MAINE, USA — KEY MAINE CORONAVIRUS FACTS
- 19 Mainers have died out of 698 confirmed COVID-19 cases
- 124 Mainers have been hospitalized, 273 Mainers have recovered
- Total ICU beds = 314, Available ICU = 158
- Total ventilators = 328, Available ventilators = 283, Alternative ventilators = 234
- Confirmed cases in ICU = 22
- Confirmed cases in other hospital room = 36
- Governor Janet Mills orders National Guard and MEMA to help open alternative coronavirus care sites in Portland and Bangor
- Governor Janet Mills has issued a 'Stay Safe at Home' order. She has also ordered all out-of-staters coming to Maine to quarantine for 14 days.
- A timeline of the coronavirus pandemic in Maine
- Filing for unemployment still dominating discussions around Maine. Here's our story on how to file for Maine unemployment. You can scroll down for more more resources available to Mainers
- Subscribe to 'break time with NEWS CENTER Maine' our new newsletter. Delivered to your email inbox for your break time.
LATEST CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
MONDAY APRIL 13
The Maine CDC announced on its website there are now 698 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maine, an increase of 65 cases since Sunday. A large part of the increase is related to a number of outbreaks that the Maine CDC is working on across the state. Of the 65 new cases, 48 are related to long-term care facilities. Of the cases at long-term care facilities, 13 are health care workers, and 35 are residents of the facilities.
19 people in Maine who have tested positive have died.
124 people in Maine who have tested positive have been hospitalized at some point during their illness; 61 individuals are currently hospitalized. Dr. Shah said 22 are currently in ICU beds. As of Monday morning, nine individuals are on ventilators due to COVID-19.
273 people in Maine have fully recovered from the virus.
Dr. Shah said 110 health care workers statewide are among those who have tested positive. Since community transmission is present in three counties (Cumberland, York, and Penobscot), Dr. Shah said it's hard to know if any one health care worker could have acquired the coronavirus in the community and brought it into the facility, or vice versa. That investigation is underway, but at this point, they don't have good insight into that.
Maine CDC says at the Tall Pines facility in Waldo County there are 19 residents and four staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19. Two people associated with the Tall Pines facility have died.
The Maine Veterans' Home facility in Scarborough has a total of 32 positive cases: 26 residents and six staff members. Dr. Shah said the bulk of the individuals who have been tested there are asymptomatic.
"I'd just like to pause for a moment and note that the residents of this veterans' home are individuals who provided selfless service to this country during this time of need," Dr. Shah said in the briefing, "and it is our intention to do the same for them now."
In Augusta at the Center for Health and Rehabilitation, there are 55 total cases: 41 are residents and 14 are staff.
"Certainly these numbers, both in terms of the number of cases as well as the number of facilities, seem concerning. But what I think is important to note is that our policy at Maine CDC with respect to testing individuals in long-term care facilities for COVID-19 is very aggressive. As soon as we detect even the faintest light of an outbreak at a long-term care facility, we recommend universal testing across the facility for all staff and all residents the second we detect an outbreak."
"We haven't learned anything in particular about any of these facilities that has suggested to us, based on the COVID-19 outbreak only, that a different course of action should have been pursued," Dr. Shah said.
The Maine CDC is currently investigating how the outbreaks at the three long-term care facilities began, but said so far they are aware that in at least one instance, and there may be more, where an individual employee had worked at a number of different facilities. "But we haven't identified a single person that unifies all three of these facilities yet, but that is part of our investigatory process," Dr. Shah said.
Jeanne Lambrew, Commissioner of the Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS), said DHHS will pay nursing facilities for the extra costs associated with COVID-19. The funds will help with increased staffing, the cost of screening, supplies, and personal protective equipment (PPE) beyond what is ordinarily needed. Lambrew said $8.8 million, or a 10% increase, will be sent to nursing facilities.
At Gov. Janet Mills' direction, DHHS and Maine CDC are intensifying their efforts to help long-term care facilities this week. In order to prevent additional outbreaks, every nursing facility in the state--all 93 of them--will be evaluated on their level of preparedness, their gaps, and what more DHHS could be doing together to prevent an outbreak.
"We will not stop until we've protected everyone we can in this pandemic," Lambrew said.
In the past 48 hours, Dr. Shah said the Maine CDC has processed approximately 116 orders for PPE. The orders will be shipped out first thing Tuesday morning. Long-term care facilities will be receiving 77 of those orders.
As of Monday morning, Maine CDC has approximately 48,000 N95 masks, 45,000 surgical masks, 13,000 face shields, 92,000 gloves, about 1,000 surgical protective suits, 19,000 surgical gowns, and 186 coveralls.
"The national stockpile is tapped out, but we ourselves in Maine are taking matters into our own hands and seeking additional PPE so long as we can verify the integrity of the supplier, we are very interested in acquiring more," Dr. Shah said, and there's a team in place vetting potential suppliers to make sure the stock remains healthy.
Touching on the coming storm today, Dr. Shah said, "We recognize that these are tough times. One storm is behind us, another is upon us." Dr. Shah said power outages during pandemics come with additional challenges. As a public service announcement, Dr. Shah reminds people to give workers the space and maintain physical distance as they work to restore power.
- WATCH: Law enforcement, Fire/EMS honor healthcare workers amid COVID-19 by lining rainy entrance to Maine hospital
- Letter from 72 Maine legislators urges BIW to take additional safety measures amid coronavirus pandemic
- Maine gets additional CARE Act funding for universities and colleges, transportation system
- Maine engineering teacher creates emergency ventilator with students, wants to share with world
- John Krasinski, AT&T team up for big surprise for health care workers
- 55 people at Augusta Center for Health and Rehabilitation tested positive for COVID-19, coronavirus
- More than 150,000 still without power across Maine
- Millions of tax paying immigrants won't get stimulus checks
- Many Mainers celebrate Easter through technology
- Middle school teacher uses skills to help first responders during coronavirus pandemic
- Fauci: 'rolling reentry' of US economy possible in May
MAINE CDC CORONAVIRUS BRIEFINGS
RESOURCES
- Maine food resources and retail adjustments
- How to file for Maine unemployment
- Will you get a stimulus check if you receive Social Security or disability, or didn’t file a tax return?
- Stimulus check calculator: See how much you'll likely be getting
- Millions of Americans will soon get stimulus checks. But here's who won't.
- Maine small businesses can apply for 'forgivable loans'
- Maine school and business closings
- What shelter-in-place, stay-at-home orders mean
- What Homeland Security deems 'essential businesses'
Coronavirus, COVID-19 Background
The official name for the coronavirus is “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes is named “coronavirus disease 2019” or “COVID-19” for short. Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which can infect people and animals. The viruses can cause the common cold or more serious diseases like SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.
The CDC says symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, and in some cases sore throat.
The CDC says there are simple steps to take to reduce the possible spread of COVID-19:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
- Stay home while you're sick and avoid close contact with others
The Maine Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced on Tuesday, March 10 that they would be holding daily coronavirus briefings with director Dr. Nirav Shah to keep the public up to date on the situation in Maine. You can find all the previous Maine CDC briefings here.