Maine reported 724 new cases of COVID-19 over the past four days as the number of hospitalized patients continues to hold steady.

There was one additional death, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The cases are from Saturday through Tuesday. Typically, the Maine CDC reports cases from the weekend on Tuesday, but that was pushed back one day because of the Patriots’ Day holiday.

Like much of the Northeast, Maine’s cases have increased during the past few weeks with the emergence of the BA.2 omicron subvariant, which is more contagious than the original omicron variant. However, hospitalizations have remained relatively flat, hovering between about 90 and 100 people since mid-March.

There were 100 COVID patients hospitalized statewide as of Wednesday morning, according to the Maine CDC. That’s up from 99 on Tuesday. Of those hospitalized Wednesday, 15 were in critical care and two were on ventilators.

Since the pandemic began, Maine has recorded 240,810 cases of COVID-19, and 2,277 deaths.

Public health experts are not projecting a big leap in hospitalizations because both omicron variants tend to cause less severe cases, and with high levels of the population immunized through vaccination and prior infection, there are fewer people to infect. Also, people who are vaccinated and get breakthrough cases of COVID-19 are much more likely to get a mild version and not need hospitalization.


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