The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 23 new deaths among individuals with COVID-19 on Tuesday, as well as 417 additional cases of the viral disease.
As Maine enters the 11th month of the global pandemic, the state is experiencing a downward trend in new cases reported daily compared to a month ago, although new infections are still exponentially higher than during the summer. However, Tuesday’s 23 deaths were one of the largest totals reported to date.
Not all of those deaths occurred in the preceding days. As was the case on other abnormally high death toll days for Maine, the vast majority of deaths reported Tuesday – 21 of 23 – occurred in the past few weeks, but were associated with COVID-19 by the Maine CDC staff during a vital data assessment.
Yet more than 65 percent of the 618 deaths in Maine have occurred since Thanksgiving, and more than 85 percent of those who died after contracting COVID in Maine were 70 or older.
The seven-day moving average of new cases was 323 on Tuesday, down from 493 daily cases for the week ending January 25. Maine’s highest seven-day average of 626 cases occurred on Jan. 15 at a time when the state was experiencing a string. days with more than 800 cases, according to numbers from the Maine CDC.
To date, there have been a total of 39,960 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 since March, 70 percent of them since December 1.
Meanwhile, vaccinations against COVID-19 continue to increase, albeit at a slower rate than desired due to a national shortage of doses. Tuesday’s snowstorm also led to the cancellation of many vaccination clinics in the state.
As of Tuesday morning, health care providers had administered 117,613 first doses to individuals in Maine, as well as 40,458 second doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. That means 8.7 percent of the state’s population has received a first dose and 3 percent a second dose. Tuesday’s totals were 4,090 shots more than the total 153,981 shots (both first and second dose) reported by Maine CDC on Monday. The highest number of shots delivered in one day was 8,827 last Thursday.
Registered nurse Jess Addy (right) administered a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to Connie Winship, 72, of Waterville last week at a clinic set up by Northern Light Inland Hospital at Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield . Photo of Northern Light Inland Hospital
The current phase of the vaccination campaign is largely aimed at Mainers aged 70 or older because of the disproportionate risks the virus poses to older individuals – a population of more than 190,000 in Maine, the country’s oldest state. Officials next expect to extend vaccine eligibility to Mainers between the ages of 65 and 69, as well as adults of all ages with chronic medical conditions that put them at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
The first phase of vaccinations, nearing completion, focused on the vaccination of healthcare professionals, public safety workers, those involved in the COVID-19 response, as well as residents and staff of nursing homes or other institutions for long-term care.
Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, will conduct a virtual briefing on the situation of COVID-19 at 2:00 PM.
This story is being updated.
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