About a dozen Mainers are being tested for coronavirus, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday, as the agency gets closer to being able to conduct in-state testing.
The samples from Maine are being sent to the U.S. CDC lab for testing, and results are pending, the agency said in a news release. Maine does not yet have any confirmed cases of coronavirus.
More than 90,000 coronavirus cases have been reported worldwide – with most in China – and causing more than 3,000 deaths. The U.S. CDC has reported 149 cases in the United States and 11 deaths. Testing is ramping up, with 1,500 tests conducted so far, and testing kits on their way to all of the states, including Maine.
The Maine CDC said more individuals in Maine are being tested, in response to the expansion of federal criteria.
According to rapidly-changing U.S. CDC guidelines, people who do not have symptoms are typically not tested, although now patients can be tested if they have a doctor’s note saying they should be.
Before Thursday, the U.S. CDC did not recommend self-quarantine for people returning from affected countries who did not have symptoms. However, the federal agency is now asking travelers to self-quarantine, even if they feel well.
“For individuals returning from an area with widespread or ongoing community spread (currently defined as those countries for which there is a Level 3 Travel Health Notice, i.e. China, Iran, Italy and South Korea), the guidance is that the individuals stay home for 14 days from the time they left the area and practice social distancing,” according to the U.S. CDC website.
The Maine CDC has reported received a new $58,000 testing machine has, however, the agency is still awaiting the federal testing kits. With the kits the Maine CDC will be able to conduct in-state testing, which should speed up test results. The tests take a few days to get results from one of the U.S. CDC testing sites, while in-state testing could potentially take less than 24 hours.
“Maine CDC will inform the public if positive tests are confirmed and will offer regular updates on testing recommendations,” the agency said in its release. “The number of positive test results will be posted to Maine CDC’s coronavirus webpage. The number of requests for testing will increase as the COVID-19 situation continues to rapidly evolve globally and in the United States. Moving forward, tests will be conducted at both Maine CDC and U.S. CDC to facilitate prompt results.”
No additional information was provided by the agency Thursday about the individuals from Maine who were tested – including whether any were among the 14 University of Maine system students recently recalled from international study programs in Italy, one of the countries that suffered from a coronoavirus – COVID-19 – outbreak.
Dan Demeritt, a spokesman for the University of Maine System, said about half of the students have already returned to Maine, while the others are still making their way back from Italy.
“They have been instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days,” Demeritt said.
Demeritt said he couldn’t comment on whether the students were being tested for coronavirus.
This story will be updated.
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