The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 24 additional deaths of individuals with COVID-19 Thursday, a big jump that government officials attributed to a review of death records in the past month.
But the Maine CDC also reported 217 new cases of COVID-19 in the state, which is the third time in two weeks that the number of new infections in one day exceeded 200.
In the past two days, the Maine CDC has reported a total of 41 deaths related to COVID-19. However, only two of those deaths occurred in recent days. The rest took place in the past month, but was identified by Maine CDC staff as a link to COVID-19 during periodic reviews of death certificates filed with the state’s Department of Data, Research, and Essential Statistics.
Still, the 41 additional deaths underscore the toll COVID-19 continues to take on Maine residents – especially those 70 or older – even as new infections and hospitalizations are declining and vaccine stockpiles increase.
Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, is expected to hold a briefing today at 2 p.m.
A sign thanking people for getting their vaccinations will hang in the vaccination clinic at St Christopher’s Church in York on Wednesday, February 24. Photo of the staff by Shawn Patrick Ouellette
While the number of new infections varies considerably from day to day, ranging from 97 to 218 cases in the past week, the total number of cases in Maine was down after the late fall and early winter rise. The seven-day average was 150 on Thursday, slightly higher than the average of 148 cases per day for the week ending February 18, but more than four times lower than the peak average of 625 reported on January 15.
To date, the Maine CDC has reported a total of 44,117 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 since the coronavirus was first discovered in Maine last March. The 24 additional deaths reported Thursday increase the statewide total to 701.
The rate of vaccinations also continues to increase in Maine as more doses from the federal government enter the state and older Mainers are given additional options for receiving injections.
As of Thursday morning, health care providers had administered a total of 316,462 vaccination shots in Maine. That figure includes 211,451 first doses and 105,011 second doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, both of which require two injections to achieve full inoculation.
Just under 16 percent of the population of about 1.3 million people in Maine received at least one dose of vaccine Thursday, while 7.8 percent received both injections. The current phase of the vaccination campaign in Maine is targeting individuals 70 years of age or older, although eligibility could be extended as early as next week to those in the 65-69 year-old group.
Maine ranked 15th among the states and the District of Columbia on Thursday in terms of the percentage of the population who had received at least one injection, according to a Bloomberg tracking.
Still, there are significant geographic differences in vaccinations because of the way vaccine doses are assigned and the pace at which health care providers administer those injections. The greatest inequality is in York County, which ranks in the bottom one-third of the counties in terms of vaccination coverage, despite being the state’s second most populous county and having the highest COVID-19 infection rates per capita.
About 59 percent of Maine’s 193,000 residents who are 70 years of age or older had received at least one dose as of Thursday morning, while 16 percent had received both doses. Maine is the oldest state in the country, and more than 85 percent of the COVID-19 deaths reported in Maine to date have occurred in individuals in that age group 70 and older, although they account for only 12 percent of the cases.
Statewide Thursday, 67 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized Thursday, compared to 74 the day before. 22 people were treated in intensive care units, compared to the 25 reported Wednesday, and eight people were connected to ventilators.
This story is being updated.
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