Maine ends pandemic year with 13 more deaths, 702 new cases of COVID-19

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday reported 702 new cases of COVID-19 and 13 more deaths, ending the tumultuous year on a disturbing note.

The now several-week outbreak in Maine shows little sign of abating, with the last day of 2020 bringing some of the highest numbers of new infections and deaths in the 10-month pandemic now.

Thursday marked the third time in eight days that daily new cases exceeded 700, after remaining below 100 cases a day from mid-March to October 30. The 13 deaths were also the second highest number in a single day, although the Maine CDC means these likely occurred over multiple days.

Meanwhile, state officials have expressed concerns about the worsening number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths as a result of the current holiday season. But Maine’s vaccination campaign, which began more than two weeks ago, has resulted in 27,122 people being injected with the first of two vaccines starting Thursday morning.

The seven-day moving average of daily new cases was 427 on Thursday, down from the average of 476 new infections for the week ending December 24. On November 1, by comparison, Maine’s seven-day moving average was 78 new cases.

To date, the Maine CDC has tracked a total of 24,201 COVID-19 cases as well as 347 virus-related deaths, more than half of those deaths occurring in the last two months of the 10-month pandemic. The vast majority of the deaths were also among Maine residents over the age of 60, highlighting the much higher threat the virus poses to older residents.

New hospitalization figures were not yet available on Thursday. As of Wednesday, 177 people were hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 and 48 people in intensive care, although the state continued to have nearly 100 intensive care beds and hundreds of ventilators.

Hospitals, pharmacies and emergency medical systems administered more than 3,500 additional vaccines to those at high risk on Wednesday, bringing the state’s immunization total to 27,122 as of Thursday morning. That’s about 2% of the population, which is a higher rate than all but two of the other states (West Virginia and South Dakota), according to Bloomberg’s vaccination tracker.

Maine’s current vaccination campaign is focused on hospital emergency department and COVID-19 staff, first responders and other eligible medical personnel as well as residents and nursing home staff. Self-employed doctors and other healthcare workers who do not work for a hospital system are also expected to be vaccinated in the coming weeks.

At least 179 of Maine’s 347 total deaths among those diagnosed with COVID-19 have occurred among residents of long-term care facilities, although the actual number is likely higher as there is often a delay of several days or weeks before institutions officially report deaths. at the CDC du Maine.

Maine CDC Director Dr Nirav Shah said Wednesday that at least seven deaths have occurred in the past week at nursing homes in Aroostook County, which is experiencing a surge in the virus after it kept numbers low for much of the pandemic.

Four of the 13 deaths reported Thursday were in Aroostook: an 80-year-old man and 3 women aged 60, 70 or 90. The remaining deaths were identified as follows: one woman in her 80s and two women in their 90s from Cumberland County; a woman in her 80s from Hancock County; one man in his fifties and two men in his sixties from Oxford County; and a man in his 80s and a man in his 90s from York County.

The next phase of Maine’s vaccination plan, which could begin in late January or early February, is currently expected to target Mainers aged 75 or older, as well as workers in high-risk but “essential frontline jobs” ”, In accordance with the most recent federal recommendations. . These include teachers, police, grocery store workers, postal workers, day care workers, and food, agriculture or manufacturing workers.

A handful of states are deviating from the federal recommendation and, instead, vaccinating more elderly residents before essential workers who are not in healthcare fields due to hospitalization rates and much higher deaths in people aged 65 or older.

Shah said on Wednesday he was aware of these decisions in other states and that Maine health officials were still discussing which groups to target during Phase 1B. But Shah also said that – unlike some of the larger states that don’t follow federal recommendations – he believes Maine could simultaneously vaccinate people aged 75 or older and essential frontline workers.

“Right now, we are still focusing on (Phase) 1A and making sure that healthcare providers of all stripes… can get vaccinated,” Shah said at Wednesday’s COVID- briefing. 19. “But we know it’s a decision, and we know other states have taken this route. I think there is more discussion to be had.

Residents of Maine between the ages of 65 and 74, as well as younger people with underlying health conditions, are currently required to be vaccinated during Phase 1C, which will likely begin in mid-winter to spring. Widespread vaccination of the rest of the state’s population is not expected to begin until the summer given the anticipated vaccine supplies available nationwide.

This story will be updated.

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