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2 deaths and 1,504 new coronavirus cases reported in Maine on Wednesday

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2020, file photo, a runner passes by a window displaying portraits of people wearing face coverings to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Lewiston, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP
FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2020, file photo, a runner passes by a window displaying portraits of people wearing face coverings to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Lewiston, Maine.

Maine is reporting 1,504 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. That's the second biggest single-day jump of the pandemic, after more than 2,000 new cases were reported last Friday.

The seven-day average of new cases is now 1,073.

The state CDC is reporting 2 additional deaths from COVID-19.

On Wednesday, a record 380 people in Maine are hospitalized with COVID-19, with 122 in critical care and 60 on ventilators.

As the state continues to see a surge of cases, health systems are ramping up vaccination clinics.

In Bangor, Northern Light Health Center is hosting booster clinics by appointment. Dr. James Jarvis says Northern Light Health is also hosting a series of walk-in clinics at Pier 1 in South Portland. On the clinic's first day, Tuesday, Jarvis says staff administered more than 1,000 shots.

"They just stayed there until they finished the number of people who were waiting outside. It's wintertime in Maine, I hate to make anybody wait outside, but at the same time we know this needed to be done," he says.

Jarvis says the bulk of shots administered were boosters, but the clinic also offers initial vaccine doses. The clinic at Pier 1 is open 1-7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, and noon-5 p.m. Saturday.

The Maine CDC will next hold a briefing on COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon. Maine Public will bring that to you live.