PORTLAND, Maine (AP) The omicron variant of COVID-19 could be waning in Maine, where hospitalizations are declining, the state’s top health official said Wednesday.

The state has 83 people in intensive care units, down 19 from two weeks ago, said Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah. The state also had 261 people hospitalized without the need for an ICU bed, and that was down from 309 two weeks ago, he said.

The steady reduction in hospitalized patients has somewhat reduced the strain on hospitals in the state, Shah said. It could also be a sign that the presence of omicron could be fading in the state, but it’s still too early to be certain, he said.

The state is also closing its contact tracing program on Feb. 8, Shah said. That is largely because of the omicron variant, he said. Omicron is more infectious than previous variants of COVID-19, and tends to spread earlier after the infected person contracts the virus, Shah said.

“We can’t tackle 2022’s virus with 2019’s tools,” Shah said. “Contact tracing is a race. Who’s going to reach people first. Until omicron, that race was fairly neck and neck.”