AUGUSTA — Maine health officials announced 18 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, pushing the total to 107 as the virus continues to spread in Cumberland County and around the state.
The number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus has more than doubled in Maine since Thursday, which is consistent with the national trend. Maine has yet to record any fatalities from coronavirus, but 12 people were hospitalized as of Monday morning.
Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that while “community transmission” has only been confirmed in Cumberland County to date, Mainers should anticipate that the disease is already present locally and act accordingly. He urged all Mainers to practice good hygiene and “social distancing.”
“It can be as much as 16 days before someone starts developing symptoms,” Shah said. “As a result of that, waiting until the Maine CDC or anybody else tells you that there is a case in your community is up to 16 days too late. So for that reason, we recommend that everybody behave – or go about their lives – as if COVID-19 is already in your county, in your city, in your town.”
As of Monday morning, the Maine CDC reported 66 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cumberland County, including at least six at the retirement and assisted-living community OceanView at Falmouth. There were also 12 cases reported in York County, five each in Lincoln and Oxford counties, four in Kennebec County, three in Androscoggin, Penobscot and Sagadahoc counties, one in Knox County, and five cases still under investigation.
But those numbers are an incomplete picture of what is actually happening in Maine.
The incubation period for coronavirus is anywhere from two to 16 days, meaning individuals who have contracted coronavirus are infectious to others but are not yet exhibiting symptoms.
Many Mainers who are exhibiting symptoms are waiting for test results, oftentimes for days. Additionally, an unknown number of Maine residents – most likely thousands of individuals – are self-quarantining at home on the advice of Maine CDC staff, their doctors or their employers.
The rapid escalation of the disease is causing concern in Maine and nationwide about the availability of testing kits, delays processing those tests and about the supply of protective equipment such as masks, gloves and face shields.
Shah repeated Monday that hospitalized patients or individuals with severe symptoms are given higher priority when running test results so that doctors can quickly determine the best treatment. Health care workers and first responders are also being prioritized because of the risk they could pass the virus on to others.
Shah acknowledged that prioritization is delaying results for the Mainers who fall outside those groups.
“I fully acknowledge that this delay in having folks get their test results is concerning, it’s anxiety-inducing and it’s frustrating,” Shah said. “I ask that you bear with us. We are aware of this concern and we are working on solving it, at least making inroads as quickly as possible.”
It is still up to doctors and other clinicians to decide whether to request a test for someone with mild symptoms.
Shah said he did not have up-to-date figures on the size of the backlog or the number of Maine residents that the state CDC has advised to self-quarantine. Robert Long, spokesman for Maine CDC, said later Monday that those numbers would not be available until Tuesday.
There is currently a major bottleneck in testing because of a nationwide shortage of a chemical that is used in the testing process. The Maine CDC is exploring the purchase of an alternative piece of testing equipment that does not require that specific “reagent,” Shah said.
Additionally, commercial labs such as Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp are ramping up testing in Maine and across the country.
Maine had 71 intensive care unit beds available in hospitals statewide as of Monday morning, which is roughly one-half the total statewide. There were also 252 respiratory ventilators available out of 301 statewide, although Shah said the state has requested an additional 300 ventilators from the federal government.
On the issue of personal protective equipment, Shah said the state was sending on Monday almost 22,000 pieces to health care facilities statewide. Those supplies include approximately 2,500 N95 masks, more than 8,000 surgical masks, nearly 1,800 face shields and almost 6,000 gloves.
Maine also expected to receive a federal shipment on Monday of an additional 12,800 N95 masks, more than 30,000 surgical masks, approximately 5,800 face shields, 4,700 gowns and 16,800 gloves, Shah said.
Maine Medical Center is reporting eight patients who were being treated for COVID-19 at the hospital as of Monday afternoon.
Dr. August Valenti, Maine Med’s epidemiologist and director of the special infectious diseases program, said that five of the eight patients were in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Maine Med is “busy” right now with the COVID-19 patients, but able to handle the volume, he said.
“We are doing OK with our resources right now,” Valenti said. “We have OK supplies, and more supplies are coming in.”
Nationwide, the number of COVID-19 cases had topped 33,000 as of Monday with 400 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, the World Health Organization was reporting nearly 333,000 cases and 14,510 deaths as of Monday.
Last week, Gov. Janet Mills imposed emergency restrictions prohibiting social gatherings of more than 10 people and banning restaurants and bars from dine-in service, although businesses can continue to offer take-out or delivery service. Mills has yet to announce more severe limits on the public, such as have been adopted in other states, including New York and Massachusetts.
Shah said state officials have discussed regional or localized restrictions on public movement beyond those already taken by Mills, such as “shelter in place” or “stay at home” orders for Cumberland County. But he said those limits must be weighed against the impacts on other activities, such as people’s ability to seek medical care or willingness to donate blood to alleviate a national shortage.
As the coronavirus situation worsens to the south, some out-of-state residents with summer homes in Maine have begun arriving in the state earlier than usual. That has caused concern among some local residents, particularly in rural areas and small coastal or island towns with limited health care infrastructure.
Asked about the implications of such interstate movement, Shah said he hopes Maine will continue to be a welcoming place, but said travelers should heed health and safety guidelines.
“Folks will continue to travel, but we reinforce our recommendation that if they are traveling up to their camp, if they don’t feel well, regardless of where they are and regardless of where they came from, they stay inside and try to limit their exposure to others,” Shah said.
Staff Writer Joe Lawlor contributed to this report.
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