April 25 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine

There are 990 coronavirus cases confirmed in all of Maine’s counties, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 965 on Friday.

The latest deaths, a total of three since Friday, involve three women older than 80 from Androscoggin, Franklin and Waldo counties.

The statewide death toll now stands at 50.

So far, 156 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 39 people are currently hospitalized in the state, with 17 in critical care and seven on ventilators, according to the Maine CDC.

Here is the latest on the coronavirus and its impact on Maine.

— Lawmakers want more answers from the state’s labor commissioner about the cause of the delay in rolling out new unemployment benefits. The Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee will meet next week to discuss ongoing problems with the system.

— While nature is a great source of entertainment for kids, sometimes they need a little encouragement to stay engaged and keep moving along a trail. Hiking games can help.

— Across the U.S., COVID-19 is radically altering medical care, not only for vulnerable elders but also for pregnant women and their babies entering the world.

— “Advance directives are important at any age and time, but the spread of the coronavirus has brought more attention to them. Yet, only about one third of Americans have them,” writes the BDN editorial board.

— Nursing home residents account for a greater share of coronavirus deaths in Maine than in most other states that have reported data on long-term care facility deaths.

— What President Donald Trump says and does often flies in the face of mainstream science. Coronavirus and the idea of injecting disinfectants is only the latest episode.

— University of Southern Maine student Maha Jaber is one of 193 nursing students and faculty members from across the University of Maine System who have volunteered to work in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care settings that need them as those facilities find themselves on the front lines of fighting COVID-19 in Maine.

— While most of the world hungers for a vaccine to put an end to the death and economic destruction wrought by COVID-19, some anti-vaccine groups are joining with anti-lockdown protesters to challenge restrictions aimed at protecting public health.

— Bangor and Brewer have so far not needed to make any major staffing cuts ahead of what are expected to be some serious drops in revenue over the coming year. But both cities are still bracing for a financial fallout.

— A federal judge said he will issue a decision Monday on a request from tribal nations to temporarily halt the distribution of $8 billion in coronavirus relief funding for tribes.

— Watch: State labor commissioner speaks to unemployed Mainers

— As of 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the coronavirus has sickened 929,730 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 53,391 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

— Elsewhere in New England, there have been 2,556 coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts, 1,764 in Connecticut, 215 in Rhode Island, 53 in New Hampshire and 46 in Vermont.