AUGUSTA, Maine — For the first time since the pandemic hit Maine, the daily statistics from the Maine CDC show the number of active cases of the COVID-19 virus is outnumbered—for one day, at least by the number who have recovered. Dr. Nirav Shah said it is too early to say if that one day number has any significance.
“We are still in the middle even though the number of recovered individuals is rising up 30, we are still very much in the thick of things. We are seeing additional cases and given the small numbers in Maine any one day rise is difficult to interpret."
Dr. Shah said the CDC continues to work on increasing the amount of testing, which is considered one of the key steps to getting businesses to re-open and ease off some of the current restrictions. But he said there are many details to work out before Maine can get a big increase in the amount of testing. That includes having a guaranteed supply of tests and testing chemicals, said Shah. Some of those questions are being worked out, he says, but indicates the CDC doesn’t know when Maine could test significantly more people than it does now.
“And I concur with Dr. Anthony Fauci…that we need to be looking at numbers of doubling or tripling total testing capacity in all sites, not just at Maine CDC but all the testing facilities."
Dr. Shah said they’re still waiting for a new piece of testing equipment to arrive, which will increase their options for coronavirus testing. He also said the CDC is currently debating whether to change its primary testing method to a system with more easily available chemicals, to avoid the shortages that plagued the testing early on.
He said they also would be looking to all the commercial and hospital labs to also provide options for testing to maximize the number of tests that can be done in a short time.
Governor Mills is expected to announce her plan in a few days to begin opening Maine’s economy and reducing some of the current restrictions. Increased testing is likely to be key to that.