COVID-19 Cases Linked to Waldo County Church Continue to Rise

An outbreak of COVID-19 linked to a Maine church that held a fellowship rally in early October has seen cases grow quickly over the past three days. During Tuesday's Maine CDC briefing, Dr. Nirav Shah reported that the number of cases linked to Brooks Pentecostal Church in Brooks, Maine is now at 42 cases ranging in age from 2 to 80 years-old. That number was initially at 17 on Saturday when the outbreak was announced.

"Based on what we know right now, we expect the number of cases associated with outbreak to increase, perhaps significantly," Dr. Shah said.

About 100 to 150 people from several different churches in the Waldo County area attended the fellowship rally from October 2 to October 4 where masks were available, but not widely used. The Brooks Church itself held services some time after the rally with approximately 70 to 100 gathering indoors where masks were once again available but not widely used. Services are now temporarily suspended at the church.

According to the the Maine CDC's Tuesday's update, the cumulative number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Maine is now at 5,989, an increase of 27 since Monday. 5,341 of those cases are confirmed while 648 are deemed probable.

There were no new deaths reported of an individual with COVID-19, keeping the total at 146. 469 patients have had to be hospitalized at some point. 9 are currently hospitalized with 1 in intensive care and none on a ventilator.

5,206 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered, an increase of 31 since Monday. The total number of diagnosed active cases of COVID-19 is 637, a decrease of 4.

Governor Mills has extended the State of Emergency in Maine through October 29, allowing Maine to continue to receive federal funding and use available resources to respond to COVID-19.

An executive order remains in place requiring large retail stores, lodging, restaurants, outdoor bars and tasting rooms to enforce the state's face covering requirement.

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.