Updated March 25, 2020 at 3:10 p.m. ET.
Maine now has 142 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, a jump of 24 cases in a day. Eighty-seven of the cases are in Cumberland County, and 23 are in York County.
That's according to Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah, who said the spike is consistent with those seen in other states and that it will be difficult to know when Maine has hit the peak of the outbreak.
Shah also said an employee at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services has tested positive for the disease. As a result, DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said she has ordered the Lewiston office closed.
"Our top priority in these situations is always to ensure the health and safety of the public," Shah said, "as well as our employees within any unit of state government."
Shah issued a call to health care providers in Maine - especially those trained to use ventilators — to register at the website maineresponds.org. Shah said the state needs to be as ready as possible for whatever the future holds.
"Whether you are in active practice or recently retired, if you are an anesthesiologist, a critical care physician, a pulmonologist or someone skillful in operating vents (ventilators)," he says. Shah said the state is trying to determine how many people are trained in operating ventilators, a life support device for patients who can’t breathe on their own.
As health care workers test and treat patients with diminishing supplies of Personal Protective Equipment — or PPE — he said his agency has received a second shipment of supplies from the National Stockpile.
"Let me say, however, what we have received is not yet fully what we need, and we continue to support any moves by the federal government to increase both the supply and the speed of distribution of protective equipment from the National Stockpile."
Shah said the state has also received more of a key ingredient called a reagent needed to complete a backlog of tests. Yesterday, the state reported a backlog of 1,300 people awaiting test results, and attributed it to a nationwide shortage of reagent. Shah says the state is purchasing equipment that uses a different reagent, but it's unclear when it will be up and running.
Shah also said that the state is planning for potential alternative care sites should Maine's health facilities become overwhelmed. He is hopeful that the state and regional social distancing strategies will prevent the outbreak from reaching that point, but said the state is preparing as if it will.
