Another three Mainers have died as health officials on Thursday confirmed 52 more coronavirus cases have been detected in Maine.
There have now been 2,189 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 2,137 on Wednesday.
Of those, 1,951 have been confirmed positive, while 238 are likely positive, according to the Maine CDC.
The latest deaths involved three people — two women and a man — from Cumberland County who were all in their 80s, bringing the statewide death toll to 84.
So far, 264 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 58 people are currently hospitalized, with 22 in critical care and 14 on ventilators, according to the Maine CDC.
Meanwhile, 1,402 people have fully recovered from the virus, meaning there are 703 active and likely cases in the state, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 699 on Wednesday.
Here’s the latest on the coronavirus and its impact on Maine.
—The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported two new coronavirus outbreaks in Auburn and one in Portland on Thursday. In addition to those three, there are three more existing outbreaks that the Maine CDC is tracking.
—Many members of the Maine Legislature will soon be returning to Augusta for the first time since mid-March as they look to put their stamp on the state’s coronavirus response, but the business of lawmaking is not yet on the schedule.
— Acadia National Park will join several coastal state parks when it starts shedding some coronavirus restrictions and opening its Park Loop Road on June 1.
—Maine courts will return slowly to normal operations over the next three months, but it will be September before activities fully return, provided there isn’t another outbreak of the coronavirus. Proceedings for evictions, foreclosures, small-claims cases and traffic violations won’t resume until at least August, and jury trials will be postponed until at least September.
—Maine has temporarily closed an emergency operations center in Augusta that has hosted news conferences featuring Gov. Janet Mills after seven employees started showing symptoms of the coronavirus between Wednesday and Thursday, including fever, chills and muscle aches.
— About a dozen protesters gathered in Augusta on Thursday to protest Gov. Janet Mills’ decision to delay the reopening of restaurants in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties beyond June 1 due to increased hospitalizations from the new coronavirus.
—The Downeast Metro Amateur golf tournament will be held as scheduled next month. The 6th annual event, which had been in jeopardy because of safety restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held June 13-14 at Bangor Municipal Golf Course and the Kebo Valley Club in Bar Harbor.
—Inmates and staff at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham will be tested again for the coronavirus, the corrections commissioner announced Wednesday. That move comes after four inmates in the facility tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, last week.
—In an unprecedented move, Rockland is creating a $200,000 loan program for small businesses using a combination of taxpayer dollars and funds from a downtown tax increment financing account.
—We want to answer your questions on the reopening of Maine’s economy. Tell us here.
—Maine saw a “suspicious” spike in new jobless claims last week as the state grapples with a rise in fraudulent claims amid the employment crisis sparked by the coronavirus.
—While the first unofficial weekend of summer may have provided a glimmer of optimism for Moosehead, the immediate future for retail outlets, restaurants, sporting camps and other businesses throughout the North Woods region remains uncertain in the age of COVID-19.
—Thinking of hitting the water soon? Boating, canoeing and kayaking are great ways to have fun while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s important to take necessary precautions — ones you may not have before — while enjoying these activities to prevent unintentionally spreading the disease.
—Five clients and staff at a Portland homeless shelter have tested positive for the new coronavirus. The Portland Press Herald reports that a client at the Milestone Recovery shelter on India Street tested positive last week and additional testing in recent days have confirmed another client and three staff were infected with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
—As of Friday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 1,717,756 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 101,470 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
—Elsewhere in New England, there have been 6,640 coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts, 3,826 in Connecticut, 677 in Rhode Island, 223 in New Hampshire and 55 in Vermont.
