Hospitalization continues to surge as Maine reports 614 new cases of COVID-19 and 5 deaths

The number of COVID-19 patients in Maine hospitals, including those in the intensive care unit, reached a record high again on Wednesday as the surge in delta variants continues to strain the state’s medical system.

Maine also reported an additional 614 cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths on Wednesday, resulting in high levels of infection in virtually all Maine counties.

Despite the last surge that occurred before the vaccine became widely available, the ongoing surge is now clearly above the peak of hospitalization last winter. Currently, 65% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, but delta variants are easily spread and find a pool of unvaccinated people at a much higher risk of serious illness.

“One of the causes of cases in Maine is a population of people who have not yet been vaccinated,” Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Disease Control and Prevention Center, said in a media briefing Wednesday.

Hospitalizations have been steadily increasing for several weeks, setting new records every day this week.

Maine broke the previous record of 207 hospitalizations, which was set at the peak of last winter’s surge on Sunday, with 214 hospitalizations on Monday. On Tuesday, records were again obscured, with 225 hospitalized in Maine, 82 of whom received critical care.

Wednesday’s total increased again, with 226 hospitalized, 88 receiving critical care and 40 requiring mechanical ventilation to assist with breathing.

The virus has spread among vaccinated people, but 65 to 75 percent of those who get sick enough to be hospitalized are not vaccinated, Shah said. And he said more than 90 percent of the people in the intensive care unit were unvaccinated. According to Shah, these percentages can change on a weekly basis, but they remain consistent over the long term.

However, one indicator may foresee pandemic mitigation.

The state positive rate, which is the positive rate of the returned test, dropped from 6.06% a week ago to 4.45% on Wednesday.

A lower positive rate indicates that the test has caught most cases of the virus, giving state health care workers a better opportunity to eradicate the outbreak. However, a high positive rate means that the virus is out of control and circulates widely throughout the population. Positive rates of 15 to 20 percent or more have been reported in some countries where the virus is widespread throughout the population, not in Maine.

Shah said in a media briefing Wednesday that it was too early to call the decline in positive rates a trend, but called it a “small optimistic sign.”

“We are beginning to see a slight but perceptible decline in positives every day,” Shah said.

If the pandemic doesn’t improve in the coming weeks or months, Shah said, “It’s people’s lives that are at stake on our path.”

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Maine has recorded 85,156 COVID-19 cases and 1,007 deaths.Maine Tuesday Marked a solemn milestone at the intersection 1,000 people have died since the pandemic reached the state in March 2020.

“Our state as a whole, our entire community, is undermined by their loss,” Governor Janet Mills said in a media briefing Wednesday. Mills urged unvaccinated people to be vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and communities, and to prevent hospitals from being further overwhelmed by avoidable illnesses.

The 7-day average for new cases daily on Wednesday was 480.9, 444.1 a week ago and 162.3 a month ago. According to the Harvard Global Health Institute, the prevalence of virus in Maine is now much closer to the national average, with 40 cases nationwide, compared to 35.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per day on average. Alaska and West Virginia currently have the lowest virus rates in the country, with more than 100 per 100,000, while Connecticut has the lowest with 19.4.

In Maine, the number of cases on Wednesday was 150 in York County, followed by 122 in Penobscot County and 90 in Cumberland County.

In terms of vaccination, the state reported on Wednesday that 874,508 people in Maine, 65% of the state’s 1.3 million population, were fully vaccinated with COVID-19.

In the last two weeks, the pace of vaccination has increased from about 2,000 to 2,400 per day, Shah said.

Mills wants more people to be vaccinated and hopes that schools will implement universal masking policies to help schools keep schools open. Said.

“People need to be vaccinated so that we can keep the school open,” Mills said.

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