42 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Maine – Bangor Daily News

Another 42 coronavirus cases have been reported in Maine, health officials said Monday.

Mondays report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 4,903. Of those, 4,401 have been confirmed positive, while 502 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency revised Sundays cumulative total to 4,861 down from 4,863, meaning there was an increase of 40 over the previous days report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the states cumulative total.

New cases were reported in Androscoggin (11), Aroostook (1), Cumberland (5), Hancock (1), Lincoln (1), Oxford (1), Somerset (11) and York (10) counties, state data show.

No new deaths were reported Monday, leaving the statewide death toll at 136. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

The recent surge in coronavirus cases since an Aug. 7 wedding and reception in the Millinocket area has pushed the seven-day average above 30 for the first time since July 3. That surge has been largely concentrated in York County, where about 40 percent of new virus cases since mid-August have been reported. In the past few weeks, York County has seen six outbreaks, including four in Sanford.

The growth in infections in York County has led the University of Maine System to expand testing of students at campuses and facilities in and near the county. That increased testing, announced Monday, will happen among students and employees at the University of Southern Maine, with campuses in Portland and Gorham; the University of Maine School of Law in Portland; the University of Maine at Augustas center in Saco; and a University of Maine Cooperative Extension office in Springvale, a part of Sanford. Among other groups, the testing will cover all students who live in residence halls at USMs Gorham campus, York County residents who study and work at the law school, and randomly selected groups at the locations.

On Sunday, Saint Josephs College in Standish told students to study in place for at least the next two weeks as the school deals with an outbreak that has infected nine students. The colleges president, Jim Dlugos, said in a message to the campus community that the outbreak isnt widespread and that the infected students belonged to the same connected group.

A coronavirus case also was reported at a Catholic elementary school in Lewiston. Saint Dominic Academy, which serves prekindergarten through fifth-grade students, closed Monday and any students who came into contact with the child will quarantine, a spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese said. No cases have been reported at Saint Dominics high school in Auburn.

So far, 431 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, nine people are currently hospitalized, with five in critical care and three on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 11 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 4,237. That means there are 530 active confirmed and probable cases in the state, which is up from 501 on Sunday.

A majority of the cases 2,806 have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Monday, there have been 336,385 negative test results out of 343,270 overall. Just under 1.8 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.

The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 2,256 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths 70 have been concentrated. It is one of four counties the others are Androscoggin, Penobscot and York, with 652, 251 and 997 cases, respectively where community transmission has been confirmed, according to the Maine CDC.

There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 confirmed cases and that at least 25 percent of those are not connected to either known cases or travel. That second condition has not yet been satisfied in other counties.

Other cases have been reported in Aroostook (41), Franklin (54), Hancock (53), Kennebec (200), Knox (33), Lincoln (39), Oxford (84), Piscataquis (8), Sagadahoc (62), Somerset (85), Waldo (73) and Washington (15) counties.

As of Monday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 6,521,887 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 194,107 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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42 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Maine - Bangor Daily News