BOSTON — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say all the counties in the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts are the sites of high or substantial transmission of the coronavirus.
The rise of transmission in the two states mirrors a regional and national trend.
Some health authorities are recommending that even vaccinated people go back to wearing masks indoors in areas of high or substantial transmission. That includes almost all of New England.
The CDC reported on Sunday that every county in the region was the site of high or substantial transmission except Orange County, Vermont, and Kennebec County, Maine.
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Portland is going to require all municipal employees to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
The plan goes into effect on Sept. 10 for all of Portland’s non-union workers. A date for union employees is subject to bargaining.
The decisions from the city come as Maine is grappling with a surge in COVID-19 cases. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Maine has risen over the past two weeks from 79.71 new cases per day on July 30 to 202.83 new cases per day on Aug. 13.
The number of daily deaths has stayed steady. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Maine stayed the same over the past two weeks, remaining at 0.43 deaths per day.
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