The seven-day daily case average now stands at 877, which is up from 492 cases this time last month, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Not all of the new cases occurred in the last 24 hours because the test volume has been higher than state officials can process on any day. Since the pandemic reached Maine in March 2020, there have been 132,884 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 and 1,378 deaths.
For several weeks, spread has been highest in lower vaccinated counties. Franklin County, for instance, has the highest rate of cases over the last seven days (1,017 per 100,000 people) and the third-lowest vaccination rate (59 percent). Similarly, Piscataquis County has the third-highest rate of cases in the last seven days (995 per 100,000 people) and the second-lowest vaccination rate (58.6 percent). Cumberland County, meanwhile, has both the highest rate of vaccinated residents (80 percent) and the lowest transmission rate (346 cases per 100,000 people).
Cases have been rising across the country, but the Northeast has been especially hard hit. Four New England states, including Maine, are in the top five states for new cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days, according to the U.S. CDC. On Tuesday, the U.S. topped 800,000 deaths from COVID-19, which is by far the most of any country and represents approximately 15 percent of all COVID-19 deaths worldwide.
Hospitalizations reached another pandemic high Wednesday, both in the total number of COVID-19 patients and the number in critical care beds.
There are now 381 people in a Maine hospital being treated for COVID-19 and 125 individuals in intensive care. Wednesday marked the 10th consecutive day of at least 350 COVID-19 patients, a trend that has forced many hospitals to cancel non-critical surgeries and weigh difficult decisions about rationing health care. Among those hospitalized, roughly two-thirds are unvaccinated and the percentage is as high as 85 or 90 percent among those in critical care.
Several hospitals across the state are getting help this week from Maine National Guard members, who have been deployed in non-clinical roles by Gov. Janet Mills. Maine Medical Center in Portland also has been approved to receive a “surge response team” of clinicians from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Lewiston’ Central Maine Medical Center hopes to gain approval for a team this week as well.
Vaccinations, meanwhile, have remained steady and demand appears to be increasing ahead of the holiday, particularly for boosters. Hundreds of people waited in line early Tuesday afternoon outside a clinic run by Northern Light Health at the former Pier 1 store at the Maine Mall in South Portland. That clinic will through Saturday and will reopen next week as well.
The Maine CDC also resumed a walk-in clinic at the Augusta Armory this week after seeing steady interest there several days last week.
As of Wednesday, Maine has administered a total of 943,770 final doses of vaccine, representing 70.2 percent of residents, and 386,056 boosters, which is about 28.7 percent. Although the state’s overall rate is high, there remain wide geographic disparities — southern and coastal counties have the highest rates, while rural and inland counties are seeing the lowest. Cumberland County is the highest vaccinated county at 80 percent, while Somerset County has the lowest percentage of residents fully vaccinated, 57 percent.
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