Maine reported 41 cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, ending a weekend that saw low hospitalizations but also the youngest fatality yet reported to state health authorities.

Maine’s cumulative cases rose to 3,687, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those cases, 3,266 have been confirmed by testing and 421 are considered probable cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

There were no new deaths reported, leaving Maine’s total at 117. On Saturday, the Maine CDC reported that a man in his 20s from Androscoggin County had died – the youngest reported to the health agency.

Subtracting numbers of people who have recovered – 3,148 – and died, there were 422 active cases on Sunday.

Hospitalizations with COVID-19 reached new lows last week, and only 10 patients in Maine hospitals were reported to have the coronavirus on Sunday, down from 12 on Friday. Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, said on Saturday that Maine’s hospitalizations compared to population were the lowest in the country, at one patient per 100,000.

 

Advertisement

On Sunday, Shah also noted on Twitter that Maine’s testing volume had expanded by 47 percent over the past month. But he warned Mainers that the virus can come back.

“The fire is not yet out and it would be unwise to walk away until it is,” he wrote. “We are still in this. Please, #WearAMask.”

Meanwhile, the economic impact of the pandemic continues to take a toll. Maine’s lobstermen received more federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program than members of any other industry in the state, a Portland Press Herald analysis found. About one in three lobstermen participated in the program, netting a total $14.9 million in federal funds distributed to 1,358 recipients.

But the average loan has been fairly small – just $10,900 on average – and industry advocates say it won’t be enough to tide them over for long. With lobstermen starting to set their traps, lobster prices are down 40 percent from this time last year, industry analysts said.

Gov. Janet Mills announced last week that she would distribute $8.4 million in federal coronavirus relief to child care facilities, but she called for Congress to release even more aid. The Mills administration last week also released guidelines for reopening schools, though many decisions, such as whether to resume in-person instruction, will be left to districts.

County by county since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 511 cases in Androscoggin, 27 in Aroostook, 1,950 in Cumberland, 43 in Franklin, 19 in Hancock, 147 in Kennebec, 25 in Knox, 30 in Lincoln, 48 in Oxford, 131 in Penobscot, four in Piscataquis, 34 in Sagadahoc, 32 in Somerset, 60 in Waldo, six in Washington, and 594 in York.

Advertisement

By age, 9.4 percent of patients were under 20, while 15.9 percent were in their 20s, 15.2 percent were in their 30s, 15.3 percent were in their 40s, 16.2 percent were in their 50s, 11.6 percent were in their 60s, 8.1 percent were in their 70s, and 8.5 percent were 80 or over.

Women still are the slight majority of cases, at close to 52 percent.

Of the 10 patients with COVID-19 in Maine hospitals on Sunday, nine were in intensive care and seven were on ventilators. The state had 147 intensive care unit beds available of 400, and 268 ventilators available of 319. Maine also had 441 alternative ventilators.

Around the world on Sunday evening, there were nearly 14.4 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 603,000 deaths. The United States had 3.7 million cumulative cases and more than 140,000 deaths, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Related Headlines


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: