50 new COVID-19 cases reported in Maine, more than 6000 since pandemic began - Press Herald

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State health officials reported 50 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing Maine above the 6,000-case mark since the pandemic began and inching the 7-day average to its highest point since early July.

There were no additional deaths, leaving the total at 146 individuals.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many new cases are connected to an outbreak involving a church in the Waldo County town of Brooks. As of Tuesday, there were 42 cases connected to that outbreak, but Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah predicted there likely would be more.

People walk on the Eastern Promenade Trail as the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad passes by earlier this month. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Shah said fellowship gatherings from Oct. 2-4 that involved Brooks Pentecostal Church and members of other churches violated executive orders, including directives to limit indoor crowds to less than 50, wear masks in indoor public places and practice social distancing by staying at least 6 feet apart. About 100 to 150 people attended the Oct. 2-4 events, including people from the Quaker Hill Christian Church in Unity and the Charleston Church and Faith Bible College in Charleston.

“Masks were available but not routinely used,” Shah said. He said Brooks Pentecostal in early October also held its own church services attended by 70 to 100 people. Public health rules were also ignored at those services, he said.

Although there have been fluctuations from week to week, the overall number of new COVID-19 cases has been rising steadily in Maine since bottoming out in early August. On August 11, the 7-day average number of daily cases was 14. On Wednesday, it was 35.

Of the state’s 6,027 confirmed or probable cases to date, 76 percent have been in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties.

The outbreak in Brooks has similarities to a wedding in Millinocket on Aug. 7 that has been linked to more than 175 cases and eight deaths, most of them residents of a nursing home in Madison. Guests at that wedding also did not wear masks, for the most part, or physically distance. That event led to a major outbreak at York County Jail, which also saw little mask compliance.

Cases have been rising steadily in most other states as well, promping concerns from public health experts as flu season approaches. In the U.S., there have been more than 8.2 million cases and 220,000 inviduals have died with COVID-19.

Maine has not seen a dramatic increase in hospitalizations with the increase in cases. Since the pandemic began, 470 people have been hospitalized at some point. On Tuesday, there were 9 people in the hospital, one in critical care.

This story will be updated

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