Maine is reporting nine additional deaths of people with COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Another 3,556 cases of the disease are being reported, but the Maine CDC cautions that those figures do not reflect actually daily counts because of a backlog of positive results during the omicron wave and recent changes in how cases are reviewed.
Other indicators including wastewater testing and hospitalizations suggest that the omicron surge is receding.
249 people are hospitalized with the disease in Maine on Wednesday. That's down from 260 yesterday. 63 are in critical care and 29 are on ventilators.
The Mills administration is expanding its program for free mail-order COVID-19 tests to all households in Maine.
Health commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said the state wants to increase access to testing in time for February school vacation. She's encouraging families and staff to test before returning to school to help prevent transmission.
"Any Maine resident can visit Project ACT website at accesscovidtest.org to place their orders," Lambrew said.
Each household gets five free tests through a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation. The project, which launched in late January, was initially only available to households most in need, based on the US CDC's social vulnerability index. Lambrew said of the 125,000 tests allocated to Maine, more than 76,000 have been shipped.
