2 more Mainers die as coronavirus cases rise to 867 in all 16 counties
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Another two Mainers died from the new coronavirus as the number of confirmed cases increased to 867 as of Sunday with cases now reported in each of the state’s 16 counties.
The two deaths reported on Sunday was a man in his 60s and a man in his 80s, both from Cumberland County, according to Nirav Shah, director of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll now stands at 34 in the state.
The total number of cases rose by 20 between Saturday and Sunday, according to the Maine CDC. As of Sunday, 46 people in Maine were hospitalized with 18 in critical care units and nine on ventilators, while 136 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. In Maine, 393 people have recovered from the virus.
All 16 of the state’s counties have confirmed cases with the first case confirmed in Piscataquis County on Sunday. It was last Maine county to report a case.
[Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county]
A majority of the cases have been in Mainers older than 50, while there are more women than men with the virus — 460 and 407 respectively– according to the Maine CDC. The number of negative tests stand at 14,076 as of Wednesday, the state said.
The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 378 cases have been confirmed and where the bulk of deaths from the virus have been concentrated. It is among four counties — Androscoggin, Penobscot and York, with 35, 43 and 177 cases, respectively — where community transmission has been confirmed by the Maine CDC.
There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 cases must be confirmed in the area, and at least 25 percent of those must not be connected to either known cases or travel. That second condition has not yet been satisfied in other counties.
Confirmed county cases include Kennebec (97 cases, 4 deaths); Waldo (42 cases, 7 deaths); Androscoggin (35 cases, 1 death); Sagadahoc and Somerset (both with 16 cases); Oxford (14 cases) Knox, Lincoln and Franklin (12 cases); Hancock (6 cases) Washington and Aroostook (both with 2 cases). Another 2 cases have no known county origin.