Three more Mainers have died of COVID-19 since Tuesday, as 19 new confirmed cases were added. That's according to new figures the Maine Center for Disease Control released Wednesday morning.
The death toll from the pandemic now stands at 39, and the number of diagnosed cases at 907. Two of the people who died were from Waldo County — a woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s — and the third was a woman in her 70s from Cumberland County, Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said at a live briefing Wednesday.
Over the course of the pandemic, 144 people have been hospitalized and 42 remain there. Of those, 18 are in intensive care and 10 are on ventilators. Four-hundred fifty-five people have recovered.
Shah said health care workers account for 222 of Maine's cases. Another 190 are associated with long-term and assisted living facilities. Three of Maine's new cases were among residents and staff at the Edgewood Rehabilitation and Living Center in Farmington, and another three occurred at the John Murphy Homes in Auburn, a facility for the disabled. All of the John Murphy Homes cases were among adults, Shah said. The CDC says two more people have died at the Tall Pines assisted living facility, for a total of 10 resident deaths.
Shah said state health officials sent test kits to the facilities and expected to have results soon. In addition, he said six full tractor trailers of personal protective equipment, or PPE, have been distributed to front-line workers, long-term care facilities and various providers.
Updated 3:04 p.m. April 22, 2020