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Maine coronavirus, COVID-19 updates Jan. 30 - Feb. 7

Find daily updates on the Maine coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and vaccine distribution as we work together to separate facts from fear. Sunday, February 7, 2021

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MAINE, USA — KEY MAINE CORONAVIRUS FACTS

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7

The Maine CDC reported one additional death of a person with COVID-19, bringing the state death toll to 635. The additional death was a woman in her 70s from York County.

The Maine CDC reported 154 additional COVID-19 cases.

Of the 41,218 total COVID-19 cases in Maine, 33,022 were confirmed by tests and 8,196 are probable.

 12,526 Mainers have completed COVID-19 isolation.

  • Total currently hospitalized = 123
  • In critical care = 35
  • On a ventilator = 17
  • Available critical care beds = 152
  • Total critical care beds = 395
  • Available ventilators = 231
  • Total ventilators = 321
  • Alternative ventilators = 443

Cumulatively across Maine, 191,813 vaccine doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 140,184 have been first doses and 51,629 have been second doses.

The Maine CDC's next state coronavirus update is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Credit: NCM

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6

The Maine CDC reported two additional deaths of people with COVID-19. The state death toll now stands at 634.

The additional deaths reported Saturday include one resident of York County and one resident of Penobscot County. One was a man and one was a woman. Both of the people who died were age 80 or older.

The Maine CDC reported 265 additional cases of COVID-19.

Of the 41,064 total COVID-19 cases in Maine, 32,901 were confirmed by tests and 8,163 are probable.

12,521 Mainers have completed COVID-19 isolation.

Cumulatively across Maine, 176,961 vaccine doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 130,551 have been first doses and 46,410 have been second doses.

  • Total currently hospitalized = 132
  • In critical care = 40
  • On a ventilator = 21
  • Available critical care beds = 102
  • Total critical care beds = 369
  • Available ventilators = 228
  • Total ventilators = 321
  • Alternative ventilators = 443

The Maine CDC is scheduled to provide a state coronavirus update at 2 p.m. Tuesday. NEWS CENTER Maine will broadcast the update live on air, as well as stream it on our website, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and mobile app.

Credit: NCM

Thursday coronavirus Briefing

Dr. Nirav Shah

The three additional deaths reported Thursday include: one resident of Kennebec County, one resident of Washington County, and one resident of York County. Two were women, and one was a man. One person was in their 70s, and two were in their 80s and older. 

Currently, there are 145 Mainers hospitalized with COVID-19; 46 are in the intensive care unit, and 22 are on a ventilator. 

Shah notes four notable outbreak investigations:

  • Glenridge rehabilitation and long term care facility in Augusta–10 cases
  • Harbor Hill Center in Belfast–four cases
  • Home Hope & Healing–eight cases
  • Schooner Memory Care Center in Auburn–five cases

At the Oxford Street Shelter, where the Maine CDC has been working on an open outbreak investigation, there are 32 cases–24 are among shelter guests and eight are among staff members. The Maine CDC is working on conducting a second round of universal PRC testing at the shelter. 

Shah says the seven-day PCR testing positivity rate has now dipped below 3 percent, standing at 2.95 percent with a testing volume of 701 tests per 100,000 people. 

The antigen testing positivity rate has seen a similar decline, Shah says, which now stands at 4.86 percent with a volume of 140 antigen tests per 100,000 people. 

  • Total Maine vaccinations: 167,111
  • 1st dose vaccinations: 123,683
  • Percentage of Maine population to receive first dose: 9.2%
  • 2nd dose vaccinations: 43,428
  • Percentage of Maine population to receive second dose: 3.23%

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced today that the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) is preparing to place another order for first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, for 21,475 people, to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Operation Warp Speed. This is an increase of 5 percent, or 1,100 doses, over the current week’s amount and is expected to remain the same for the next three weeks.  

RELATED: Maine expects 5% increase in COVID-19 vaccine doses for week 9 of distribution

 Gov. Janet Mills

Mills said the improving metrics Shah discussed is a good sign, and an indication that Maine has rounded the corner on the post-holiday surge of COVID-19. 

"The news is good, but of course this pandemic is far from over," Mills said. 

Mills stressed the importance of continued public health practices like wearing masks and social distancing while the vaccination process continues. 

Ahead of the Super Bowl this Sunday, Mills—like other health officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci have urged in recent days—is urging Mainers to not forget the present dangers of COVID-19 while gathering to watch the big game. 

"COVID-19 is not taking Super Bowl Sunday off," she warned. 

RELATED: Fauci, CDC encourages Americans to watch Super Bowl at home with household

Mills says last week she got a surprise call from Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, inviting her to identify four health care workers from Maine who would enjoy an all-expenses-paid round trip to the Super Bowl on the Patriots' jet. 

