Another Mainer has died, marking the state’s 100th death from the coronavirus, as health officials on Tuesday reported 18 more cases of the new coronavirus.
There have now been 2,606 cases across all of Maine’s counties since the outbreak began here in March, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 2,588 on Monday.
Tuesday’s increase marked two back-to-back days of the lowest new case reports in the past month. The newest cases were all in Androscoggin and Cumberland counties.
Of those, 2,322 have been confirmed positive, while 284 are likely positive, according to the Maine CDC.
The latest death involved a resident of Cumberland County in her 90s, bringing the statewide death toll to 100.
So far, 302 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 29 people are currently hospitalized, with 10 in critical care and seven on ventilators.
Meanwhile, 1,992 people have fully recovered from the virus, meaning there are 514 active and likely cases in the state, according to the Maine CDC. That’s a sharp decrease from 598 on Monday. Active cases of the virus have been trending down in recent days, falling from 714 on May 24, Maine CDC data show.
Here’s the latest on the coronavirus and Maine.
—“Gov. Janet Mills announced Monday that Maine will ease restrictions on travelers entering the state, but the extent to which the new policy is able to salvage a tourism season devastated by the coronavirus pandemic depends in part on how other states ramp up testing.” — Jessica Piper, BDN
—“The Scarborough location of a company that manufactures tests that quickly identify whether someone has the coronavirus is now the site of a virus outbreak, according to Maine’s public health agency. Abbott Laboratories in Scarborough has seen 23 coronavirus cases among 679 employees since mid-April, with five detected since May 31, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah said Tuesday.” — Caitlin Andrews, BDN
—“It took a world war to cancel the Blue Hill Fair in 1943 and a worldwide pandemic to cancel it in 2020. The fair’s board of directors voted 13-0 on Monday to postpone the five-day event scheduled over Labor Day weekend until next year. Social distancing requirements meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 would thin the crowd to the point where running the fair would be financially irresponsible, event President David Gray said Tuesday.” — Nick Sambides, BDN
—“Any type of large gathering brings a risk of spreading the coronavirus. Yet a number of health experts are supporting protests being held nationwide in response to the death of George Floyd, as many health experts note that racism is the root cause of long-standing public health disparities that date back to the founding of the United States.” — Rong-Gong Lin II and Colleen Shalby, Los Angeles Times
—“Maine is slated to receive more than $6 million in federal transportation aid as part of the coronavirus relief package. The U.S. Department of Transportation grants are designed to help transit systems in the wake of difficulties caused by the new coronavirus. The largest portion of the money is a $5 million award to the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority to help with Downeaster regional rail operating expenses.” — The Associated Press
— As of Tuesday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 1,973,803 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 111,751 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
— Elsewhere in New England, there have been 7,408 coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts, 4,097 in Connecticut, 808 in Rhode Island, 294 in New Hampshire and 55 in Vermont.
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