Maine's COVID-19 Outbreak is Most Severe in Penobscot County

Penobscot County continues to be the hotbed for Maine's coronavirus outbreak in early October with 97 new infections and three COVID-19 deaths reported on Friday.

The Maine Center for Disease Control added 467 new cases statewide, the lowest daily total in over five weeks. There were four more deaths in the state.

Aroostook County had 33 new cases on Friday. for a total of 159 in the past week, with five reported deaths and one additional hospitalization. Penobscot County reported 21 deaths and 22 new hospitalizations in the past week.

Maine’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases has dropped in the past week from about 592 per day to 512 per day. In addition to the apparent declining number of cases in much of the state, hospitalizations also continue to go down, from 211 COVID-19 patients one week ago to 152 as of Thursday.

Health officials are urging residents who are not yet vaccinated to do so as soon as possible to help reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

The Maine CDC reports 2,675 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. Just under two-thirds of Maine's total population in fully vaccinated. The percentage of vaccinated residents ranges from 55% in Somerset County to 76% in Cumberland County.

New Brunswick Update

Going into the Thanksgiving weekend, additional Public Health restrictions go into effect at 6:00 p.m. Friday in areas of New Brunswick seeing the highest transmission rates of COVID-19. That includes a portion of Zone 3 from Florenceville-Bristol northward and all of Zone 4 (Edmundston/Grand Falls Region). In these so-called "circuit breaker" areas, indoor and outdoor gatherings are not allowed beyond a single household, except in public places where proof of vaccination is required.

New Brunswick Public Health on Thursday reported 825 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, the most since the pandemic began. That includes 55 people in hospital, and 31 in intensive care.