The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention listed 131 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Sunday, two more than the day before.
Of those hospitalized on Sunday, 17 were in critical care units and two were on ventilators.
During the past three weeks, Maine hospitalization numbers have fluctuated between 110 and 130. The hospital numbers are significantly higher than last summer, when daily counts were around 30.
Nationwide, cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising, according to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Thursday, nearly 85 percent of the country’s population lived where there is medium or high COVID-19 community spread, according to Walensky.
When compared to other states, Maine and other New England states have among the lowest infection rates.
Only one other state, Vermont, has a lower infection rate than Maine. Data from the U.S. CDC show that Maine’s case rate in the last seven days is 115.9 for every 100,000 residents. The national average is now 265.7.
States with the lowest infection rates are Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire. Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. States with the highest infection rates are Mississippi, Florida, Alaska, California and Alabama, according to the U.S. CDC.
And every county in Maine has a low risk of community spread of the virus, according to the federal data.
That said, doctors and scientists have pointed out that the latest omicron variants seem to spread more easily. And COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in Maine in 2021, trailing only cancer and heart disease.
The state reported there were 218 of new cases on Saturday, an amount that has held relatively steady in recent weeks. There were no additional deaths, according to the Maine CDC. The state does not typically report new cases or deaths on Sundays and Mondays.
Since the pandemic began, Maine has logged 273,123 cases and 2,464 deaths. Nationally, the death toll is now 1,018,578.
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