COVID-19 cases on the rise in nearly 2 dozen states. "We won't have transmission when people are outdoors. Maine Reinstates Coronavirus Restrictions Amid Rising Cases Shots are still going into arms with more than 3,000 doses administered between Monday and Tuesday of this week, according to Maine CDC data. "The situation here in New Hampshire remains very serious, the data shows that community transmission is increasing, and we expect cases to rise," Sununu said. Maine is also reducing indoor capacity limits from 100 to 50, Mills said. Bonnie Washuk, Portland Press Herald, Maine. "I always get worried when cases go up but we should be okay.". The town of South Thomaston said Wednesday it would pay $200 to residents or others who frequent the town for getting vaccinated. Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. Residents were advised to continue remote work if able, were prohibited to gather in groups of more than 10 people, and were subject to 14 day quarantines upon entry into the state. Waldo County remains in the high transmission category, where mask wearing also is recommended. [84], Students of Bates College were asked to leave campus on March 14, 2020, and the college transitioned to remote work models on March 17, 2020. Covid cases Waldo Countys current seven-day case rate is 199 cases per 100,000 people. Covid-19 Cases Rise in Maine Amid Variants, More Travel Mills announced a plan to gradually restart Maine's economy. [58][59] The committee consists of thirty-seven members, and is co-chaired by Laurie Lachance, President of Thomas College and former Maine State Economist, and Josh Broder, the CEO of Tilson. "As we go into the winter months with the challenge of a respiratory infection being worse in the winter months, we can get through this if we really put a lot of effort into getting as many people vaccinated as we possibly can," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said in an interview with NPR, this week. But why are the cases rising in the second wave so fast? COVID cases In Portland, the proposed $261 million budget includes a 6.1% tax increase. There are pros and cons and no final decisions have been made on that.. Since the onset of the pandemic, LifeFlight of Maine, which provides critical care transport across the state, has not seen a decline in the steady stream of patients in need of urgent care. Why COVID is a threat despite shrunken waves | The Star Boston, which never lifted its school mask mandate, is now encouraging people to wear masks in indoor public places. I think undoubtedly the removal of the mask mandate for public transportation and in flights is contributing to the current surge, said Amy Barczak, an infectious disease specialist at MGH and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard. Why experts say COVID threat looms with winter - ABC News Thank you! You will receive an email to complete the registration. Mokdad compared Maine and Florida using data from the institute, which projects COVID-19 cases around the country. On April 10, Gov. The rolling average of daily cases more than doubled from below 30 per day to more than 67 by Friday. There were no new deaths, I'm concerned about yet another surge beginning after Thanksgiving (just like last year). Maine recorded a record 789 new Covid-19 cases in the state on Thursday; a testing site in Auburn, Maine. The first Omicron wave has left us numb to the continuing presence of the virus. (Maine CDC) By WABI News Desk. [111], Northern Maine Community College (NMCC) discontinued face-to-face classroom instruction on March 18, 2020, and also canceled their spring 2020 commencement ceremony. WebIn the state-specific view of the graph, this two-week period is highlighted in orange if cases are trending upward, or green if they are trending down. Five counties, Aroostook, Piscataquis, Penobscot, Washington and Hancock are now are in the yellow, or moderate risk, category, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In order to avoid confusion, Stewart said the theater is planning to stick with a masked audience as long as transmission levels remain elevated in Cumberland County and until it is clear the county is back in a sustained period of low transmission. Dr. Rivers is paying attention to another new subvariant, XBB.1.9.1, which makes up about 8 percent of U.S. infections right now. [16], On March 15, 2020, Governor Janet Mills declared a civil state of emergency which allows the governor to establish emergency reserves of products, allows the state to access federal funding to combat the outbreak, and allows for suspension of certain laws. You can try, How to get the most out of your mask in a mask-optional world. Thats up from a seven-day average of 12,434 one month ago, according to data from the New York Times. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. [18], On March 24, 2020, Governor Mills ordered all non-essential businesses to close their physical locations and cease in-person contact and urged all essential businesses to limit the number of individuals in stores at any given time. We're continuing to say the hospitals are full to capacity," Thomas Judge, executive director of LifeFlight of Maine, told ABC News. [123], Boardings at the Portland International Jetport dropped by 70 percent compared to the prior year for the week ending March 21.