The Maine Center for Disease Control is reporting a net increase of 12 COVID-19 cases overnight. That brings the state's total since the pandemic's onset to 4,713. The death tally remained unchanged at 134.
State officials say another 10 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,086. That leaves 493 active cases of the virus that the state is currently tracking, two more than Monday.
At a briefing Tuesday, Maine Center for Disease Control Director Dr. Nirav Shah said the state continues to follow an outbreak related to an August 7 wedding in Millinocket, which he said is now linked to 158 cases and three deaths. None of the three people who died actually attended the wedding, Shah said.
"This is just another example of how quickly, silently and efficiently COVID-19 can spread, and how it can affect individuals who may not have been at the event itself," Shah said.
The Millinocket event is now linked to two other outbreaks, one at the Maplecrest rehab facility in Madison, where 20 cases have been diagnosed, and another at the York County Jail facility in Alfred, where 72 positive cases have turned up, in addition to nine other probable cases among family members of jail staff and inmates. In both the outbreak at the rehab facility and the one at the jail, the virus originated with a staff member who attended the Millinocket wedding.
Shah said another outbreak of 10 cases at the Calvary Baptist Church in nearby Sanford is still under investigation. He said while there are "connections" to that outbreak and the Millinocket wedding, no specific link has been established.
Meanwhile, he said the state is investigating two additional outbreaks in Sanford, one at the Lafayette Club, with three cases of unknown origin, and another at the Sanford American Legion, where four cases are tied to a funeral reception held at the facility.
"The fact that we've now got two more outbreaks in a 36-hour period in the area where there was already high transmission is deeply, deeply concerning," said Shah.
Shah said the Maine CDC is investigating whether the two new outbreaks are related to other ongoing ones in York County, but no association has yet been established.
Shah said the outbreaks in York County have raised the level of concern about the spread of the virus there. Schools in the southern Maine county were downgraded last week to a "yellow" designation, indicating a heightened risk of the virus.
Meanwhile, Shah said the state has closed its investigation into an outbreak at Sedgewood Commons in Falmouth that grew to 59 cases. He said the state closes outbreak investigations after two consecutive two-week incubation periods with no new cases.
Shah said the risk of more super-spreader events, such as the Millinocket wedding, could be heightened as cooler weather approaches, forcing more events indoors. What happened in Millinocket, he said, "is a perfect reminder of what can happen in long duration events with lots of individuals, where mask-wearing is not the norm."
Still, Maine's seven-day weighted average positivity rate for COVID-19 is 0.55%, Shah said. That compares with a national average of 6%.
As of Tuesday, seven Mainers were in the hospital, six of them in intensive care. Two people were on ventilators.
Originally published at 10:12 a.m. Sept. 8, 2020.
Updated at 3:49 p.m. Sept. 8, 2020.
