The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday reported 185 cases of the novel coronavirus and no additional deaths, ending a week when Maine further expanded vaccine eligibility while also announcing the reopening of large swaths of the state’s economy.

Gov. Janet Mills declared on Friday that “Maine is open” as she relaxed restrictions on businesses and travel ahead of the state’s usually busy tourist season. And shortly after Maine began offering shots to people in their 60s, the state found itself widening eligibility again after the Biden administration this past week called on states to prioritize vaccination of school staff.

Maine’s cumulative COVID-19 cases rose to 45,635 on Saturday. Of those, 35,759 have been confirmed by testing and 9,876 are considered probable cases of COVID-19. The seven-day average of new daily cases was 165 on Saturday.

Seven hundred four people have died with COVID-19 since the pandemic began in Maine.

Effective with Mills’ announcement Friday, residents of all New England states may visit Maine without needing to quarantine or test negative for COVID-19. So can visitors from any other state who have been vaccinated or have recently recovered from COVID-19.

On May 1, Maine will lift travel restrictions on visitors from all states, except those that Maine officials deem to have particularly high rates of infection.

Starting March 26, bars and tasting rooms may resume indoor service in Maine with the same restrictions as restaurants. Precautions will be further eased in May.

With nearly 20 percent of Maine residents already vaccinated, Mills said “it’s time to turn our attention again to the economy. We want our state to be both welcoming and safe and live up to our Vacationland name.”

 

Earlier in the week, Maine leaders announced they’d include school staff members and child care providers in the current round of vaccinations after encouragement from the White House, adding another 52,400 people to the current population getting shots.

Maine is slated to receive a smaller vaccine shipment this coming week: 33,500 doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, but nothing from Johnson & Johnson, which sent 15,000 doses to Maine this past week.

As of Saturday morning, 261,548 Mainers had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 145,398 had received their second. Out of Maine’s population of 1.3 million, 19.46 percent have received their first dose, according to Maine CDC statistics.

County by county as of Saturday, there had been 4,886 coronavirus cases in Androscoggin, 1,293 in Aroostook, 12,803 in Cumberland, 917 in Franklin, 932 in Hancock, 3,733 in Kennebec, 665 in Knox, 593 in Lincoln, 2,264 in Oxford, 4,032 in Penobscot, 327 in Piscataquis, 893 in Sagadahoc, 1,262 in Somerset, 604 in Waldo, 726 in Washington and 9,705 in York.

By age, 15.5 percent of patients were under 20, while 18.1 percent were in their 20s, 14.4 percent were in their 30s, 13.2 percent were in their 40s, 15.2 percent were in their 50s, 11.6 percent were in their 60s, 6.5 percent were in their 70s, and 5.5 percent were 80 or older.

Of the 74 patients with COVID-19 in Maine hospitals on Saturday, 20 were in intensive care and nine were on ventilators. The state had 105 intensive care unit beds available of a total 392, and 252 ventilators available of 319. There were also 446 alternative ventilators.

Around the world on Saturday evening, there were 116.3 million known cases of COVID-19 and over 2.58 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States had 28.9 million cases and 524,085 deaths.

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