10 more Mainers die and 273 coronavirus cases reported across the state
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
This story will be updated.
Another 10 Mainers have died as health officials on Wednesday reported 273 more coronavirus cases across the state.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 5,270. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. That’s up from 5,698 on Tuesday.
It marked a sharp turnaround from Tuesday when 417 new cases were reported. That comes as Maine appears to be emerging from the dizzying heights new cases reached amid a holiday-related surge in virus transmission.
But even though Wednesday’s report is the latest to suggest a gradual decline in virus transmission in recent weeks, cases remain well above the levels seen last fall and emerging and more infectious variants of the virus that have appeared as nearby as Massachusetts prompted Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah to warn Tuesday that a resurgence in transmission is possible.
A Cumberland County resident, a Franklin County resident, a Hancock County resident, a Kennebec County resident, three Penobscot County residents and three York County residents have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 627. A death previously reported in Androscoggin County was determined to not be related to the virus.
Wednesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 40,233, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 39,960 on Tuesday.
Of those, 32,315 have been confirmed positive, while 7,918 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.
The new case rate statewide Wednesday was 2.04 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 300.60.
Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 296.9, down from 323.1 a day ago, down from 458.1 a week ago and down from 529.7 a month ago. That rate has been steadily falling since Jan. 14, when it peaked at 625.6.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers in their 20s, while Mainers over 80 years old make up the majority of deaths. More cases and deaths have been recorded in women than men.
So far, 1,410 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Information about those currently hospitalized wasn’t immediately available.
The total statewide hospitalization rate on Wednesday was 10.53 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (4,391), Aroostook (1,165), Cumberland (11,427), Franklin (793), Hancock (801), Kennebec (3,231), Knox (583), Lincoln (496), Oxford (1,956), Penobscot (3,490), Piscataquis (212), Sagadahoc (812), Somerset (1,110), Waldo (524), Washington (651) and York (8,584) counties. Information about where an additional seven cases were reported wasn’t immediately available.
As of Wednesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 26,384,829 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 445,419 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.