"This was really exciting, exciting news," Mills said. "We are so grateful for the generosity of the New England Patriots and the Kraft family."

One of the conditions was that the health care workers were fully vaccinated. They will attend the game Sunday in Tampa Bay. The four workers chosen are:

  • Joe Looper, Emergency Department Nurse at Mercy Hospital
  • Cathy Bean, Manager of Clinical and Community Health Services Northern Light Home Care & Hospice
  • Lisa Ireland, Registered Nurse at RiverRidge Center
  • Patrick Keaney, Pulmonary Physician at Mid Coast Hospital

Mills said it is frontline health care workers like these who we should think about before deciding to have a Super Bowl party Sunday night.

RELATED: Four Maine health care workers flying to Super Bowl LV on Patriots plane

Shah says he shares the governor's concern about Super Bowl Sunday. 

"There is a concern that Super Bowl events could turn into transmission events of any sort," Shah said. 

Shah said no matter what the venue is—at home with friends, at a bar or restaurant—the same safety measures still apply. Shah says staying home and gathering with friends virtually is "by far the safer way to go."

Maine DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew noted that while it's too early to say we have definitively turned a corner on the pandemic, we are close to saying 1 in 10 Maine residents have had their first dose of the vaccine, and over 20 percent Mainers aged 70 and older have had their first doses. Lambrew says Maine ranks sixth in the country for the population that has received their second dose. 

Credit: NCM

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3

The Maine CDC reported 10 additional deaths of people with COVID-19:

  • One resident of Cumberland County
  • One resident of Franklin County
  • One resident of Hancock County
  • One resident of Kennebec County
  • Three residents of Penobscot County
  • Three residents of York County

The Maine CDC says six of the people who died were women, while four were men. Two were between 60 and 69 years old, three were between 70 and 79 years old, and five were 80 or older. Eight of the 10 additional reported deaths today were confirmed through a review of vital records. One death of an Androscoggin County resident previously identified as COVID-related was determined not to be COVID-related, as the individual had met criteria for recovery before dying. The case information on the Maine CDC data page has been updated to reflect that change.

The state death toll stands at 627 deaths.

The Maine CDC reported 273 additional COVID-19 cases in the state.

Of the 40,233 total COVID-19 cases in Maine, 32,315 were confirmed by tests and 7,918 are probable.

12,467 Mainers have completed COVID-19 isolation.

There are currently 158 Mainers in the hospital due to COVID-19, 49 of whom are in critical care, and 23 of whom are on a ventilator. 

A total of 161,655 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered:

  • First doses—120,027 (8.93%)
  • Second doses—41,628 (3.1%)

The Maine CDC's next state coronavirus update is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Credit: NCM

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2

The Maine CDC reported 23 additional deaths of people with COVID-19. This does not necessarily mean all 23 these deaths occurred on Monday. 

The Maine CDC says 21 of the additional deaths reported Tuesday occurred between Dec. 21, 2020, and Jan. 26, 2021, which were confirmed through a review of vital records filed in the past two weeks. Shah says 19 of those 21 deaths occurred from Jan. 13 onward. 

The 23 additional deaths include:

  • Four residents of Aroostook County
  • Four residents of Cumberland County
  • Two residents of Kennebec County
  • Five residents of Oxford County
  • Four residents of Penobscot County
  • One resident of Somerset County
  • Three residents of York County

Seven of the people who died were women, while 16 were men. Two were between 50 and 59 years old, two were between 60 and 69 years old, eight were between 70 and 79 years old, and 11 were 80 or older.

The state death toll stands at 618.

The Maine CDC reported 417 additional COVID-19 cases Tuesday. Of the 39,960 total COVID-19 cases in Maine, 32,118 were confirmed by tests and 7,842 are probable.

12,440 Mainers have completed COVID-19 isolation.

There are currently 157 people hospitalized in Maine with COVID-19; 48 of whom are in critical care, and 24 of whom are on a ventilator. 

Cumulatively across Maine, 158,071 vaccine doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 117,613 have been first doses and 40,458 have been second doses.

Credit: NCM

Tuesday Coronavirus Briefing

The is one new notable outbreak Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah talked about during the briefing: Bolster Heights Health Care, a residential care facility in Auburn, where there are three cases of COVID-19 among staff members. 

At the Oxford Street Shelter, there are currently 21 cases associated with the outbreak; five among staff, 16 among clients. 

With both of these outbreaks, Shah says the Maine CDC is working with the operators to focus on universal testing, and specifically for the shelter, with quarantine and safe-isolation for their clients. 

The seven-day PCR test positivity rate stands at 3.05 percent, a significant reduction, Shah says, from where we were just one incubation period ago. Shah says some part of that reduction is due to the testing volume, which remains robust at 722 tests per 100,000 people. 

