Nine of Maine's sixteen counties are now considered to have high levels of COVID-19 transmission, according to a weekly update from the US CDC.
Indoor masking in public areas is recommended for those counties, which include Aroostook, Penobscot and Hancock, and most counties in southern Maine, except for York. The only county considered to have low transmission is Somerset. The other six have moderate risk.
The Maine CDC is reporting one additional COVID deaths Friday and 518 new cases confirmed through laboratory testing.
The number of Mainers hospitalized with COVID fell by 13 today, to 215. Twenty-eight are in critical care and two are in ventilators.
