187 New COVID-19 Cases and No New Deaths For Second Day

According to the Maine CDC's Thursday update, the cumulative number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Maine is now at 46,441 an increase of 187 since Wednesday. 36,221 of those cases are confirmed while 10,220 are deemed probable.

There were no new deaths reported of individuals with COVID-19 keeping the total number of deaths at 723. 1,585 patients have had to be hospitalized at some point. 77 are currently hospitalized with 25 in intensive care and 9 on a ventilator.

463,877 Mainers have been vaccinated, with 293,566 having had one dose and 170,331 having had both doses. The equates to approximately 35% of Mainers that have received the full vaccine or the first of two does of the vaccine.

Since December 5, the Maine CDC has focused its efforts on following up with COVID-19 cases for those persons under 19 and over 64 and no longer provides full active case data. The University of Maine Presque Isle GIS Lab has started providing an estimated active case number which is calculated as the difference in total cases in a 12-day interval. That number on Thursday was 1,949 estimated active cases, down 10 since Wednesday.

On March 5, Governor Mills announced a plan to allow business to increase their capacity and removed restrictions on those traveling to and from Maine. All New England states no longer need to show proof of a negative COVID test or quarantine for 14 days when arriving in Maine.

Here's the timeline for relaxing restrictions on number or people allowed in businesses:

• For indoor gatherings, the percentage of capacity will increase to 50 percent starting March 26 and 75 percent starting May 24.
• For outdoor gatherings, the percentage of capacity will increase to 75 percent starting March 26 and 100 percent starting May 24.
• Those businesses that have more capacity under the current policy (50 people for indoor gatherings; 100 people for outdoor gatherings; or 5 people per 1,000 square feet) are permitted to maintain that standard until May 24.

Governor Mills has extended the State of Emergency in Maine through March 18, allowing Maine to continue to receive federal funding and use available resources to respond to COVID-19.

You can view the full list of businesses and read the guidelines for each on The Maine Department of Economic and Community Development's website.

If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, including a runny nose, sore throat, dry cough, fever and in severe cases, difficulty breathing, the Maine CDC says you should call your doctor before going in so that they can prepare for your arrival. The Maine CDC continues to update with new information daily. Keep checking on our mobile app or website to get the latest.