Inpatients at LincolnHealth are now permitted one visitor over the age of 18 per day, with the exception of COVID-19 patients, according to LincolnHealth spokesperson John Martins.
According to policy changes effective Feb. 15, any person staying overnight in the hospital may have one visitor per day between the hours of 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. In another change, adult primary care/specialty care patients still may not have visitors, but pediatric patients may have two visitors.
End-of-life patient visitation will be managed by the care team, adult emergency patients cannot have visitors while pediatrics may have one, the same goes for day surgery and procedural patients, and obstetric patients may have one visitor and doulas are also permitted when the obstetrician is aware of the requested presence.
Most of the beds at LincolnHealth remain full, but the Miles Campus in Damariscotta has had the opportunity to take on some surgical procedures requiring an overnight stay.
In other news, the downward trend in total test, positive case, and positive case rate numbers continues.
Of the 462 tests conducted from Feb. 7 to Feb. 13, there were 67 positive cases for a positivity rate of 14.5%, down from 88 and 16.60% the week prior.
Of those positive cases, 39, or 58%, received at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccination. There were 17 cases in those under the age of 18.
Martins said that while vaccinated individuals accounting for 58% of all cases may seem high, the number can be misleading given the high percentage of fully vaccinated individuals in Lincoln County.
In January, LincolnHealth had more than 990 cases; 559 of those cases were vaccinated individuals and 431 were unvaccinated. However, taking into account that over 80% of Lincoln County is fully vaccinated, the January numbers present only a 2% infection rate for the vaccinated population but a 7% infection rate for the unvaccinated population.
In other words, a greater percentage of the unvaccinated population in Lincoln County tested positive at LincolnHealth than that of the vaccinated population.
The booster clinic at the Watson Health Center on the Miles Campus is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for appointments and walk-ins. Booster appointments can be made at vaccine.mainehealth.org or by calling 877-780-7545. Those registering will need to provide the date of last COVID-19 shot.
Those who received a Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are eligible for a booster shot six months after their initial series. For those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, booster shots are recommended after two or more months.
Pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations are available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday in the Lincoln Medical Partners Primary Care Office in Damariscotta. Pediatric patients do not need to schedule special appointments.
Pfizer’s vaccine for children ages 5-11 is available in a two-dose series and is administered in a lower dose than the vaccine for adolescents and adults. Just like adults, doses will be administered 21 days apart.
According to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention data through Feb.15, since COVID-19 arrived in Lincoln County in March 2020, 4,412 residents have had the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus — 3,793 confirmed cases and 619 probable.
There have been two COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last week, raising the total to 23 in the county.
According to a graph maintained by the Bangor Daily News, masking is recommended in Lincoln County and every other county in Maine. The U.S. CDC is recommending that people wear face coverings indoors if there is “substantial transmission” of the coronavirus in a county, defined as a weekly case rate of 50 or more cases per 100,000 people.
According to Maine CDC data current as of Feb. 15, for the total population, Lincoln County has a “moderate to high” rate of vaccine doses administered per 100,000 residents relative to other counties in the state at 213,565.06.
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, 26,309, or 75.96%, have received their first dose of the vaccine and 26,964, or 77.85%, have received the second and final dose, according to the agency’s data.
A total of 70,658 doses of vaccine have been administered, up 223 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 17,162 additional or booster shots given to Lincoln County residents, up 127 doses from last week.
The vaccine is being provided through all of LincolnHealth’s primary care practices, as well as a booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
According to a database maintained by the Maine CDC, vaccine appointments can be requested at Hannaford in Damariscotta, Walgreens in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor, Nathan’s Pharmacy in Boothbay Harbor, and Community Pharmacy in Waldoboro.
Patients of Sheepscot Valley Health Center in Coopers Mills can call 549-7581 to make an appointment for a vaccine.
To schedule an appointment at Hannaford, go to hannaford.com/pharmacy/covid-19-vaccine.
To schedule an appointment at Walgreens, go to walgreens.com/schedulevaccine or call 1-800-WALGREENS.
To schedule an appointment at Community Pharmacy, go to communityrx.com/covid-19.
To schedule an appointment at Nathan’s Pharmacy, call 315-2280.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, the seven-day average positivity rate for Maine is 9.34%, down from 13.09% last week.
State COVID-19 numbers
According to data current as of Feb. 15, the Maine CDC has reported 202,221 COVID-19 cases in Maine, an increase of 18,722 from the week before. Of those cases, 53,501 are probable.
There have been 4,188 hospitalizations in the state. There have been 1,858 deaths so far from COVID-19 in Maine, including 39 reported in the last week. The statewide case rate is 1.510.9 per 10,000 people, up from 1,371 last week.
