State health officials reported 203 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, continuing a modest but never-less-worrying upward trend in recent weeks.
No additional deaths were reported, but it was the third time in the past six days that the cases had eclipsed 200.
The state initially reported a much lower daily total, which turned out to be incomplete because of a data transmission problem, said a spokesperson for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The average daily seven-day cases increased to 193, compared with 170 two weeks ago and 142 this month last month. The cases peaked at an average of more than 600 a day in mid-January, after a post-holiday peak, and then dropped continuously for weeks before stabilizing.
Younger people are responsible for an increasing number of cases in Maine. People in their 20s represent the highest percentage of positive cases, 18.1 percent, closely followed by those under 20, 15.7 percent of all cases. Maine residents over 70 represent only 11.7% of cases, but account for 619, or 85%, of all deaths.
Melanie Gordon signals a person waiting in line to approach his station at the Promerica COVID-19 test site at Portland International Jetport on Tuesday. Gregory Rec / Team photographer
There have already been 47,591 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 and 725 deaths since the pandemic struck Maine just over a year ago. In the United States, there have been nearly 30 million cases and more than 535,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Both totals exceed those of any other country.
Hospitalizations, which had been dropping since the peak above 200 in mid-January, began to rise again in Maine. On Wednesday, there were 84 individuals in the hospital with COVID-19, including 25 in intensive care and eight on a ventilator. The total dropped to 62 on March 1, but has been rising steadily ever since. In all, 1,612 people from Maine were hospitalized at some point.
Meanwhile, Maine continues to make progress in vaccinations. On Wednesday morning, the state administered 524,214 vaccines. Of these, 330,123 were the first doses, representing 24.6 percent of the population, and 194,091 individuals, or 14.4 percent, were fully vaccinated. Nearly 77 percent of Mainers over 70 and 43 percent of those aged 60 to 69 took the first dose.
Maine is now taking an average of about 13,500 doses a day and ranks 8th among states in the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, according to a state-by-state tracker from Bloomberg News.
The state continues to prioritize residents over the age of 60, as well as teachers, school staff and daycare staff. Those between the ages of 50 and 59 must become eligible on April 1st and all adults in Mainers will be able to schedule an appointment until May 1st.
Health officials also announced on Tuesday that residents of Maine Department of Corrections facilities over 60 – about 150 inmates – will be eligible for vaccination starting next week. The state had not previously said when prisoners would be vaccinated. Maine’s two largest outbreaks in unique locations occurred in a state prison and a county prison, and more recently, seven inmates and a Maine State Prison official tested positive for the virus.
Additional mass vaccination sites opened this week in Auburn and Dover-Foxcroft, adding to a growing list of options. The state now has more than 200 locations across the state, which includes dozens of retail pharmacies that are offering injections through a partnership with the federal government and are currently targeting teachers.
Maine has received about 45,000 doses of vaccine in each of the past two weeks, which is a reduction from 55,000 doses three weeks ago after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved. Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah said on Tuesday that he expects a similar amount for next week, but in late March or early April, the volume is expected to increase dramatically.
He also said the state is working with vaccinators to see which ones have the capacity to increase staff or keep clinics open for more hours when more doses arrive.
“My message to vaccination sites across Maine is, ‘Let’s drill the well before we are thirsty,'” said Shah.
This story will be updated.
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