The seven-day antigen test positivity rate stands at 4.93 percent. Shah notes this is the first time the antigen test positivity rate has been below 5 percent "in quite some time." The antigen testing volume has remained relatively steady, at 159 tests per 100,000 people. 

Overall in Maine, there have now been 158,071 total vaccine shots in arms. Of those, 117,613 were first doses, and 40,458 were second doses. As a result, just over 3 percent of people In Maine have now received both doses of the vaccine. 

Shah says the Maine CDC heard from logistics efforts that are working on vaccine delivery that all shipments of vaccine doses that were due to arrive in Maine this week are out for delivery. 

Shah says they have asked Operation Warp Speed what happens if a shipment is delayed due to weather, and Shah says the good news is that the vaccine can subsist in the shipping container for 72 hours without encountering any temperature concerns. So even if those boxes are not fully delivered today or tomorrow because of the storm, the vaccines will not have been compromised.

As a result of the weather, some vaccination clinics were postponed. The Maine CDC is working with those sites to ensure that those vaccinations can resume as quickly as possible with the supply that they are hopefully going to be receiving today and possibly tomorrow. 

After taking questions from members of local media, Shah ended on this note: While there are some positive trends—like lower positivity rates, lower hospitalizations, and lower overall new daily cases—there are still concerns on the horizon surrounding new variants, and the possibility that what we are seeing right now is just the ending phases of a holiday surge. 

"All of those things suggest that those steps we've been taking since day one, are things we need to keep up," Shah said. "Now is not the time for us to let our guards down."

"Right now we're in a race to see if we can out-vaccinate the virus," he said. 

He explained that if we can keep the vaccination rate as high as they have been, we have a shot at outrunning the virus, but if these new variants come into the picture, that could be something that delays our progress. 

Watch the full briefing here:

MONDAY, FEB. 1

The Maine CDC reported five additional deaths of people with COVID-19. The state death toll stands at 595 deaths.

The Maine CDC reported 219 additional cases of COVID-19.

Of the 39,543 total COVID-19 cases in Maine, 31,853 were confirmed by tests and 7,690 are probable.

12,422 Mainers have completed COVID-19 isolation.

There are currently 164 people hospitalized in Maine with COVID-19. Of those, 51 are in critical care and 28 are on a ventilator. 

Cumulatively across Maine, 153,981 vaccine doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 115,087 have been first doses and 38,894 have been second doses.

The next Maine CDC coronavirus update is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Credit: NCM

SUNDAY, JAN. 31

The Maine CDC reported no additional deaths of Mainers with COVID-19. The state death toll stands at 590 deaths.

Of the 39,324 total COVID-19 cases in Maine, 31,689 were confirmed by tests and 7,635 are probable.

12,409 Mainers have completed COVID-19 isolation.

Cumulatively across Maine, 151,323 vaccine doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 112,916 have been first doses and 38,407 have been second doses.

The Maine CDC's next state coronavirus update is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

SATURDAY, JAN. 30

The Maine CDC reported 20 additional deaths of people with COVID-19. The state death toll stands at 590 deaths.

Of the 39,168 total COVID-19 cases in Maine, 31,567 were confirmed by tests and 7,601 are probable.

12,398 Mainers have completed COVID-19 isolation.

Cumulatively across Maine, 145,356 vaccine doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 108,519 have been first doses and 36,837 have been second doses.

The Maine CDC's next state coronavirus update is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Extended data from Maine CDC:

The 20 additional deaths reported today include two residents of Androscoggin County, four residents of Aroostook County, three residents of Cumberland County, one resident of Kennebec County, one resident of Oxford County, five residents of Penobscot County, one resident of Washington County, and three residents of York County. Fifteen of the people who died were women, while five were men. Two were between 50 and 59 years old, one was between 60 and 69 years old, four were between 70 and 79 years old, and 13 were 80 or older. The additional reported deaths today reflect a review of vital records filed in the past two week, primarily involving deaths that occurred between Jan. 10 and Jan. 23, 2021.

  • Seven-day PCR positivity rate = 3.53
  • PCR testing volume = 709 per 100,000

Updated COVID-19 vaccination information is available here:

https://www.maine.gov/covid19/vaccines/dashboard 

  • Total currently hospitalized = 161
  • In critical care = 51
  • On a ventilator = 27
  • Available critical care beds = 93
  • Total critical care beds = 391
  • Available ventilators = 228
  • Total ventilators = 320
  • Alternative ventilators = 443

MAINE COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS WEEKLY UPDATES

MAINE COVID CORONAVIRUS DATA

NEWS CENTER MAINE COVID STORY PLAYLIST

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