coronavirus

The state says 199 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified by the Maine Center for Disease Control for the second day in a row. The total number of cases recorded in the state is 66,113 as of Tuesday morning.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting another 199 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday morning. That brings the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 65,914.

The Maine CDC added one COVID-19 death on Sunday and two on Saturday, bringing the total to 802 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Maine will soon follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow those who are fully vaccinated to stop wearing masks in most indoor places.

More than 52 percent of the state's eligible population have received their final dose of the vaccine. The states high vaccination rate has led Governor Janet Mills to relax previously established regulations.

Gov. Mills' announcement came just as the U.S. CDC issued its own guidance relaxing safety restrictions, saying fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or distance in any setting.

The state has identified more than 65,000 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. That number is up following the Maine Center for Disease Control's report of 295 new cases as of Thursday morning. No new deaths were recorded.

That includes the Cianbro office building in Pittsfield on June 9-12; Black Mountain in Rumford on June 14-17; Rangeley Health and Wellness on June 19-22; the municipal complex in Limington on June 24-27; and the Kittery fire station on June 29-July 2.

School-based vaccination clinics have opened in some areas of the state. Officials have opened vaccination eligibility to people in the state 12 years of age and older. Already, more than 300 doses have been given to people between 12 and 15 years old, and more than 30,000 doses have been given to Mainers 16 to 19.

Colleges in Maine are receiving more than $105 million from the federal stimulus bill passed earlier this year.