Maine CDC reports 238 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 238 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday and no new deaths. It was the 10th time in the last 18 days that the daily case count topped 200 people.

The state’s rolling seven-day average of daily cases increased to 221.4 cases, up from 40 cases just a month ago.

Cumulative cases rose to 11,265, with 10,105 of them confirmed. Over the last seven days, Maine has added 1,317 cases. There have 190 coronavirus-related deaths statewide since the beginning of the pandemic.

The figures represent counts through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, but the Maine CDC said the Thanksgiving holiday will likely produce a delay in test results and hospitalization counts on Friday. Maine’s infection totals remain the second lowest in the country, behind only Vermont, but ahead of Hawaii and New Hampshire.

There have been 43 deaths in November, including 12 reported on Tuesday alone. It’s the second most of any month after April, which saw 51 deaths. In October, there were just six COVID-19 deaths in Maine.

There were 105 people in Maine hospitals with COVID-19 as of late Wednesday night.

The Maine CDC also counted 199 more people who have recovered from the virus, for a total of 8,791 recoveries since the pandemic began.

Hospitalizations and deaths often follow case spikes by two weeks or so, which means Maine is likely to see more of both.

Gov. Janet Mills this week extended the state of emergency into late December, and has urged people to stay home for the holidays and avoid family gatherings. Masking, hand-washing and following social distancing protocols, while uncomfortable, remain key to suppressing the virus, she has said.

She has also called for additional federal stimulus money to help businesses and individuals. On Wednesday, her administration announced that it was dedicating an additional $536,000 in existing relief funds to support Meals on Wheels, the demand for which has doubled since the pandemic began. But she said Maine’s share of federal funding that it received in the spring won’t last long.

“I’ve spoken to every member of our delegation about the needs of the state of Maine,” she said, referring to Maine’s congressional delegation. “We absolutely have to have another stimulus package as soon as possible.”

All counties had added cases as of Thursday, with York County continuing to lead the trend, with 49 more, for a total of 2,229 cases. Close behind is Cumberland County, which added 44 more cases, for a total so far of 3,728 cases. Penobscot County, meanwhile, added 46 cases, for a total of 802 people there who have contracted COVID-19.

The number of active cases, which is the total number of cases minus the number of deaths and recoveries, was 2,284 as of Thursday, or 39 more cases than on Wednesday, and more than three times as many as this time last month.

Much of the recent growth in statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations has been concentrated at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where acutely affected patients at smaller hospitals across northern and eastern Maine are often transferred. Over the past two weeks the number of confirmed inpatients with COVID-19 there has more than doubled, from 12 on Nov. 11 to 27 as of Wednesday morning, a level nearly four times EMMC’s spring surge peak of seven. By comparison, Mercy Hospital in Portland – which also belongs to the Northern Light Health hospital network – had just four COVID-19 inpatients Wednesday.