MAINE, USA — Maine now has a backlog of 56,000 positive COVID tests that still need to be processed and added to Maine’s official case counts, and infection rate, the Maine Center for Disease Control announced Wednesday.
The Press Herland reported this backlog, which swelled from 46,000 since last week, has artificially lowered daily case counts and Maine’s official infection rate as the omicron variant has spread rapidly through Maine.
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah provided the latest update during a media briefing on Wednesday and said the state is working to streamline the review process to reduce the backlog like some other states have.
State officials also announced Wednesday they are expanding wastewater testing to a total of 19 communities to track the spread of COVID better and respond to the omicron surge that is driving infections and hospitalizations across Maine.
Read the full story on the Press Herald’s website here.
