PORTLAND, Maine – Friday marked the anniversary of the first recorded case of the coronavirus in Maine.

Gov. Janet Mills took steps including suspending all nonessential out-of-state work travel by state employees on that day.

Mills declared a state of civil emergency days later on March 15, 2020. The proclamation remains in effect.

The state is now in the thick of its COVID-19 vaccine rollout. One in eight residents of the state has now received the coronavirus vaccine, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah on Thursday.

“I’m generally optimistic about where we are heading, particularly because of the vaccine,” he said.