Maine CDC reports 199 new cases of COVID-19; 2 additional deaths
May 18—Maine reported 199 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and two additional deaths.
It was the fourth consecutive day of fewer than 200 cases, mirroring a steady decline that is taking place across the nation.
Maine's seven-day daily case average now stands at 238, the lowest since April 1. That's down from 297 two weeks ago and from a spring high of 475 cases on average this time last month. There have now been 66,113 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 and 805 deaths since the pandemic reached Maine 14 months ago, according to data tracked by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Across the U.S., the seven-day case average has dropped to about 30,000, the lowest level since late June of last year. Deaths from COVID-19 are averaging just under 550 per day, which is the lowest since early April 2020.
The number of people hospitalized in Maine with COVID-19 increased slightly to 113 on Tuesday. Of those, 42 are in critical care and 20 are on ventilators. Hospitalizations have come down slightly over the last two weeks but have remained above 100 every day since April 17.
As for vaccinations, Maine has administered 675,792 first doses, accounting for 50.3 percent of all residents, and 640,361 final doses, covering 47.6 percent of the population.
Maine still ranks tops among all states in percentage of population that is fully vaccinated, according to a Bloomberg tracker, even though weekly vaccinations have decreased for five consecutive weeks. Other vaccine trackers may give different results because they use other population figures, but all generally place Maine and other New England states at the top for vaccination rates, well above the national rate, which is about 37 percent.
From Sunday through Saturday last week, the state averaged 8,411 shots per day, according to the Maine CDC, even though eligibility expanded to 12- to 15-year-olds. The previous week, the average was 9,504 shots per day. The daily average hasn't been this low since February, when Maine was still vaccinating primarily older residents.
Vaccinations have declined each week since peaking at more than 17,500 per day the week of April 4, the same week all Mainers 16 and older became eligible under the state's updated vaccination plan. The same trend is happening across the country. Shots peaked at about 3.2 million per day in mid-April but have now fallen to about 1.8 million per day.
Maine and the country are less than one week away from lifting mask requirements for vaccinated individuals in public settings, both indoor and outdoor. There will still be some instances where masks are required, including on public transportation and in some businesses that choose to keep the mandate in place. Unvaccinated individuals are still supposed to wear masks, although compliance will be on the honor system.
This story will be updated
