The number of COVID-19 cases detected in Maine is continuing its steep climb on Friday.
The state CDC is reporting another 715 infections, and the seven-day average of new cases now stands at 485, its highest point since last January.
Two more people have died with COVID-19.
The state is now working through a backlog of old test results, and many of the newly announced positive cases were actually detected a week ago.
The delta variant continues to drive the late summer spike in cases.
Hospitals around the state continue to treat some of the most COVID-19 patients of any point in the pandemic.
The latest figures from the Maine CDC, released Friday, show 201 people are hospitalized. More than a third of those patients are in critical care, and 34 are on ventilators.