PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Maine’s emergency order about the coronavirus pandemic is entering its final days.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills declared the “state of civil emergency” in the early days of the pandemic. She has said the order will end on Wednesday.
The order has allowed Mills to use state resources to try to control the spread of the virus in Maine. Republicans and Democrats have sparred for months about whether the emergency order has gone on for too long.
Republicans have also charged that the order gave Mills too much authority and future orders should be more limited. Mills and other Democrats have said the order played a key role in reducing the state’s burden from coronavirus.
Mills said earlier in June that ending the emergency order is a key milestone and it reflects that “Maine people have persevered, and, although challenges remain, we will get through them together just as we did this past year.”
Maine has suffered a lower toll of infections and deaths from coronavirus than many other rural states with similar population sizes. The state’s economy is also largely reopened and most mask orders have been rescinded.
