344 Cases of COVID-19 Now in Maine; Two More Deaths Announced

The latest coronavirus update from the Maine CDC reports that the number of confirmed cases in Maine has increased by 41 since Tuesday bringing the total number of cases to 344. Of the total cases, 63 have had to be hospitalized at some point and 80 patients have recovered.

Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah reported that The DHHS office in Lewiston that had been closed after a staff member there had tested positive for COVID-19 has now reopened and that staff member is currently recovering.

Hancock county has now has its first reported case of COIVD-19 and currently only has that one case. Epidemiologists are working to determine if counties with more than 10 cases have meet the criteria of community transmission. As of today, only Cumberland and York Counties as showing signs of community transmission. Having over 10 cases is one of the criteria that the Maine CDC uses to determine if a county is seeing community transmission of the virus. That means people are able to contract the virus who had no known contact with another confirmed case or traveled from a country badly affected by the pandemic.

The second criteria used to determine community transmission is that 25 percent of cases in a county must not have a known link to another case of confirmed COVID-19, either through travel or interaction with another person.

Here's a map of the breakdown of number of cases by county from the Maine CDC.

Effective Thursday at midnight until April 30, the Governor has ordered all Mainers to stay home unless you work for an essential business or need to do an essential activity. Find out what that means for you by clicking or tapping here. 

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.

Social distancing is the key to flattening out the curve of the spread of the coronavirus, a point Dr Shah stressed is vitally important for Mainers to practice. A low curve means that the virus is spreading slowly which gives doctors more time and resources to treat more people. The higher the curve, the most people get sick at once and medical facilities get overwhelmed.

The Maine CDC continues to update with new information daily. Keep checking on our mobile app or website to get the latest.