths worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States had 23.5 million cases and 392,000 deaths.

This story will be updated.

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