BAR HARBOR, Maine — After months of no new COVID-19 cases, Mount Desert Island Hospital reported three last week.
To date, the hospital has received positive results from five people not from Hancock County. Some are from other parts of the state and the others are from out of state visitors
MDI Hospital President & CEO Arthur Blank said the hospital received calls from out of state travelers who received positive results and asked for guidance. Which meant they came to Maine before they got their results, and didn't quarantine.
“Then they receive a phone call or a message and, oh gee, they’re positive," Blank said. "There is still no evidence of community spread.”
No community spread is a good thing for the local hospital, and the community.
Blank added with schools getting ready for the fall and with businesses struggling to turn a profit, it's important for those visiting the island to wear masks.
“There is no single thing that people can do that has a greater potential to mitigate the spread of this disease," he said.
Bar Harbor is a vacation town, there's no denying businesses depend on the summer season to generate revenue for the whole year. A slow start to the season left the town in an unprecedented predicament as stores were down up to 80 percent of business from last year.
An outbreak of COVID-19 in the community is a concern for local business owners.
Tim Rich owns The Independent Cafe and said business on the island picked up after the Fourth of July. But if an employee or customer at his shop tested positive for COVID, the influx of more people wouldn't help business.
“We would shut down immediately, and it's just where we are in the world right now. Nobody wants to spread this, we want to keep out communities and our state safe," Rich added.
The Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Nirav Shah addressed the incident on MDI.
“If you are coming to Maine before you’ve got your negative test result in hand you should absolutely be quarantining before that result comes in," Shah said in his Tuesday briefing.
“That does not mean limiting your contact when you go out to eat, it means not going out to eat.”
Rich added business owners, locals, and Bar Harbor visitors have been great about wearing masks. Most stores don't let you inside without one. He added as more restaurants maximize outdoor seating, crowds are forming more on the streets.
“I would like to encourage you to maintain social distance and take this very seriously," he added.
Taking the pandemic seriously has helped Bar Harbor thus far, but if more visitors enter Maine without a negative test, the already struggling business industry could take another tragic hit.