COVID-19 tests performed through LincolnHealth have increased in each of the past two weeks, while positive tests remain “relatively stable,” hospital spokesperson John Martins said by email.
From Oct. 3-9, LincolnHealth tested 315 individuals with 35 positive tests, for a positivity rate of 11.15%, down from 13.96% last week.
LincolnHealth saw a jump in tests of people not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms but who were exposed and those who were tested prior to an operation, Martins wrote.
“Those numbers more than doubled from last week (50 to 117) and nearly quadrupled since the week of Sept. 19-25 (30 to 117),” Martins wrote.
According to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention data current through Tuesday, Oct. 11, since COVID-19 arrived in Lincoln County in March 2020, 6,445 residents have had the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus – 5,404 confirmed cases and 1,041 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 97.
LincolnHealth is now offering the new bivalent COVID-19 booster shot, which contains components of the original COVID-19 strain as well as the omicron variant.
LincolnHealth offers the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone 6 months and older.
Call the MaineHealth Vaccine Assistant at 1-877-780-7545 or email vaccine@mainehealth.org for an appointment. An appointment is preferred and can be made by calling a Lincoln Medical Partners office or by visiting vaccine.mainehealth.org.
“People can call their primary care doctor with any questions,” Martins said of the new booster shot.
Booster shots can also be obtained at one of LincolnHealth’s upcoming flu shot clinics, but the patient will have to be observed for 15 minutes for signs of any side effects.
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.
Lincoln County has a “high” rate of vaccine doses administered per 100,000 residents relative to other counties in the state at 247,078.02. 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, 27,104, or 78.26%, have received their first dose of the vaccine and 28,108, or 81.16%, have received the second and final dose, according to the agency’s data.
A total of 85,573 doses of vaccine have been administered, up 1,106 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 30,361 additional or booster shots given to Lincoln County residents.
State COVID-19 numbers
According to data current as of Oct. 11, the Maine CDC has reported 289,066 COVID-19 cases in Maine, an increase of 3,556 from the week before. Of those cases, 82,119 are probable.
There have been 5,943 hospitalizations in the state, including 65 reported in the past week. There have been 2,621 deaths so far from COVID-19 in Maine, including 35 reported in the last week. The statewide case rate is 2,186.4 per 10,000 people, up from 2,173.9 last week.
