Maine reports 506 new cases of COVID-19; 8 other deaths

Maine reported 506 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday as the state works on a backlog of tests and patients fill intensive care units in record numbers. There were eight additional deaths.

Since the start of the pandemic, Maine has recorded 79,929 cases of COVID-19 and 959 deaths.

The seven-day average of daily new cases stood at 337 on Friday, up from 371 a week ago and 147 a month ago. Maine has the sixth lowest viral prevalence rate in the country, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute, with 26.7 cases per 100,000 population, compared to the national average of 45 cases per 100,000 population. Connecticut has the lowest rates in the country at 15.4, while hard-hit states like Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky are experiencing rates of 90 or more cases per 100,000.

As the pandemic continues to escalate across much of the country, President Biden on Thursday announced new vaccination mandates, including requiring companies with 100 or more employees to have their employees vaccinated or tested every week, and a mandate for federal workers and health care workers to get their shots. About one in three Maine workers will be affected by the new mandates.

During his press briefing on Wednesday, Dr Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said agency staff were working on more than 2,400 positive test results that needed to be examined to distinguish news. repeated positive test infections from known cases. .

Shah said the Maine CDC is receiving 420 to 440 positive test results each day and additional staff have been added to the review team.

“We expect there will be a high and sustained number of cases as we pass through these 2,441 labs,” Shah said Wednesday.

While the 193 total hospitalizations in Maine – as of Thursday – are still lower than last winter’s record number, the 74 patients in intensive care unit beds are the most numerous to date. Additionally, 38 of those people – about 20% of all hospitalizations – needed ventilators to help them breathe.

Between 70 and 75 percent of people hospitalized – and nearly 100 percent of people in intensive care on certain days – are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Maine CDC said.

“This is deeply concerning,” Shah said of the ongoing hospitalizations and the record number of intensive care patients. “There is a saying that what is predictable is preventable. It’s kind of what keeps me from sleeping at night. The delta surge was predictable. The question is: how many cases of people hospitalized or in intensive care or on ventilation, how many of these are preventable?

This story will be updated

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