Maine records record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations



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A record number of people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine on Monday amid the latest wave of the deadly coronavirus.

There were 214 people in hospital with COVID-19, which is the highest one-day total since the pandemic began in March 2020, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Sunday’s figure of 207 hospitalizations equaled the previous record, which was set on January 13 during the peak of the wave last winter when a fraction of Maine’s population had been vaccinated against the disease.

The number of people in intensive care stood at 73 on Monday – down four from Sunday – and there were 33 people connected to ventilators. There were 58 intensive care beds available statewide.

Hospitals in Maine have struggled to keep pace with the late-summer wave of critically ill COVID-19 patients as the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread statewide. While the number of new cases was not available on Monday, Maine’s seven-day average of 485 new coronavirus cases at the end of last week, which is about five times higher than the weekly average in early August.

Public health and hospital officials have estimated that between 70 and 75 percent of all hospital patients, and almost all patients in intensive care units, are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta has operated consistently at 98-100% capacity in recent weeks, while Maine Medical Center in Portland has been forced to divert ambulances to other facilities for several days due to ‘a lack of space in the emergency department.

In addition to the steadily increasing number of people seriously ill with COVID, hospitals are also struggling with a bed bottleneck for patients discharged from hospital. Many nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and other long-term care facilities severely limit the number of new clients they accept – or have closed their doors to new patients – because they do not have the necessary staff. to meet stringent federal staff-to-resident ratio requirements. .

This story will be updated.


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