Maine's positivity rate for COVID-19 has reached a high of 18%.
The positivity rate measures the percent of tests that come back positive, and is an indicator of both how much COVID-19 is spreading and whether enough people are getting tested. Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah says currently, testing volume is high.
"That's another way of saying that what's driving things like positivity rates right now are the number of positives being reported every day, not a contraction in the amount of testing that's happened."
Shah says the rise in COVID cases is due to the omicron variant, which he says is well established in Maine.
Other New England states are also seeing high positivity rates. In New Hampshire, the rate is 20%. In Massachusetts, 21%, and in Connecticut, 24%.