[116]. On Monday, Maine Center for Disease Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah said on the Maine Public radio program Maine Calling that Maines low population levels make the state particularly susceptible to fluctuations in the U.S. CDC risk levels and that his agency would be researching whether a different approach would be a better fit for Maine to determine high-risk areas. 2,146 new doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered Tuesday. Covid Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. More Mainers encouraged to wear masks indoors as COVID-19 transmission rates rise, requiring vaccines for on-campus students, Caribou man killed in wrong-way turnpike crash in Kittery, Victor Grange in Fairfield receives visitors at open house, Waterville man arrested after threat to MaineGenerals Thayer Center for Health causes lockdown, One injured after car crashes into Vassalboro home, bursts into flames, Towns challenge new Maine law meant to ease housing crisis. [52] The plan had four stages, with stage one slated to begin on May 1. [118] The Authority announced that drivers uncomfortable with handing cash to a toll collector would not be penalized for using the EZ Pass only lanes and paying tolls online or by mail. The U.S. reported 112,270 new Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah noted those numbers might increase on Wednesday, saying that certain situations where more Passengers using walkers and wheelchairs were allowed to board from the front of the bus. The new restrictions take effect Wednesday. The U.S. reported 112,270 new cases Thursday, bringing the seven-day average of daily new cases to 96,036. [90] On March 13, 2020, Husson University announced that it would move the majority of classes to online formats, with some exceptions for graduate and professional school courses, and on March 20, 2020, the university announced that it would postpone its commencement ceremonies. COVID hospitalizations and deaths also tend to lag other increases, since it takes time for patients who become infected to get sick enough to require hospital treatment, and many people will experience only mild or moderate symptoms. 16As the BA.2 omicron subvariant of COVID-19 drives up infections in the Northeast, Maine reported 437 new cases on Saturday. In this file photo taken on Nov. 05, 2021, a 7 year-old child receives their first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at the Beaumont Health offices in Southfield, Mich. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. [80] Colby College announced that all on-campus classes would end the week of March 12, 2020 and students would move off campus. A total 17 were in critical care units and three on ventilators. Covid variant 'Arcturus' is spreading: What to know about XBB.1.16 All rights reserved. 10,112 fresh Covid cases in India. Even if the Maine CDC adopted a different system, however, it would still likely be based on the U.S. CDCs assessments, data and risk calibrations, Shah said. "There are a number of states where these increases have persisted for two or more weeks, and that's usually the metric we look for to say a trend is happening. The test positivity rate is The number of COVID-19 infections in Maine has jumped 35 percent since July 1 as the delta variant has swept across every corner of Maine, leading to record numbers Malaysian students may have to mask up in school again as Covid case rise. Eight counties are listed as having substantial or high transmission rates and the city of Portland is recommending that everyone wears a mask indoors regardless of vaccination status. Just because of these challenging beds, and we're taking patients much further than we would normally take them which you can imagine," Judge added. This decrease was due almost exclusively to declines in passenger cars using the road, as commercial traffic only declined 1 percent. The state had been slated to reopen bars Monday, but that has been postponed to a yet-to-be-determined date, said Mills, a Democrat. Coronavirus: Malaysia may reintroduce mask mandate at schools However, the U.S. appears to be once again at an inflection point, with cold weather setting in across much of the North, COVID-19 restrictions relaxed and gatherings growing more frequent. [1][2], As of February2, 2021[update], it was reported that Maine has administered 2,492,316 COVID-19 vaccine doses, and has fully vaccinated 977,759 people, equivalent to 76.35% of the population.[3]. This comes after the Maine CDC reported a spike of over a hundred new cases yesterday. ", Vermont sees record surge in COVID-19 infections. Mills on July 8, issued an Executive Order requiring large businesses, including retail establishments in Maine to enforce the State's face covering requirement. There are 54 critical care beds available in the state. Deaths Near 100,000, An Incalculable Loss, Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=COVID-19_pandemic_in_Maine&oldid=1142564384, COVID-19 pandemic in the United States by state, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from February 2021, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from December 2020, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Updated April 25, 2023, with data from the previous day, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 03:48.