Downward trend continues with 147 new COVID-19 cases in Maine, 2 deaths

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 147 new cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths on Saturday after a winter storm delayed the transportation of vaccines, but not the distribution of shots in clinics in Maine.

Maine’s cumulative COVID-19 cases rose to 43,367 on Saturday, of which 34,431 were confirmed by tests and 8,936 are considered probable cases of COVID-19.

Six hundred and fifty-eight people have died with COVID-19 since the pandemic began in Maine. The Maine CDC has released information about the two people who allegedly died without correlating their ages, genders and provinces of residence; they were a man and a woman from Oxford County and Waldo County, one in their 60s and the other in their 70s.

The seven-day average of new daily cases fell to 138.4, well below the high of 625.3 in mid-January and significantly lower than the average of last weekend, which hovered around 190. – the percentage of COVID-19 tests is positive – has dropped to 1.2 percent, according to a tweet by dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC.

A low positivity rate is a good sign because it means that most cases are detected, which gives the health workers a better chance to use quarantine and isolation strategies to limit the virus. The 1.2 percent is less than half the positive rate of 2.7 percent two weeks ago, far from the peak of about 6 percent in late December and early January.

In the summer and early fall, positivity rates in Maine were regularly below 1 percent, often closer to 0.5 percent.

But unlike last summer, there is also a vaccination program to reduce the transmission of the virus.

The wide winter weather has caused delays in the delivery of about 6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the White House said last week. However, the delay was spread across all 50 states, and Maine officials said Friday they were prepared.

In anticipation of a winter storm, Maine CDC officials arranged for the vaccine doses to be shipped this past Monday before snow and sleet hit the roads, according to Robert Long, spokesman. Only a small number of doses have been delayed as a result, Long said.

As of Saturday morning, 196,581 Mainers had received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 90,749 their second dose. According to Maine CDC statistics, 14.62 percent of Maine’s 1.3 million residents received their first dose.

Biden’s administration is expected to drive shipments of vaccine doses to states in the coming weeks, and some experts predict a doubling of weekly doses by the end of March. For the week of February 22, Maine is expected to receive 27,740 doses, an increase of 14 percent over the previous week. In addition, a retail pharmacy program run by the federal government could double the 4,300 doses per week and add another retail pharmacy partner next week. Currently, Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies in Maine allow 70-year-olds to age to discuss vaccinations.

Northern Light Health announced on Thursday that a mass vaccination center at the Portland Expo – which is currently also planned for the age group of 70 and older – will open on March 2 and will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Sagadahoc County leads Maine with the most vaccinations per capita, with 17.53 percent of residents receiving a first dose. Nearby are Cumberland County, with 17.25 percent, and Aroostook County with 15.99 percent.

Somerset County is behind, with only 9.5 percent receiving their first dose.

Land for county as of Saturday, there were 4,684 coronavirus cases in Androscoggin, 1,254 in Aroostook, 12,197 in Cumberland, 880 in Franklin, 871 in Hancock, 3,377 in Kennebec, 620 in Knox, 563 in Lincoln, 2,152 in Oxford. , 3,759 in Penobscot, 244 in Piscataquis, 865 in Sagadahoc, 1,229 in Somerset, 572 in Waldo, 698 in Washington, and 9,240 in York.

By age, 15.2 percent of patients were younger than 20, while 18.1 percent were in their twenties, 14.4 percent in their thirties, 13.1 percent were in their 40s, 15.3 percent were in their 50s, 11.7 percent were in their 60s, 6.6 percent were in their 70s, and 5.6 percent were 80 or older.

Of the 75 patients who had COVID-19 in Maine hospitals Saturday, 24 were in intensive care and six in ventilators. The state has 108 beds available for intensive care units, of which a total of 390 and 253 ventilators out of 319 are available. There were also 446 alternative fans.

According to Johns Hopkins University, there were 110.9 million cases of COVID-19 on Saturday night and more than 2.4 million deaths worldwide. The United States had 28 million cases and 497,345 deaths.

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