The surge in COVID-19 continues in Maine, with 215 new cases.

State health officials reported 215 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. This is the third consecutive day of at least 200 cases, as highly infectious delta mutants continue to pass through Maine.

One more death was also reported.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Maine, the 7-day moving average is now 170 cases, more than double that of just two weeks ago, up from an average of 24 cases last month.

As of Friday, 15 of 16 counties in Maine meet the US CDC’s definition of high or parenchymal infections, and masks are recommended indoors, regardless of vaccination status. The new infection rates are highest in the Waldo, Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. Only Kennebec County has yet to reach a substantial threshold.

Over 90% of all counties fall into these categories across the United States, with low-vaccination states being the hardest hit. Many southern state hospitals are flooded with COVID-19 patients.

Since the first case was reported in Maine just 17 months ago, there have been 72,333 confirmed or possible cases of COVID-19 and 904 deaths. Both are one of the lowest per capita in any state.

Hospitalizations were not updated on Friday morning, but as of Thursday, there were 67 COVID-19 inpatients, 30 of whom were critical care and 15 were ventilators. The total is the highest since June 6th..

As the state is working on this latest wave of new cases, more and more efforts are underway to impose vaccine obligations.

Governor Janet Mills announced Thursday that all healthcare workers need vaccination By October 1st. This includes staff in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, etc.

In addition, the Main Community College System has announced that all students must be vaccinated before starting classes and has joined the ever-growing list of universities to impose vaccination obligations.

“The latest information on Delta Variants reveals that vaccination must be requested to keep the community as safe as possible,” MCCS President David Diggler said in a statement.

Many music venues and promoters across the country are beginning to implement vaccine obligations or proof of negative COVID-19 testing to attend the show. More and more private companies are also making vaccines a condition of employment.

There were some groundbreaking cases in fully vaccinated people, but the overwhelming majority were among unvaccinated people.

There have been 36,785 cases since the vaccine became available in Maine. Of these, 712 were fully vaccinated, less than 2%. Similarly, of the 816 people who have been hospitalized in Maine since the vaccine became available, only 32 (or about 4 percent) were fully vaccinated.

In Maine, vaccination rates have slowed significantly since mid-June, but have increased slightly in recent weeks due to an increase in cases. As of Friday, 824,626 people were receiving a final dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This accounts for 61.4% of all residents and 69.6% of qualified 12 years and older.

Overall, young residents are much more reluctant to get vaccinated. 82% of people are over 50 years old. Between the ages of 12 and 49, that percentage drops to 57 percent.

Rural conservative counties have a much lower rate than maine coastal counties, and there is also wide geographic disparity, indicating that they tend to be more progressively distorted. Cumberland County has the highest percentage of fully vaccinated eligible residents, at 82%, while the four counties of Somerset, Piscataquis, Franklin and Oxford have not yet reached 60% of eligible individuals. Hmm.

According to Bloomberg, Maine is still tracking only Vermont and Massachusetts among the states with the highest vaccination rates.

This story will be updated.

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