Maine health officials reported another 738 case of coronavirus and two virus-related deaths on Friday.
Maine C.D.C. Communications Director Robert Long said one man in his 70s and another in his 80s died with the virus.
Those high case counts have become the norm in recent weeks as the state’s C.D.C. works through a backlog of positive tests. Many of the cases reported each day date back to previous weeks.
211 Mainers were hospitalized with the virus as of Friday. 67 of those people were in intensive care and 27 were on ventilators. That’s down slightly compared to numbers reported earlier in the week. It also represents a drop from the peak reached in late September, in which the state saw more people hospitalized with the virus than at any point during the pandemic.
Maine C.D.C. Director Dr. Nirav Shah said this week that the agency is processing positive test results to determine whether each one is a new case. He says that if you test positive, you may not be added to the state’s numbers right away, but you will be notified in real time and receive outreach for support.
