Mask are now recommended in all but 3 Maine counties

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff

Mainers should now wear masks in all but three counties regardless of their vaccination status amid the rising summer surge in COVID-19 cases.

Androscoggin County now has 52.64 cases per 100,000 people as of Tuesday morning, up from 47.1 the day before. Hancock County now has 61.83 cases per 100,000 people, up from 43.65. Knox County now has 52.8 cases per 100,000 people, up from 45.26. Oxford County now has 51.75 cases per 100,000 people, up from 46.54. Somerset County now has 59.42 cases per 100,000 people, up from 45.56. Washington County now has 79.67 cases per 100,000 people, up from 44.62.

Those recommendations were already in place in Aroostook (80.53), Cumberland (67.8), Lincoln (66.41), Penobscot (75.58), Piscataquis (113.52), Waldo (287.05) and York (73.68) counties, data show.

Only Franklin (46.36), Kennebec (42.52) and Sagadahoc (41.83) counties are exempted from the current mask recommendations.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status if there is substantial transmission of the virus in their community, defined as 50 or more cases per 100,000 people at a county level.

A few months ago, all Maine counties were above that level. Now most of them are below it, but the relatively small populations of some counties can lead to quick swings in the data.