AUGUSTA, Maine — *EDITORIAL NOTE: The video above was created on 03-17-2022
The number of people hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 in Maine dropped below 100 on Saturday.
The Portland Press Herald reports that the last time there were fewer than 100 people hospitalized with the virus in Maine was on Aug. 21, when there were 88.
There were 94 people in Maine hospitals with COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That's down from 107 patients on Friday and 111 on Thursday. The number peaked in January, at 436 patients.
Of those hospitalized Saturday, 19 were in intensive care and seven on ventilators.
The state also reported that three more people died of COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 2,182. And 159 new cases were diagnosed, bringing the state’s total to 233,696 cases.
Along with reduced COVID-19 hospitalizations, the state is experiencing fewer school outbreaks and reduced virus levels in wastewater.
Maine is one of the most vaccinated states in the nation for COVID-19. About three-quarters of the state’s total population is vaccinated against the disease. For people age 50 and older, the percentage is about 90 percent.
There is still a high risk of transmission in Aroostook and Washington counties.