Another 883 cases of coronavirus and seven deaths were reported across Maine over the previous 3-day period.
The data released by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday spans Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
It brings the state’s 7-day average of new daily cases to roughly 528, compared to about 370 a week ago and 595 two weeks ago.
It’s not known if health officials are still working through a backlog of positive tests to identify new cases, in which case a portion of the cases in Tuesday’s update may date back to previous weeks or months.
The latest numbers suggest that the spread of the delta variant may be on the downswing, but Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said last week that it’s likely too early to tell if the latest surge is behind us.
Dr. Shah on Monday pointed to the state’s coronavirus hospitalization numbers, which have risen in recent days, as evidence that the pandemic is not over yet.
2/Good news: half as many people are in the ICU today as one incubation period ago.
Not good news: 10 more people are on ventilators today and 9 more people overall compared w/an incubation period ago.
Bottom line: we're still in this.
— Nirav D. Shah (@nirav_uscdc) October 18, 2021
In Tuesday’s update, 203 people with coronavirus were in Maine’s hospitals, compared to 169 a week ago and 177 two weeks ago.
Since the start of the pandemic, Maine has seen 98,607 cases of coronavirus and 1,102 deaths.
