Maine’s pre-holiday coronavirus surge continues on Tuesday. Health officials are reporting 1,091 new cases of the disease since the end of last week.
That includes data from Saturday through Monday. An average of 694 new COVID cases have been reported on each of last seven days. It's the highest that number has been during the pandemic.
The state CDC is reporting 29 additional deaths from COVID-19.
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to surge in Maine, reaching an all time high of 298 on Tuesday.
The number of people in critical care has jumped significantly, to a record 96. That number had been hovering in the 70s and 80s for the past few weeks. Forty people are on ventilators.
Amid the sobering hospitalization numbers, Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah said on Twitter on Tuesday there is a bright spot in vaccinations, which have increased 30% over the past two weeks.
That includes the inoculations of nearly a quarter of Maine children ages 5 to 11, who have received at least a first dose since they became eligible for the vaccine at the beginning of November.
