Maine reports 31 new cases of coronavirus, 14 in York County

Maine reported 31 new cases of COVID-19, including 14 in York County, where there were some recent outbreaks on Thursday. There were no additional deaths.

York County continues to be a hotspot for community epidemics and outbreaks, said Dr. Nilavshire, director of the Main Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“York County raises serious epidemiological issues,” Shah said in an afternoon media briefing. “Comparing York County today with what it was two weeks ago, we can see that the big difference is going in the wrong direction.”

In Maine’s most populous county, Cumberland County, Only two new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Thursday. After adjusting the COVID-19 case that may have changed before Due to the negative value, there was a net increase of 26 cases on Thursday in Maine.

Two recent outbreaks in York County have occurred in the US Army of Sanford and the Lafayette Club in Sanford. Also recently, health officials have responded to outbreaks at Alfred’s York County Prison, Sanford’s Calvary Baptist Church, Saco’s Seallock Healthcare Sanatorium, and Sanford Fire Department.

On August 31st, a completely closed window in the Port City Music Hall in downtown Portland will post a State Theater poster telling you where to get the latest information. Brianna Soukup / Staff Photographer

Prison outbreaks are directly linked August 7 Wedding reception in the Millinocket area It is associated with 161 cases and 3 deaths across the state as of Thursday. A prison employee attended the wedding. According to Shah, it is unclear whether the outbreaks in other York counties are related to each other or to the Millinocket wedding.

In Sanford, school reopening was postponed until September 14, and Mayor Tom Court urged Sanford residents to comply with state health requirements.

He said students were “mandated to wear masks, keep social distances, wash their hands, change schedules and act without much social activity.” These are the expectations of our students, but as adults, we do not practice preaching. “

On Thursday night, the Sanford City Council was expected to vote for a local ordinance requiring masks. According to state-wide government orders, masks are needed indoors in public places and outdoors when physical distances are difficult. Building owners and operators must exercise their authority.

In the Calvary Baptist Church, 10 cases were detected, Rev. Todd Bell openly rebelled against obeying state rules, and a recently posted video showed attendees standing nearby and without masks. The service of the sung church is available online. Bell hosted the Millinocket wedding.

Mr Shah said Thursday that the CDC in Maine was still considering what enforcement measures, if any, would be taken.

“We are evaluating where we are going from here,” said Shah, explaining that a compliance investigation into the Calvary Baptist Church is underway.

Also on Thursday, public health workers responded to the outbreak in Bangor’s Heart Transport System, with four employees testing positive for COVID-19, Shah said. He said all 75 workers in the company have been tested.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Maine has tracked 4,760 COVID-19 cases and 134 deaths. A total of 4,153 people have recovered, leaving 473 active cases.

In York County, the positive rate (the percentage of all tests tested positive) is about four times the state-wide average, Shah said. The average positive rate for 7 days in York County is 2.1%, and the average for the entire state is 0.55%. The national average is about 5%.

The lower the positive rate, the better. This is because state health authorities find most cases of the disease and quarantine infectious people to prevent the spread of the disease.

According to the state of Shah, the number of cases per capita in York County is much higher, with about eight new cases per 10,000 population in York County, compared to the state-wide average of 2.66 per 10,000. doing.

Last week, the state lowered its preparations for reopening York County due to the high risk of viral infections, making Maine the only county to be classified as green instead of yellow in a color-coded system.

K-12 public schools have opened in many parts of the state this week, and other districts are preparing to welcome students at least some of the time next week. The state carefully monitors schools for outbreaks.

At the university level, the main university system announced on Thursday that it would begin several rounds of random sampling for COVID-19 infection between students and teachers. Of the more than 14,000 tests conducted so far, the system found 13 asymptomatic infections, and those people were quarantined.

Surveillance tests have found two COVID-19s at St. Joseph College, Maine, and two are currently quarantined.

“Forward

Next ”

Related story