The positivity rate of COVID-19 cases at LincolnHealth has been above 10% for 10 of the past 11 weeks, hospital spokesperson John Martins said in an email.
The total number of tests performed decreased this week to 250, down from 315 last week, but the positivity rate increased.
From Oct. 10-16, LincolnHealth tested 250 individuals with 30 positive tests, for a positivity rate of 12.2%, up from 11.15% last week.
LincolnHealth offers the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone 6 months and older.
Martins urged people to get their flu shot and bivalent COVID-19 booster shot, which contains components of the original COVID-19 strain as well as the omicron variant.
For more information, people can contact their primary care physician or visit vaccine.mainehealth.org.
Community transmission, which is defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and describes the amount of COVID-19 spread in a community, is listed as “high.” This metric is used by healthcare facilities to determine infection control intervention, Martins has said.
The community level, which describes the impact of COVID-19 on communities, is low for Lincoln County. Community levels are calculated using the number of new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, the percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days.
MaineHealth is maintaining a database of COVID-19 information that can be accessed at mainehealth.org/coronavirus-COVID-19/what-to-do.
The health system also recommends staying home when sick, testing for COVID-19 in the event of symptoms or contact with a COVID-19-positive person, and seeking care when necessary.
According to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention data current through Tuesday, Oct. 18, since COVID-19 arrived in Lincoln County in March 2020, 6,497 residents have had the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus – 5,450 confirmed cases and 1,047 probable.
The number of deaths in Lincoln County residents stayed at 40.
The number of residents who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic rose by one to 98.
Lincoln County has a “high” rate of vaccine doses administered per 100,000 residents relative to other counties in the state at 250,941.27. The number does not represent fully vaccinated individuals and, since the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines both require two doses, the number can be higher than 100,000.
The census data for Lincoln County provided by the Maine CDC lists a population of 34,634. Of those residents, 27,122, or 78.31%, have received their first dose of the vaccine and 28,196, or 81.41%, have received the second and final dose, according to the agency’s data.
A total of 86,911 doses of vaccine have been administered, up 1,338 doses from last week. Those counted in the final dose category have either received the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
There have been 31,593 additional or booster shots given to Lincoln County residents.
State COVID-19 numbers
According to data current as of Oct. 18, the Maine CDC has reported 289,066 COVID-19 cases in Maine, an increase of 5,827 from the week before. Of those cases, 82,894 are probable.
There have been 6,033 hospitalizations in the state, including 90 reported in the past week. There have been 2,629 deaths so far from COVID-19 in Maine, including eight reported in the last week. The statewide case rate is 2,203.3 per 10,000 people, up from 2,186.4 last week.
