York County still driving majority of new COVID-19 cases

Maine health officials reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, more than half of them in York County, but no additional deaths.

The state’s Center for Disease Control & Prevention has now tracked 4,734 confirmed or probable cases since the coronavirus pandemic hit, along with 134 deaths.

The 7-day average number of daily cases on Wednesday was 25.1, down slightly from the 7-day average of 29.7 on Sept. 3. However, cases have been steadily rising since bottoming out at an average of 13.1 cases on Aug. 12, the lowest since the early days of the pandemic in mid-to-late March.

Of the 23 new cases Wednesday, 14 were in York County, which is dealing with several active outbreaks that Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah called “deeply concerning,” on Tuesday. The state has reported two new outbreaks at private social clubs in Sanford, which added to outbreaks at York County Jail in Alfred, Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford, Seal Rock Health Care nursing home in Saco and the Sanford Fire Department.

The jail outbreak is directly linked to an Aug. 7 wedding and reception in the Millinocket area that has been connected to 158 cases and three deaths across the state as of Tuesday. A jail employee attended that wedding.

So far, 80 percent of all Maine’s cases have been in either Cumberland, York or Androscoggin counties, along with 78 percent of all hospitalizations and 71 percent of deaths.

The number of active cases statewide dropped to 465 on Wednesday, 28 fewer than a day earlier.

The number of hospitalizations remains low in Maine as well. As of Wednesday, just nine people were hospitalized, although seven were in critical condition. Since March, 429 people have been hospitalized at some point.

The state has increased its testing capacity by more than 100 percent over the past month, to 362 tests per 100,000 people. That’s well above the national average of 224 per 100,000.

This story will be updated.

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