Maine reports 571 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily total since late January

Maine health officials on Tuesday reported 571 new cases of COVID-19, the largest single-day total since the tail end of the post-holiday boom in late January.

Two additional deaths were also reported.

It is likely that not all of the cases reported Tuesday were of positive testing in the past 24 hours. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said more tests are coming in than staff can verify and analyze on any given day.

Nevertheless, new cases per day have more than doubled in the past month, mainly driven by younger residents who have not yet been vaccinated against the virus. Of the 571 new cases Tuesday, 297 of them, or 52 percent, were in individuals under the age of 30, while only 33, or 6 percent, were in the age of 60.

The seven-day daily average now stands at 370 cases, up from 214 cases two weeks ago and at 175 this time last month. Since the pandemic began, there have been 54,827 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 and 753 deaths, according to data tracked by the Maine CDC.

Hospitalizations are also increasing to levels not seen in two months. As of Tuesday, there were 96 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine, including 36 in critical care and 13 in a ventilator. The last time many people were in critical care was February 6th.

The increase in cases and hospitalizations comes as Maine vaccinates as many people as possible. This progress received a major setback on Tuesday when the US CDC and the Food and Drug Administration announced that they were recommending a break on Johnson & Johnson vaccines after a small number of women who received the vaccine experienced unusual blood clots. Maine said it would follow the federal recommendation.

Cases are also increasing in other states. The average of seven days in the United States on Monday was just over 69,000 cases, an increase of 28 percent in the past three weeks, but still well below the peak of more than 250,000 daily cases in early January.

Some states are hit harder than others. Cases in New Hampshire increased by 60 percent during that time and cases in Michigan increased by 120 percent.

“Do not declare victory prematurely,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday. ‘We are seeing so much retreat from some of the social measures for health: the mask assignments, the restaurant openings, the bars. We can not do that. We have to wait a little longer until we get enough vaccine in humans to clearly stop any boom. ”

This story will be updated.

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