The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine stayed steady on Saturday as the state reported 317 new cases and no new deaths.
A total of 104 patients were hospitalized as of Saturday morning, including 16 in critical care and two on ventilators. That’s up one patient from Friday’s count of 103 as the state continues to average right around 100 COVID-19 patients daily.
The number of inpatients statewide has hovered around 100 for more than a month, even as the average number of new cases reported by the state has increased about 50 percent in recent weeks, from about 200 cases a day to about 300.
Although the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 317 new cases Saturday, the actual number of new infections is significantly higher than the daily reports because many people are now relying on at-home tests, which are not included in the official counts. Since the pandemic began, Maine has recorded 242,033 cases and 2,280 deaths.
Maine’s rise in infections coincides with increases across the Northeast following the spread of the BA.2 omicron subvariant, which is more contagious than the original omicron variant.
Hospitalizations also have started to rise in the Northeast, although not as significantly as infection rates. The number of new hospital admissions is up 24 percent over the past week in New England, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Public health experts are not projecting a big leap in hospitalizations because both omicron variants tend to cause less severe cases, and with high levels of the population immunized through vaccination and prior infection, there are fewer people to infect. Also, people who are vaccinated and get breakthrough cases of COVID-19 are much more likely to get a mild version and not need hospitalization.
Aroostook County was reclassified as being at high risk for virus transmission, according to federal data updated late Thursday.
The high-risk category on the U.S. CDC’s COVID Data Tracker map means that community transmission of the virus is high and could strain hospital capacity. People living in high-risk areas are urged to wear a mask indoors in public spaces.
Franklin County is now considered to be at moderate risk. Residents of moderate risk counties are advised to wear masks when indoors if they are at high risk of complications from COVID-19 because of their age or underlying health conditions.
All other Maine counties are classified as low risk, which means there is no universal recommendation to wear masks indoors. The virus is still circulating in low-risk areas, but there is little chance that illnesses will strain hospital capacity.
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