Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

The state’s reproduction rate for COVID-19, or R number, was estimated at 1.38 on Friday morning by the website rt.live. The metric is no more or less alarming than some other trends, according to Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. But it does show the coronavirus is spreading quickly. In Portland, a masked bus driver navigates Congress Street on Tuesday.

Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

Public health officials urge all Maine residents to be vigilant about face coverings, which are now required in all public settings. It is uncommon to see a person without a mask in downtown Portland.

Photo by Derek Davis

Maine continues to have among the lowest per capita infection and death rates from COVID-19 in the nation, and ordinary life, with masks, goes on. Carol Colson of Creating Space Yoga leads a class near the Fore River on outer Congress Street in Portland.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

One month ago, the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases was 30. On Friday, the seven-day average of daily cases was 171. Gov. Janet Mills has not renewed strict lockdowns but has strengthened the state’s mask mandate, obeyed by these people walking on Market Street in Portland.

Photo by Ben McCanna

Passengers disembark from the Casco Bay Lines ferry Machigonne II on Tuesday. Because of the pandemic, Casco Bay Lines runs a modified version of the winter schedule and limits total passenger capacity. Cloth face coverings are required to ride the ferries.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

A pedestrian walks past an empty storefront that is for lease on Middle Street in Portland. Thousands of people have lost their jobs and struggle to afford housing because of the pandemic.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

A pedestrian walks in downtown Portland during a foggy morning in November. As of Saturday, Cumberland County had 3,172 cases of the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.

Photo by Derek Davis

On Friday, Maine set a new record for daily cases: 243. Health officials say smaller indoor gatherings are driving the increase in recent cases, rather than large gatherings like earlier in the pandemic. Walking outdoors, like these people at Bug Light Park in South Portland, is a safer activity.

Photo by Gregory Rec

Wearing a mask, a woman carrying a child walks under The Pier at Old Orchard Beach during the recent stretch of warm weather.

Photo by Gregory Rec

Masks, like this half-buried surgical mask in the sand at Old Orchard Beach, are becoming more common litter.

Photo by Derek Davis

Westbrook firefighter Reed Gilbert gathers information Tuesday from Jacob Koris of Leeds at the Westbrook Public Safety building, where there is free drive-up COVID-19 testing, appointment required.

Photo by Derek Davis

Amy Ayotte of Gorham uses a self-administered swab at a free drive-up COVID-19 testing operation at the Westbrook Public Safety building. Ayotte got the test, hoping for a negative result, so she could go on a trip with family.

Photo by Derek Davis

Westbrook firefighter Conor Battaglia discards a wrapper after collecting a sample at the free drive-up COVID-19 testing facility at the Westbrook Public Safety building on Tuesday.

Photo by Derek Davis

Nicholas Chiasson of Freeport swabs his nose for a COVID-19 test at the Westbrook Public Safety building. Maine’s test positivity rate of about 2.5 percent is much lower than the national average of 6 percent, a sign that testing capacity in Maine is strong.

Photo by Derek Davis

Andrea Gooch of Gorham uses a swab for a virus test at the Westbrook Public Safety building.

Photo by Derek Davis

A young boy leans out of a vehicle to swab his nose at the free drive-up COVID-19 testing site at the Westbrook Public Safety building.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

Mask in hand, a woman walks in downtown Portland. The total number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine on Friday was 66, eclipsing the previous high of 60 on May 26.

Photo by Brianna Soukup

A window on Congress Street in Portland reflects a masked pedestrian on Nov. 9. “The exquisite benefit of mask wearing, coupled with physical distancing, is the best set of tools we’ve got,” Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention,  said during a media briefing Friday.

Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

Last week, Gov. Janet Mills reinstated the requirement that Massachusetts visitors receive negative COVID-19 tests or quarantine for 14 days after entering Maine, effective Monday. The rules also apply to Mainers returning home from states other than New Hampshire and Vermont. A passenger on a bus wears a mask and appears to be socially distant from other riders as the bus makes its way down Congress Street in Portland on Tuesday.

Photo by Derek Davis

A pedestrian puts on a mask before entering Walgreens pharmacy on Congress Street in Portland on Friday evening.

Photo by Derek Davis

Lazzari’s windows are lit up in Portland on Friday evening. The restaurant offers indoor and outdoor dining, pickup and delivery and is open until 1 a.m. As of Nov. 4, a limit of 50 people, down from 100, are allowed indoors at restaurants.

Photo by Derek Davis

By age, patients in their 20s make up the highest percentage of coronavirus patients in Maine at 17.8 percent, followed by patients in their 50s at 15.7 percent and patients in their 30s at 15.2 percent.

Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette

Portland International Jetport now offers rapid testing, to the general public as well as travelers, at a site funded by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A test technician looks out from the jetport’s testing area on Thursday. As of Sunday evening, at least 246,o00 people in the United States had died because of coronavirus, 165 of them from Maine.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Homelessness in Portland approaching record levels

Next »

Cape Elizabeth moves to tame short-term rentals in residential zones