May 12 evening update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine

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Another 15 cases of the new coronavirus have been detected in Maine.

There have now been 1,477 confirmed and likely coronavirus cases across all of Maine’s counties, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 1,462 on Monday.

Of those, 1,338 have been confirmed positive, while 139 are likely positive, according to the Maine CDC.

[Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county]

No new deaths were reported Tuesday, leaving the statewide death toll at 65.

So far, 202 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 34 people are currently hospitalized, with 17 in critical care and eight on ventilators, according to the Maine CDC.

Meanwhile, 913 people have fully recovered from the coronavirus, meaning there are 499 active and likely cases in the state. That’s down from 525 on Monday.

Here’s the latest on the coronavirus and its impact on Maine.

— Maine cities and towns are facing the prospect of massive budget shortfalls that would force them to substantially cut services while federal relief aimed at making up for revenue lost due to the coronavirus remains up for debate in Washington.

—The state’s Department of Health and Human Services will now cover coronavirus testing for uninsured patients until Maine’s current state of emergency ends, according to a Tuesday update sent to health care providers. Tuesday’s announcement will allow providers to bill testing costs for uninsured people to MaineCare.

— Maine is looking to the federal government for updated guidelines on the care dentists can provide as Maine and other states start to allow health care providers to provide more routine and elective care that they had to put off due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s been eight weeks since dental offices in Maine have been closed for routine care. During that time, minor dental issues in some patients have progressed into emergencies.

—Maine construction workers were allowed to stay on the job amid coronavirus-related restrictions, but a survey found that their hours declined by 10 percent toward the end of March as Gov. Janet Mills issued other limits on business activity. The shorter hours were part of a hard knock on the nation’s construction industry, which lost 975,000 jobs between March and April.

— Portland city leaders will weigh a pilot plan to help downtown businesses climb out of the coronavirus hole by creating an open-air market. The City Council and its Economic Development Committee will begin reviewing later this week the city-staff proposal to close sections of six streets ― Cotton, Dana, Exchange, Milk, Middle and Wharf streets ― to vehicle traffic starting June 1.

— A batch of the first drug found to have an effect against the coronavirus is on its way to Maine hospitals. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday received and distributed 10 cases of the drug Remdesivir to Maine hospitals. A National Institutes of Health study has found that Remdesivir accelerates the recovery of patients with COVID-19, making it the first treatment available specifically for the new coronavirus.

—A nursing home that saw an early outbreak of the coronavirus was clear of active cases of the virus as of Tuesday, marking what the state’s top public health official called “an epidemiological milestone.” But public health officials are encouraging caution.

— Attendance has rebounded at Bath Iron Works after many workers took weeks off to protect their families from the new coronavirus. A shipyard spokesperson told The Times Record that attendance at the shipyard had been 25 percent to 30 percent below normal, but on Monday it returned to “pre-COVID levels,” a reference to COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

—As many Maine restaurants are facing existential challenges over how to continue operating in the COVID-19 era, national restaurant chain Denny’s has decided to permanently close locations in Ellsworth and Biddeford. In a post on the Ellsworth restaurant’s Facebook page, which has since been deleted, the company made “a tough business decision” not to reopen the two locations, Denny’s officials said.

— No new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Augusta Fire Department since a firefighter tested positive last week.

— As of early Tuesday morning, the coronavirus has sickened 1,366,350 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 82,105 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

— Elsewhere in New England, there have been 5,141 coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts, 3,041 in Connecticut, 444 in Rhode Island, 133 in New Hampshire and 53 in Vermont.

Watch: Maine CDC coronavirus press conference, May 12